Joe Lombardo As Nevada Gov Will Not Block Oakland A's To Las Vegas Deal

Joe Lombardo As Nevada Gov Will Not Block Oakland A's To Las Vegas Deal
Joe Lombardo As Nevada Gov Will Not Block Oakland A's To Las Vegas Deal Now that Steve Sisolak is not the Govenor of Nevada, there's a school of thought that the possibility of the Oakland A's going to Las Vegas is not happening because of the need for public money in the deal. Perish the thought. The misconception comes from Nevada press people who don't have a good understanding of the different kinds of “public money” that would be involved in the layout of funds committed to a Las Vegas ballpark. My sources and I talked about this possibility months ago and the response was “Why does what Governor we have matter”? And they live in Las Vegas and are embeded into the whole matter of the A's to Las Vegas, anyway. Moreover, while Steve Sisolak was the Governor of Nevada, it was under Republican Governor Brian Sandoval that the Southern Nevada Tourism and Infrastructure Committee was formed while Steve Sisolak was Clark County Commissioner and Chairman, and out of that came the Southern Nevada Tourism and Infrastructure Act, which gave the go-ahead for the hotel-tax-based subsidy for what is now called Allegiant Stadium. So, toss the idea that the Raiders to Las Vegas effort started with Governor Steve Sisolak, because it didn't. It started with Republican Governor Brian Sandoval and the late Las Vegas Sands Founder and CEO Sheldon Adelson. The idea to use a special stadium hotel tax came out of the Southern Nevada Tourism and Infrastructure Committee as did the formation of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority. By contrast, the Oakland A's to Las Vegas project has taken on a different deal look: the conversation is around not building a stadium but a ballpark mixed use development that's not unlike Howard Terminal in Oakland. In that plan scenario, the ballpark is surrounded by office, residential, and retail structures, according to my source. So, the plan is for those buildings to help finance the construction of the ballpark in some way, either via tax increment financing, or developer payments in the Nevada version of what in California is called Mello-Roos Financing, or both, or some combination of those two approaches plus something else. But the Oakland A's to Las Vegas project will not call for an increase in the hotel tax or even a new tax and that's because tax increment financing and developer payments don't need Nevada Legislative approval to do. Tax increment financing is already part of Nevada law and talled “Tax Increment Areas”. So, to close, Joe Lombardo as Nevada's new Govenor will not spell an end to the Oakland A's to Las Vegas effort. In fact, it may be an advantage given the history of GOP elected officials and development in Las Vegas. Stay tuned.
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