The St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved a $9 million increase to the construction budget of what had been a $54 million Lowertown ballpark, but not without asking some tough questions of the guys who are asking tough questions of the St. Paul Saints.
The minor league team, which will manage the ballpark, has offered to share between 5 and 10 percent of event profits with the city, in addition to paying annual rent. Some 160 events are planned at the 7,000-seat ballpark, most of them non-Saints related.
Here’s a bit of a catch: The city’s share of the proposed (but not finalized) profit-sharing arrangement would effectively stay within the ballpark, helping to pay back the city’s $6 million internal loan (which is covering most of the new budget increase), or go toward major ballpark capital improvements. That money would not go to the city general fund or to non-ballpark uses, said City Finance Director Todd Hurley.
So how does the city know it’s getting 5 to 10 percent of the Saints profits? “Do we get a chance to audit the Saints books … or do we just have to take their word for it?” said Council Member Dan Bostrom.
Hurley responded that an accountant provided by the Saints will be required to file an annual report each year that will explain annual revenue, expenses and profit-sharing, and the city will be allowed to take a closer look at the team’s finances if desired.
A grant agreement with the state has been on hold while the city identifies ways to close the $9 million budget gap, but that agreement will likely be finalized in August, as would a lease with the Saints, said Parks and Rec Director Mike Hahm. A bond sale would need to be approved by the city council in September.
The council hearing drew plenty of ballpark critics and supporters.
Lowertown composer Geoffrey Bush pointed to the overcrowded Dorothy Day Center for the homeless as evidence that the city should have more pressing priorities than paying for the construction of luxury baseball suites. He said the artists who have made the downtown warehouse district an attractive place to live will suffer in the face of rising rents or quality of life concerns.
“The Saturday Evening Post just featured Lowertown as one of the few (downtown) arts and culture districts in the country, just as we ramp up efforts to turn it into a sports and drinking (district),” Bush said. “What we have is a very strong and powerful statement about the priorities of wealth and privilege.”
Hamline-Midway resident Tom Goldstein, a frequent critic of public funding for privately-managed sports facilities, said the city needs to focus on its troubled police laboratory, restaurant and grocery health inspections that have been taken over by the state, and other management challenges.
Goldstein said the public hearing, like other efforts to involve the public in planning the ballpark, was “a rubber stamp for a decision that has already been made.”
Council members, who voted 6-0 in favor of the ballpark budget amendment, said they weighed their decision carefully and felt better after hearing the budget presentation. Council Member Russ Stark was absent from the meeting.
“Downtown St. Paul is in a little bit of trouble,” said interim Ward 1 Council Member Nathaniel Khaliq. “We need a shot in the arm. I know it’s a risk. It’s somewhat of a gamble. But in my mind, I’m somewhat reassured.”