MILWAUKEE — It is the age-old question: Who will help pay to maintain American Family Field? Public or Private?
There was much discussion at the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District’s Finance Committee meeting Thursday. What was not brought up about all of the maintenance costs are the politics that are still at play.
Leadership in the Republican-controlled State Assembly recently struck out Gov. Tony Ever’s proposal to use $290 million from our state’s budget surplus, to help maintain American Family Field, and keep the Brewers in Milwaukee through 2043.
Speaker Robin Vos’ communications director told TMJ4 News Thursday, “…the speaker has said the governor’s proposal is dead because it’s a bad deal for taxpayers. He supports crafting a new plan."
The sides on who should pay to maintain the stadium are polarized. Near the south side of AmFam Field, a billboard paid for by conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity reads, ‘NO STADIUM BAILOUTS TO OUT-OF-STATE MILLIONAIRES!”
The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District’s finance committee discussed the less glamorous side of baseball today, like preventing potential flood damage to the stadium.
Expensive repairs are looming for the 22-year-old building, says Doug Stansil, chair of the finance committee. This includes the retractable roof. “As the roof opens and closes, [make sure] there’s not any unusual stresses on it, so that it's safe, secure and it works properly," says Stansil.
He adds the list of more improvements, including, “Seating, mundane things like painting. There's always a painting project going on there's concrete repair."
A five-county sales tax paid for construction of Miller Park and came to an end in 2020. Stansil explains under the Brewers lease agreement, taxpayers pay for some stadium maintenance, which amounts to about $1.6 million each year. “The current formula was set up by the legislature and the governor at the time of Tommy Thompson and that's what we're doing our job to function under that," he said.
The final decision of whether or not to use $290 million from our state’s budget surplus will not happen until the summer, about the time when the Brewers just might be in the World Series.
A new group called The Home Crew Coalition, which is made up of a diverse group of state leaders trying to keep funding for the stadium alive, says the Brewers have had a $2.5 billion economic impact since the opening of the current ballpark in 2001.
We also spoke to Wisconsin State Senator Tim Carpenter, who came to listen in during the full board meeting Thursday. The Democrat who lives just miles from the stadium says he is doubtful the stadium funding will make it into the budget, but could be brought up later separately.
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