Scoreboard Issue Bubbling Up

[HoosierCat]

What's a Bengals offseason without a controversy over the team's sweetheart lease deal? Some of you may recall that the lease contains provisions that, if a certain number of other teams get some new high-tech doodad for their sports palace, the county has to buy one for PBS as well. Per the local rag, the Bengals are starting to make noises about wanting a new $10 million hi-def scoreboard in 2014 -- for which Hamilton County taxpayers would foot the bill.

It appears that the Reds had a similar deal, but they mostly let the county off the hook. The Bengals would probably be wise to kick in some dough, too.

[ArmyBengal]

I love the Bengals, I really do, but it's sh*t like this that makes me care less if they were to leave.

I know the tax payers at the time voted this in, but d*mn.

I would rather see the county tell them to get bent and have them leave.

[Sea Ray]

I love the Bengals, I really do, but it's sh*t like this that makes me care less if they were to leave.

I know the tax payers at the time voted this in, but d*mn.

I would rather see the county tell them to get bent and have them leave.

Look, this is one thing that's not Mike Brown's fault. He negotiated this lease with the county and he did it with the best interests of his company in mind. Can't fault him for that. It's not your fault as a taxpayer who voted for the tax increase that your idiot politicians got taken by the master in negotiations. Politicians blow taxpayer money all the time. I hated this lease when I first heard about it in the late 90s and Bob Bedinghaus was on WLW talking about the details. I was fuming when I heard that the county would have to PAY the Bengals to be tenants during the latter third of this lease, but Bedinghaus didn't care nor listen.

I don't blame MB for holding the County to the lease that they agreed to and appeals judges have upheld. By the way there is no comparing the Reds lease. The Bengals negotiated a much sweeter deal than did Marge Schott and her minions at the time

[skyline]

I can make a very long list of things that taxpayer dollars go towards. In addition, I can tell you that I'd rather pay for a new jumbotron at Paul Brown Stadium than for a large majority of the other things on that list.

For instance, I walked by a government employee the other day sitting on a bucket reading a magazine. I asked him what he was doing. Apparently, someone had painted a wall earlier in the day, and this man's job was to sit there until it was, in fact, completely dry.

Now THERE'S taxpayer money hard at work.

[HoosierCat]

By the way there is no comparing the Reds lease. The Bengals negotiated a much sweeter deal than did Marge Schott and her minions at the time

True, but as the Enquirer piece points out, the Reds had a similar tech improvements clause (which grew out of the old Riverfront Stadium being a notorious dump) and could have forced the county to pay for their $10 million hi-def screen back on 2009. Instead the Reds ended up covering about 80% of the cost.

I don't have a dog in this fight, being neither a HamCo taxpayer or a regular (or even irregular) at PBS. OTOH I've watched Indianapolis and state-level pols throw gobs of money at the NFL (to get the Super Bowl in Indy, and they've already launched an effort to get another one) and the Colts, who got a bunch of public money for their new sports palace, and as a Hoosier taxpayer I do have a dog in that affair. And I see a lot of things (education and our crumbling infrastructure, to name two) I would rather have my tax dollars spent on.

[ArmyBengal]

I love the Bengals, I really do, but it's sh*t like this that makes me care less if they were to leave.

I know the tax payers at the time voted this in, but d*mn.

I would rather see the county tell them to get bent and have them leave.

Look, this is one thing that's not Mike Brown's fault. He negotiated this lease with the county and he did it with the best interests of his company in mind. Can't fault him for that. It's not your fault as a taxpayer who voted for the tax increase that your idiot politicians got taken by the master in negotiations. Politicians blow taxpayer money all the time. I hated this lease when I first heard about it in the late 90s and Bob Bedinghaus was on WLW talking about the details. I was fuming when I heard that the county would have to PAY the Bengals to be tenants during the latter third of this lease, but Bedinghaus didn't care nor listen.

I don't blame MB for holding the County to the lease that they agreed to and appeals judges have upheld. By the way there is no comparing the Reds lease. The Bengals negotiated a much sweeter deal than did Marge Schott and her minions at the time

#1. Never said this was Mike Brown's fault.

#2. I didn't vote for sh*t.

#3. Idiot politicians is too nice of a term to use. I prefer "F*ckheaded".

#4. This city has been trying to make great efforts to build things within the city and this won't help any of that.

#5. I would still rather see the team leave then spend another 10 million in tax dollars on them. Just me.

[skyline]

By the way there is no comparing the Reds lease. The Bengals negotiated a much sweeter deal than did Marge Schott and her minions at the time

And I see a lot of things (education and our crumbling infrastructure, to name two) I would rather have my tax dollars spent on.

Be careful what you wish for. Spending money on education is wonderful, in theory. In reality the people that are in charge of spending that money never spend it on the right things. I'm a teacher and I've seen millions of dollars thrown down the drain in education that would have been far better spent on a jumbotron. Sad, but true.

#5. I would still rather see the team leave then spend another 10 million in tax dollars on them. Just me.

I officially hate you. If the Bengals leave town, I'm going to come TP your yard.

[ArmyBengal]

Don't come TP my yard Skyline. I would call the county to complain, they would have someone come out to investigate, more tax payer dollars would be spent and then we would never get another team to come to town. Vicious freakin' circle.

[HoosierCat]

Be careful what you wish for. Spending money on education is wonderful, in theory. In reality the people that are in charge of spending that money never spend it on the right things. I'm a teacher and I've seen millions of dollars thrown down the drain in education that would have been far better spent on a jumbotron. Sad, but true.

Funny you should put it that way, as the guy running my local school corp got run out of town on a rail a year or so ago, after a $3 million deficit popped up out of nowhere just after the high school bought...wait for it..a big new scoreboard/video replay screen for the football field.

