Dale Ellis finds out he will be named to the University of Tennessee's All-Century Basketball Team, invents time machine, then stops by Don Johnson's house in 1983 to borrow a jacket for the ceremony.
Wednesday, February 18
That's Great, Dale, But About That Suit ...
Dale Ellis finds out he will be named to the University of Tennessee's All-Century Basketball Team, invents time machine, then stops by Don Johnson's house in 1983 to borrow a jacket for the ceremony.
More On KeyArena Tax
Important aspects of the bill, as understood by a bill-reading novice:
- The bill, in essence, authorizes counties or cities to institute a restaurant tax of no more than five-tenths of one percent of the selling price. It does not, however, authorize any state funds.
- Once a threshold of revenue is reached (approximately $5 million), any extra monies received would be doled out as follows: 70% for “art museums, cultural museums, heritage museums, heritage and preservation programs, the arts, and the performing arts” and 30% for “stadium purposes … acquisition of open space lands; youth sports activities; and tourism promotion.”
- This, however, is only for revenues up ‘til 2013. From 2013 to 2015, all revenues collected go towards retiring any remaining debt on the arena. From 2016 to 2020, all remaining revenues go to a “stadium and exhibition center account.” After 2021, all revenues go to a “special county arts, regional center, low-income housing, and community development fund.”
- As far as I can tell, there is no end date to the tax.
- A car rental tax could also be utilized.
Again, the most important thing to note, from what I can tell, is that the state is merely giving cities and counties authorization to collect the tax. Rep. Hunter has determined that the state should not be involved in the KeyArena situation – perhaps wisely so, given the political climate in Olympia. If this tax can be instituted on a Seattle-only basis, it has a much more likely chance of passing (granted, that chance is still low, in my opinion, but it’s more likely to happen in Seattle than, say, Tumwater).
All that said, there’s no sense getting too worked up about this proposal. There are many more revisions and changes to come, naturally, and the bill as we see it today will not be the bill as we see it at the end.
Still, I would like to quote one particular part of the proposal which made me smile:
“The county shall not lease a public stadium that is financed directly or indirectly by bonds to which the tax is pledged to, or authorize the use of the public stadium by, a professional major league sports franchise unless the sports franchise gives the right of first refusal to purchase the sports franchise, upon its sale, to local government.”
Man, where was that language when we needed it …
- The bill, in essence, authorizes counties or cities to institute a restaurant tax of no more than five-tenths of one percent of the selling price. It does not, however, authorize any state funds.
- Once a threshold of revenue is reached (approximately $5 million), any extra monies received would be doled out as follows: 70% for “art museums, cultural museums, heritage museums, heritage and preservation programs, the arts, and the performing arts” and 30% for “stadium purposes … acquisition of open space lands; youth sports activities; and tourism promotion.”
- This, however, is only for revenues up ‘til 2013. From 2013 to 2015, all revenues collected go towards retiring any remaining debt on the arena. From 2016 to 2020, all remaining revenues go to a “stadium and exhibition center account.” After 2021, all revenues go to a “special county arts, regional center, low-income housing, and community development fund.”
- As far as I can tell, there is no end date to the tax.
- A car rental tax could also be utilized.
Again, the most important thing to note, from what I can tell, is that the state is merely giving cities and counties authorization to collect the tax. Rep. Hunter has determined that the state should not be involved in the KeyArena situation – perhaps wisely so, given the political climate in Olympia. If this tax can be instituted on a Seattle-only basis, it has a much more likely chance of passing (granted, that chance is still low, in my opinion, but it’s more likely to happen in Seattle than, say, Tumwater).
All that said, there’s no sense getting too worked up about this proposal. There are many more revisions and changes to come, naturally, and the bill as we see it today will not be the bill as we see it at the end.
Still, I would like to quote one particular part of the proposal which made me smile:
“The county shall not lease a public stadium that is financed directly or indirectly by bonds to which the tax is pledged to, or authorize the use of the public stadium by, a professional major league sports franchise unless the sports franchise gives the right of first refusal to purchase the sports franchise, upon its sale, to local government.”
Man, where was that language when we needed it …
Thursday, February 12
A Picture's Worth ...
A while back I asked our readers to snap some shots of the games they were attending - but not of the on-court action.
No, what I was looking for was what it looked like in the arena. Sure, the teams are announcing attendance which makes it look as though things are rosy in the NBA, but are those announced numbers even close to being accurate? With the overwhelming number of digital cameras and cameraphones, there's really no excuse for the public to start being reporters.
Well, Jason Ferguson was at last Monday's Rockets-Bucks tilt in Milwaukee, and was nice enough to forward some photos to me. Bear in mind that announced attendance was 13,904, and that the Bradley Center holds 18,717, which means that the arena was supposedly 75% full. These pictures were taken during the middle of the second quarter.
First, the lower level:
Then, center court, upper deck:
Finally, the upper deck endzone:
From the looks of it, the Bradley Center's upper deck is about as populated as the surface of Mars these days.
Jason apologized for the quality of the pictures, but considering what he was paid to do this (that's nothing, in case you're wondering), I don't think it's necessary. I'm just glad someone took me up on my offer, so much thanks to Jason for the effort.
Now, does this offer irrefutable evidence that the NBA is on the verge of collapse? Of course not - even a cranky old Sonic fan such as myself wouldn't go that far.
Does this indicate that maybe the NBA is doing worse than it is letting on, and that while the Clevelands, Bostons, and LAs of the world are doing just fine, that the smaller markets are really caught in a tight spot between huge salaries and other expenses on the one side, and declining disposable income on the other?
You're darn right it does.
If you're going to be attending a game in the near future, do us a favor and pack your camera/phone with you, snap some shots, and email them to us at supersonicsoul AT hotmail DOT com. We'll be glad to post them.
No, what I was looking for was what it looked like in the arena. Sure, the teams are announcing attendance which makes it look as though things are rosy in the NBA, but are those announced numbers even close to being accurate? With the overwhelming number of digital cameras and cameraphones, there's really no excuse for the public to start being reporters.
Well, Jason Ferguson was at last Monday's Rockets-Bucks tilt in Milwaukee, and was nice enough to forward some photos to me. Bear in mind that announced attendance was 13,904, and that the Bradley Center holds 18,717, which means that the arena was supposedly 75% full. These pictures were taken during the middle of the second quarter.
First, the lower level:
Then, center court, upper deck:
Finally, the upper deck endzone:
From the looks of it, the Bradley Center's upper deck is about as populated as the surface of Mars these days.
Jason apologized for the quality of the pictures, but considering what he was paid to do this (that's nothing, in case you're wondering), I don't think it's necessary. I'm just glad someone took me up on my offer, so much thanks to Jason for the effort.
Now, does this offer irrefutable evidence that the NBA is on the verge of collapse? Of course not - even a cranky old Sonic fan such as myself wouldn't go that far.
Does this indicate that maybe the NBA is doing worse than it is letting on, and that while the Clevelands, Bostons, and LAs of the world are doing just fine, that the smaller markets are really caught in a tight spot between huge salaries and other expenses on the one side, and declining disposable income on the other?
You're darn right it does.
If you're going to be attending a game in the near future, do us a favor and pack your camera/phone with you, snap some shots, and email them to us at supersonicsoul AT hotmail DOT com. We'll be glad to post them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)