Stadium proposal has little backing

D.C. officials yesterday expressed surprise and opposition for Mayor Anthony A. Williams’ plan for the District to fully fund a new, $340 million baseball stadium at the RFK Stadium site to attract a Major League Baseball team.

“Unless baseball makes a commitment to Washington, D.C., I am not spending another minute on this project,” D.C. Council member Jack Evans, Ward 2 Democrat, said in an interview on WTOP Radio. “If they make a commitment to us, I’ll build the stadium.”

Mr. Evans is chairman of the Finance and Revenue Committee, which would have to approve the mayor’s plan for it to be implemented. He said he had “no idea” that Mr. Williams was going to announce a plan for the city to fully subsidize a baseball stadium. The Washington Times first reported the mayor’s plan yesterday.

Under the plan, a new stadium would be built on the parking lots north of RFK Stadium. Funds would come from revenue bonds supported by a tax on the gross receipts of large city businesses and taxes on ballpark-related commerce, such as parking and sales of tickets and merchandise.

Council member Kathy Patterson, a finance committee member, said the council is looking to cut tax increases from Mr. Williams’ proposed $6.2 billion budget for fiscal 2005 budget, adding that she would not support additional tax increases on businesses to cover the cost of the stadium.

“We can’t afford to lose any more businesses — period,” the Ward 3 Democrat told The Times. “And as companies are making decisions about coming to the area, these kinds of plans are a red flag.”

The mayor’s plan calls for an MLB team, presumably the Montreal Expos, to play in RFK Stadium while the baseball-only stadium is being built — which would likely take three years.

The RFK site was one of five presented to MLB officials last year. But the preferred choice of city officials and the Washington Baseball Club, the prospective baseball franchise ownership group headed by financier Fred Malek, was for a $436 million stadium to be built on New York Avenue NE. But that proposal calls for about $125 million to be provided by the ownership group.

“We feel [RFK] is a very compelling package,” said Steve Green, special assistant in the city’s Department of Planning and Economic Development. “RFK is not the only site being put forth, but we feel have our cost estimates there where the full financing definitely happens.”

City officials decided that building on RFK grounds was the best way to break a years-long impasse with MLB, which has refused to waver on its demand for full public financing. MLB has owned the Expos for the past three years, and the team has lost $60 million under MLB ownership.

MLB was only able to secure a 50-50 deal with the city of Philadelphia for the $345 million construction of a ballpark there, which is scheduled to open Monday.

Bob Peck, president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, said Mr. Williams’ RFK plan is a “pretty good, creative idea.”

“If this indeed does help bring baseball to the area, it’s all to the good,” he said.

The RFK site is a “slightly less desirable site” than the New York Avenue site, it has development possibilities that connect with the mayor’s initiatives to revitalize the Anacostia waterfront, Mr. Peck said.

Businesses would agree to additional taxes because of the opportunities for development the stadium would bring, he added.

“We all agreed the kind of taxes they’re proposing would be palatable to us if we get a major league franchise,” Mr. Peck said.

But Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, said there is little to show that building a stadium would benefit the city’s economy or result in more jobs for residents.

“According to the research, it’s not an economic driver,” said Mr. Lazere, whose nonprofit group researches budget matters. “It’s not going to boost our economy in any way. For that reason, we should not be putting that much money into it.”

He also said taxing that parking, concessions and merchandise sales would preclude that money from going to the city’s general fund, and that adding a tax on businesses would deprive the city of a future source of revenue.

“This proposal is adding a tax at a time when the mayor is saying we need to raise revenue to pay for basic services,” Mr. Lazere said.

Mark Tuohey, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, also was surprised by Mr. Williams’ plan, saying the focus of the District’s baseball efforts remain on three sites closer to downtown: New York Avenue NE, M Street SE and Benjamin Banneker Park in Southwest.

“RFK is a great site, but it remains a secondary site,” Mr. Tuohey said.

Residents’ opinions about the mayor’s plan varied.

“I think it’s great to have a team here,” said Bob Poland, 34. “I’m not familiar with the latest proposal, but baseball [in the District] would be good.”

D.C. lawyer Mr. Poland disagreed. “That’s a lot of money,” he said. “Let them put [the stadium] in Virginia.”

• Tarron Lively contributed to this report.