[skyline]

Be careful what you wish for. Spending money on education is wonderful, in theory. In reality the people that are in charge of spending that money never spend it on the right things. I'm a teacher and I've seen millions of dollars thrown down the drain in education that would have been far better spent on a jumbotron. Sad, but true.

Funny you should put it that way, as the guy running my local school corp got run out of town on a rail a year or so ago, after a $3 million deficit popped up out of nowhere just after the high school bought...wait for it..a big new scoreboard/video replay screen for the football field.

Nice.

I could list a million awesome examples, but I'll stick to one.

Our school district decided that we needed to have a focused effort to improve student vocabulary across all subjects. So, the district paid for the rights to use a certain model that had been adopted in other districts. Then they had to pay for every single student to get a giant 3-ring binder full of all the materials. This cost the district millions of dollars.

Well, teachers hated it...they had never been consulted in the first place, and it was really not a feasible plan since we didn't have 10 minutes to carve out of every class to work with the stupid things. 1 year later every single one of those binders ended up in a giant recycling bin. Millions of dollars, that, literally would have been better off put straight into a shredder. At least that would have saved all the trees that it took to make those stupid binders in the first place.

This sort of thing happens EVERY year. Because, after all, why would they want to do something useful with that money like...raise teacher salaries, or install working AC units in the buildings (it's currently 82 degrees in my classroom).

Anyway, all of this to say...if my tax money were going to improve the downtown stadiums instead, you wouldn't hear a peep of complaint out of me. At least the new jumbotron won't be thrown into a recycling bin one year later.

[HoosierCat]

Anyway, all of this to say...if my tax money were going to improve the downtown stadiums instead, you wouldn't hear a peep of complaint out of me. At least the new jumbotron won't be thrown into a recycling bin one year later.

Probably true. OTOH, while the jumbotron might be in good shape, they might end up spending $2 million to repair the plumbing in a two-year-old sports palace (Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts) because they apparently installed pre-corroded pipes or something.

[Sea Ray]

By the way there is no comparing the Reds lease. The Bengals negotiated a much sweeter deal than did Marge Schott and her minions at the time

True, but as the Enquirer piece points out, the Reds had a similar tech improvements clause (which grew out of the old Riverfront Stadium being a notorious dump) and could have forced the county to pay for their $10 million hi-def screen back on 2009. Instead the Reds ended up covering about 80% of the cost.

Don't think for a minute that the Reds just did that out of their own good works. They renegotiated their lease and got concessions for paying for that scoreboard. Knowing local gov't, they probably kicked their obligations down the road when other politicians would be running things. The Reds probably got the county to kick in extra money/obligations later on in the lease.

[HoosierCat]

Oh I have no doubt they did and that Mikey would seek future concessions, too.

[HoosierCat]

OK! I have to admit THIS would be pretty cool...

/>http://vimeo.com/73729537

[Kazkal]

OK! I have to admit THIS would be pretty cool...

/>http://vimeo.com/73729537

o.O that would be totally awesome.

[ArmyBengal]

WHOOOOOOOA !!!!

[skyline]

[GapControl]

Thats what i want tv coverage.to become for the home watcher. It will happen. And when we can do that for football and amateur porn the world will be perfect.

[UK Bengal]

We could get a 60 yard screen suspended above the field..... oh wait some dumbass has done that already

[HoosierCat]

And here we go...

The Cincinnati Bengals – as they previously hinted – have asked Hamilton County taxpayers to buy a new high-definition scoreboard for Paul Brown Stadium.

Estimated cost: $10 million.

Taxpayers don’t have much of a choice. The lease specifically says if new technology – including a scoreboard – is installed in 14 other NFL stadiums, Hamilton County taxpayers must buy the same thing for Paul Brown Stadium if the Bengals request it.

/>http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20131003/SPT02/310030037

[ArmyBengal]

The boards do need replaced. I made a comment about them during the preseason games.

The Bengals are well within their right to make the request. Contracts and all.

The county is so d*mn dumb with how they spend money it's ridiculous.

The street car project is a perfect example.

I don't blame the Bengals and even their attorney stated the team would be willing to assist.

I believe there are other ways to do this without yet another property tax increase to Hamilton Co. homeowners.

[TJJackson]

If I am a County Commissioner, I respond as follows

1) We don't have the money, so we're not paying

and

2) If we did have the money, we'd be using it to keep people in jobs, not for a silly scoreboard

and so

3) Go ahead and sue us to your hearts content

but most importantly

4) F*CK YOU and the former county commissioner who brokered this $hitty deal and now has a sweetheart job with your organization

[Sea Ray]

If I am a County Commissioner, I respond as follows

3) Go ahead and sue us to your hearts content

Why go about it this way? The county has lost every other court case vs the Bengals. Why add to their costs by having a court confirm what the Bengals have already said: that the lease says: "you owe us for a scoreboard"?

[skyline]

If I am a County Commissioner, I respond as follows

3) Go ahead and sue us to your hearts content

Why go about it this way? The county has lost every other court case vs the Bengals. Why add to their costs by having a court confirm what the Bengals have already said: that the lease says: "you owe us for a scoreboard"?

Because people would rather stomp their feet and pout than just admit reality and work within the confines of the law.

Seems like there's another example of that going on right now, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

[ArmyBengal]

That's just it, the Bengals can just buy the scoreboard themselves and bill the county.

If it were to go to court, the county would lose.

This option would probably buy the county more time to figure out how to come up with the cash though.

My thing is, they need to be more creative and not simply put it on the backs of the homeowners in the county.

This seems like the fall back plan for everything here. Just increase property taxes.

That being the only line of thought brings two words immediately to my mind:

F*CK and YOU