Irsay demanded that the CIB build him a new stadium or else he would move his team to another city. The state of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis obliged him by building the $750 million stadium funded through higher taxes that he gets to use rent-free, doesn't pay one dime of the expenses to maintain and from which he retains all the revenues, at the same time the CIB imploded the inadequate RCA Dome taxpayers had built through higher taxes only 20 years earlier upon which most of the debt originally incurred to build it remained outstanding. These CIB members don't represent the public; they only represent the billionaire sports team owners. Until the public starts demanding public accountability from these out-of-control municipal corporations, you are going to continue to see the public fleeced over and over again in this manner. We don't have the money we need to finance basic city services, but we can hand out money by the tens of millions of dollars to these greedy bastards who don't even reside in our city or pay taxes here.
UPDATE: The only member who voted against yet another tax giveaway by the CIB was CCC President Maggie Lewis, the only elected official who sits on the board.
The lone vote of dissent on the nine-member board belonged to City-County Council President Maggie Lewis. There was one abstention and one absence.
"It's not against the Colts; I just needed more details," Lewis said.It should be pointed, however, that Lewis, along with a majority of her fellow council members, voted earlier this year to allow the CIB to levy higher taxes on ticketed admissions and car rentals. The CIB couched the taxpayer giveaway as a settlement of an ongoing dispute between the CIB and the Colts over concession costs at Lucas Oil Stadium. Every member of the CIB receives free tickets to every game. It's amazing how cheaply people's votes can be bought.
1 comment:
The CIB votes the way Mayor Vaughn tells them to vote. Its the same for the Airport Authority.
The fish rots from the head down.
But, lets talk about laying off cops and firefighters next year. We have enough money to make Irsay and the Simons rise on the Forbes list of most wealthy, but not enough to make Indy safe and a good place to live. Our priorities are totally screwed up.
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