CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council has authorized a $20 million contribution to fill the funding gap for repairs and improvements to Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The money will go to Gateway Economic Development Corporation of Greater Cleveland. The nonprofit owns the facilities and leases them to the Guardians and the Cavaliers, respectively. According to the city, Gateway is responsible for capital repairs but the county sin tax money on alcohol and cigarettes "hasn't kept up with the cost of capital repairs."
The funding gap is $40 million, an amount that has added up over the years and is being split evenly between the city and county. On Tuesday, Cuyahoga County Council unanimously approved its share of the funding.
On the city's end of things, 13 councilmembers voted to authorize the funding Monday night. Three did not, including Councilman Brian Kazy.
"I understand you want the arena and ballpark upgrades, but at what cost?" Kazy asked. "One dollar out of the general fund is one dollar too many. I understand that they keep finding money for billionaires, but we don't have enough money to have leaf pickup throughout the city."
Council President Blaine Griffin told 3News that paying the $20 million is part of the city's leasing obligation. He called the payment an investment.
"It's not going to be easy going to the local grocery store and having to explain to your neighbors, 'Why did a billionaire need money to do this?'" Griffin admitted. "But what people have to realize is ... 50% of Cleveland income is generated from downtown. Most of those are outside people coming into the city to spend money.
"When you have these economic drivers, you have to preserve them, because they're the ones that bring in money that help you get the snow shoveled, help you hire police officers."
Griffin says he worked through the weekend with the administration to find a way to pay the money without taking too much out of the general fund. According to city council, $10 million comes from unused bond funds that were moved into the general fund, $5 million in general fund dollars, and $5 million from federal revenue recovery funds.
"Sometimes these owners need to say, 'Listen, we need to take it on the chin too — just like all 372,000 residents of Cleveland have to take it on the chin — by losing $20 million," Kazy countered. "Whether it's general fund or its ARPA dollars or if we bond it out, either way, it's money that came from or is owed to the residents of the city of Cleveland, and that’s just not fair to give that kind of money away."
On Tuesday night, Cuyahoga County councilmembers gathered to vote on two pieces of legislation that would cover the remaining $20 million for repairs. Before the meeting, Councilwoman Meredith Turner said, "It's important that the city and county work together to meet our obligations."
"We have received the data that suggests they (the sports facilities) need these things," she added.
Councilman Martin Sweeney supported authorizing the funds, but also stressed that they need to find a different way forward so they don't end up in the same situation.
"The Guardians and the Cavs don't need to come to us every time and say, 'Please give us the money that you owe us.' We've got to figure this out," he said. "The whole process was good 30 years ago. It's not working right now."