Hamilton County commissioners are releasing the details of the board's proposal for a new stadium lease with the Cincinnati Bengals, along with the team's counterproposal.
The county's proposal offers around $270 million toward $830 million in stadium renovations. The Bengals have countered with a $700-million-plus plan that's variable depending on some state funding, and includes seeking dollars from the city of Cincinnati.
The half-cent stadium sales tax generates slightly more than $100 million per year, according to the county's latest data. It's used for debt service, operations, capital, and the property tax rebate among other uses at both Paycor Stadium and Great American Ball Park.
The current lease expires June 30, 2026. However, under its terms, the deadline for the team to exercise its first five-year extension option is June 30, 2025.
The offers
The county wants a 15-year lease with the possibility of one five-year extension depending on funding participation from the state of Ohio. The Bengals have offered a 5-year lease with one 5-year extension.
The county wants to set rent at $1 million annually for the duration of the lease. The team is proposing $1 million annually for five years.
The county is seeking a regular capital planning cycle with defined yearly contributions from the county and the team covering costs that exceed the county's annual contribution.
The county also wants to share the burden of operational and maintenance costs, with the team contributing $6.5 million annually and a built-in escalation for inflation. The team didn't outline a formal contribution related to operations and maintenance, and is proposing a percentage of the city of Cincinnati tax revenues generated by the stadium be directed toward maintenance and repairs.
Asked whether the city would consider contributing tax revenue to the stadium, Mayor Aftab Pureval replied in a statement to WVXU, "No, absolutely not."
The two proposals also include language about community usage of the stadium, benefits, and a non-relocation agreement.
You can see a fuller picture of the proposals in this presentation from the county administrator below.
What commissioners are saying
Commissioners Denise Driehaus and Stephanie Summorow Dumas said the county's document shows progress is being made.
"The good news is we don't have to build a new stadium, and the Bengals and the county agree to that. That is because we've done a good job of taking care of the stadium," Driehaus said, adding she likes the proposed funding stack that takes some of the burden off of the county.
"Some of the points include the financial stack, which we have talked about before, diversifying the stack so that it's not 94% County, but rather county, team, NFL, and the state of Ohio," she said.
Summerow Dumas added, "I just want to say the good old good old days of the old lease is over."
She, too, highlighted the funding stack adjustments and usage plans.
"The length of agreement, of course, for me, is no less than 15 years, with a possible five year option, and also, as was said earlier, an agreement to clarify that the stadium is the people's place. The stadium is for the use of different groups and different entities, agencies that want to use it for whatever purpose," she said.
Commissioner Alicia Reece remains unhappy with the discussions and the terms of what she took care to point out is not a lease proposal. She says the county's proposal is simply a Letter of Intent. The county's document itself concedes this point and says the parties will agree to prepare definitive legal documents consistent with the LOI.
She says she has concerns about rent, debt capacity, and the property tax rebate. She says she likes getting the maintenance off of the taxpayers backs.
In this deal, she says, all the county's wishes are "aspirational" while the team's desires are spelled out, as, she says, was also done in the original lease.
"In this LOI, we got a lot of things that's aspirational, where they get things that 'you must give me money by this time.' 'You must do this by this time,' ... 'You must give us some money by this date,' 'you must do these things by that date,' and then everything for the taxpayers is aspirational," Reece said.
"There's some more work to be done," she said.
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