Lars Larson assesses the impact on taxpayers from the ownership change of the Portland Trail Blazers and the team’s arena situation
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
I’d love to see ‘Blazers stay in Portland.
Tom Dundon, who crafted the deal to buy the team, says he “plans” to do just that.
Hang onto your wallets, folks.
The average NBA arena is 16 years old. Moda Center, almost twice that.
Dundon seems almost certain to demand a facelift for the Blazers home court.
Trust fund kid (former Portland Mayor) Teddy Wheeler foolishly agreed to buy the Moda for a dollar last year, right before he slinked out of the mayor’s office.
Wheeler gave up more than a million bucks in property taxes and took on the obligation of renovation.
What’s that gonna cost? No one really knows. The Washington Wizards are watching their own renovation of Capitol One Arena right now.
Price tag? $800 million.
We’re told Dundon will pay $4 billion for the team. If he’d bought it still strapped to a run-down arena, you can bet that price tag would have been lower.
So Mayor Wheeler’s “Moda for a dollar” deal put all those costs ON the taxpayers and the savings IN the pockets of billionaires.
If you tell me major stadia must be subsidized, I’ll tell you to look at the SoFi, Metlife, Gillette and Chase stadiums
If they don’t fix it up and Dundon moves the Blazers … say to Seattle … Portland has a second white elephant right next to Memorial Coliseum without a major tenant.
If they do fix it up and keep the team, taxpayers … 75 percent of whom don’t regularly watch NBA games … get the bill.
- Opinion: Why lawmakers are going after your pension
Ryan Frost argues lawmakers included public pensions in the income tax law in preparation for lowering the $1 million deduction. - Opinion: Washington has an income tax – why won’t the media call it one?
Cargill argues the media is using supporters’ preferred label “millionaires tax” instead of the legally accurate term “income tax.” - POLL: How do you think higher impact fees for school districts affect housing affordability in Clark County?
Clark County Council raised impact fees for La Center, Hockinson, and Woodland school districts, drawing pushback from the Building Industry Association. - Opinion: Impaired walking vs. impaired driving; pick neither
Doug Dahl argues impaired driving remains deadlier than walking impaired when measured by exposure time, not miles traveled. - Opinion: When the same money helps fund the program and the story
Peter Bracchi examines how the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund supports Vancouver’s HART program, the Bridge Shelter, and Community Funded Journalism covering the same policy arena.