Conning The Rubes
The deal was so suspicious that the Federal government took notice: Feds open probe into Miami Marlins stadium deal.
The same rip off that taxpayers see all the time, the owners of professional sports franchises con local governments into building them stadiums. This time is was the Miami Marlins baseball team that is getting a new stadium with 80% of the costs being borne by the taxpayers of Dade County and the city of Miami, who are both broke. We are talking hundreds of million of dollars for this ‘beast’, and no guarantees that the team will hang around for the decades it will take to pay off the bonds.
To make matters worse, the way the deal was structured, the city of Miami is apparently going to be liable for county property taxes, because the team is getting exclusive use of parts of some of the structures. To be tax exempt, the entire thing must be public.
It is becoming apparent that the local government failed to investigate the books of the team, to verify claims about ability to pay their share of construction, and failed to have the contract reviewed properly which would have caught the property tax problem before it was signed.
Among the areas that the Feds are interested in are the political contributions of the team ownership.
