No, that's not the beginning of an editorial column...The state actually owes the two franchises ((Drew Brees of the Saints is pictured thanks, David Grunfeld/nola.com)) around $27.5-million...
Ed Anderson starts us off from the Times-Picayune talking about the budget shortfall starting July 1.
"The state owes the Saints $23.5 million this year and next year to play in the Dome as well as $10.4 million in other contractual inducements, like concessions and parking revenues. The 2010 budget also calls for the Superdome Commission to pay the Hornets $7.16 million in inducements plus about $4.2 million in revenues from parking and concessions.
Besides the inducements to the two teams, ((Senior VP for SMG Services Doug))Thornton said, insurance costs have increased at the Dome and a bond deal sold after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to renovate the stadium and refinance older bonds has a debt payment of $18.2 million looming for next year, up $9.2 million from this year.
The hotel-motel tax in Orleans and Jefferson parishes is expected to generate about $31 million in the fiscal year starting July 1 and other revenues are expected to bring in another $10.1 million. But the tax revenues are not keeping pace with projections, he said."
Thornton admitted at the Louisiana Sports Entertainment Board meeting Wednesday that there is not deal in place currently to keep the Saints in the Superdome past the end of their lease. The two sides are working on it, but nothing is close...
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is already faced with a US$341-million shortfall for the remainder of this fiscal year and is staring a US$1.1-billion shortfall for the 09/10 fiscal year ((source- bayoubuzz.com)). The proposed deficit for 2009/2010 is listed, currently, at US$2-billion. Jindal is going to have to trim close to US$700-million to balance this year's dollars to minimize the damage in 09/10.
New Orleans is trying to line itself up for the 2013 Super Bowl and needs to have its plans submitted to the Shield by April.
Those of us at OSG HQ know how important sports are to the state of Louisiana. But aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina are still being felt. The Multi-Colored Newspaper came out with the number the other day that close to US$4-billion still hasn't been spent on FEMA programs that were supposed to be administered. Also, there was the news that only 50 or so FEMA trailers are in use in Jefferson Parish. All the others are gone.
But we maintain that you need to focus on people first. Sports can help you rebuild. On that point we can rally for plenty of space here on site. But if the Benson and Shinn families can't make it work, and the University of New Orleans is on the verge of cutting athletic programs and may have problems keeping their Division I status because of economic issues, and you can't help any of them...
Rebuild from the inside-out...
A pair of jeans with patches all over them to keep them fashionable just looks ugly over time.
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