Is someone trying to hoodwink our councillors and city taxpayers into thinking that they won't have to pay almost entirely for the new Katz arena?
It seems the "restrictions" in Mayor Mandel's 17 point motion which councillors were forced to vote on before they left Wed. evening did not include
: a contract to keep the Oilers in Edmonton for 30 more years
: a contract to contribute $100 million to development of the area surrounding the arena and/or to the arena itself
: a stipulation that Mr. Katz would have to pay any cost overruns above the $450 million maximum cost
: a clear statement of who was going to pay the $325. million above what the City's contribution was allowed to be ( Empty promises won't suffice)
: mention of the City having to pay Mr. Katz the market value of the piece of land on which the arena is to be built (Were councillors aware of this?)
: mention of Mr. Katz' ending up " in receipt of all revenue streams from all events", despite his tiny contribution to the overall cost of an arena his team needs.
Our mayor and city manager seem to be forgetting how many projects they have already committed to, with taxpayer dollars:
"13 catalyst projects City Hall is counting on to revitalize downtown" , according to the Northlands article (What sane homeowner would attempt 13 renovations on an already strained budget???)
the $43 million zoo renovations and animal hospital addition, the new $340 million Royal Museum the Premier announced today, not to mention the LRT extensionsand road & bridge infrastructure improvements.
And then there's the outstanding Epcor loan of almost $1B used to create Capital Power ( a private business) with $3 B worth of our power generation assets last year.
Lastly, Edmontonians are facing ever-increasing utility costs and monthly fees (66% more, last I heard) , thanks to deregulation, and "required" new power-line construction.
Compare the $450 million cost of a new arena with the estimated $32 million cost of renovations to Rexall Place needed before 2023, according to Northlands. Given all the other projects the Mayor has lined up, one wonders why he's pushing the new arena for a private sports team owner. One also wonders if anyone's watching the debt side of the city ledger.
Do City Council think our pockets are bottomless? The taxes to pay for all these projects will come from us. What services or schools will we lose in order to pay for them?
It's time to rein in City spending on the line-of-credit, fellow citizens, before we end up in bankruptcy!
Aileen Tayler
#43, 4020 21 St
Edmonton, T6T 1T8
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