Financing In Doubt For Stadium

David A. Catania (R-At Large), shown here with fellow D.C. Council member Sandy Allen (D-Ward 8), says the council won't raise taxes to finance a baseball stadium. (Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

There are three proposed D.C. stadium sites, the leading one at New York Avenue and North Capitol Street. The stadium's cost is estimated at $436 million.

To pay for a baseball stadium in Washington, the mayor has proposed borrowing $339 million, with $275 million going toward stadium construction, $15 million going to renovations for the team's interim home at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and the rest for borrowing costs.

The eventual owners of a team would have to pay the rest of stadium construction costs, estimated at $125 million to $150 million.

The mayor had planned to repay the city's construction loan through taxes on concessions, tickets, parking and merchandise at the ballpark, as well as tapping the salaries of baseball players. A new tax, on the gross receipts of the city's larger businesses, would provide the rest of the bond payments.

But city officials say the tax on the salaries of baseball players, which the mayor hoped would generate $4.5 million a year, is all but dead because of stiff resistance from baseball's players union and on Capitol Hill. The D.C. home rule charter prohibits the taxing of nonresident income, meaning that only Congress could approve a plan to tax baseball players who live outside the city.

Administration officials say that they are prepared to move forward without authority to tax baseball players and that they could repay the $339 million in bonds without it.

Yet there is little support for the plan to tax the revenue of businesses. Of the five finance committee members, two have deep reservations about the mayor's plan, and a third, Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), is reluctant.

"I don't know there's a will on the council to raise taxes, period," said Evans, the committee chairman. "The administration hasn't made a clear case on why we should do this."

Of the remaining two committee members, Harold Brazil (D-At Large) supports the mayor's plan and Kevin P. Chavous (D-Ward 7) is undecided.

"It's very dicey," Chavous said. "This is where savvy politics comes into play. . . . I don't see it happening yet."

Evans has suggested paying for a stadium by selling city-owned property. Catania has suggested that money raised through an existing tax for construction of the new convention center also could be used to pay for a ballpark. Green, the mayor's economic development aide, said he does not know whether the city owns a parcel of land valuable enough to generate the needed revenue and that interest rates have not improved enough to make refinancing the convention center's bonds economical.

Major League Baseball, meanwhile, appears to have found a solution in Puerto Rico if plans fall through for moving the Expos. Antonio Munoz Sr., the San Juan promoter who purchased the rights to 22 Expos games this season, said he has been negotiating with senior baseball officials and submitted an offer to host as much as the full 81-game home schedule for 2004.

Munoz said league officials spoke to him about the proposal Thursday night.

"We have our offer on the table," Munoz said. "I have the impression they're considering everything."

Patrick Courtney, a baseball spokesman, confirmed that the league is considering expanding the number of games in Puerto Rico next season. "The goal is to find a new home for the Montreal Expos by next season. But if that can't happen, we'd have to explore other options," he said.