Fenty Wants to Divert Ballpark Tax to General Fund

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is planning to divert millions of dollars from the ballpark tax to reduce the city's deficit.

The Ballpark Revenue Fund is intended to pay down the debt on Nationals Park. But Fenty's revised 2010 budget shifts $50 million from it to the general fund over the next four years.

The move has angered many medium and large business owners. They pay an annual tax on gross receipts for the ballpark fund. The D.C. Chamber of Commerce is fighting the plan, which the D.C. Council is set to vote on July 31.

Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, defends the diversion. He says the city is scrambling to preserve services without raising taxes.