re: Would you rather watch the Braves in Cobb?

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SquatchDawg

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First of all, I have 2 financial planning clients that are on the Cobb Co. Board of Commissioners, one of which is Bob Ott. I have discussed at length with him all about the stadium project. And yes, I got to know these folks because most of my rental properties are in Cobb Co. and I've been flipping homes and brokering commercial properties in Cobb for almost 15 years now. Candace Ellison and I know each other by the sound of our voices on the phone, we talk so much. She's the CCC. Her assistant, Barbara, has my cell on speed dial. My parents still live in Cobb Co. and my dad is a retired Judge for Cobb Co. Magistrate. I graduated from Sprayberry in 1990, got my masters from Kennesaw, and lived around Cobb for probably 20 years.

Over the next 5-7 years, those numbers I stated will come to be. All those jobs, all those businesses, all those residences, and all those hotels.

Hell, Post Properties is already buying up property off Spring road and north of Paces Ferry for new apartment complexes. Those 2 locations alone will likely bring 500 new residents to the area.

Pulte Homes is currently working on a large chunk of land just south and west of Powers Ferry for a new home community as well.

The mixed development property right around the stadium is going to have a bunch of new residential housing and at least 5 new hotels.

As for the money, I've been selling 15-30 year Cobb Co. muni bonds for 12 straight years. This is the norm. They've ALWAYS had them as revenue generators, with or without the stadium project.

Also, the cutbacks/slimming down are merely government efficiency and redundancy measures that were already in the plans way before the stadium project was even proposed. The furlough days are makup days for weather SNAFU's that happened last year. Teachers losing jobs is because of a couple school closings. All of which has nothing to do with the funding of the stadium project.

In 2012, Cobb had a $19M revenue SURPLUS. In 2013, they had a fully balanced budget. Under-funded pensions have nothing to do with the yearly budget. They are not "un-funded" liabilities. They just don't have future fund projections meeting future cost projections at this point. But that can change for all sorts of reasons. Right now, they easily meet budget needs and then some every year.

They have multiple funds that they will pull from to pay for the stadium and then yes, they will replenish those funds with tax revenues, which I already explained. They do have the cash on hand for this. They will be self-financing.

1. 6,100,000 From Braves
2. 8,670,000 Reallocation of property taxes (no change, would have been paid with or without the project)
3. 940,000 Existing hotel-motel tax (no change, just reallocation)
4. 5,150,000 New .3 mil tax on property within stadium district (Of course, you're in a special prime money making district, you pay for prime real estate... DUH!)
5. 2,740,000 New $3/night room tax on hotels within the stadium district (And this only effects out of towners, not the local residents.. DUH!)
6. 400,000 New Rental Car tax (same thing, this only effects out of towners, not the local residents of Cobb Co., so big whoop!).

For a total of $24 million a year, plus built in inflation kickers if interest rates rise, which they surely will eventually.

And these are projections with current figures. It doesn't even account for the new businesses, new hotels, new jobs, and increasing population to the county over time.

It's not like all this will happen overnight. It will be gradual, but it will happen.

I, for one, dig that I can jump on Macland Rd. in Dallas & make one turn(left onto Cumberland Bvld.) to get to the new park...

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Reading between the lines it looks like most of this growth would have occurred regardless of whether the stadium was built or not.

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Nope. Cause and effect situation here. We're going to have people/organizations/companies building new bars, restaurants, shops, hotels, and other assorted businesses in and around this area simply because there's millions of more potential customers traveling through that area as a result of the ballpark. This is all NEW money that wouldn't have come there otherwise.

The area is and has been already very built up and doing very well. Now its going to explode to the point that existing business can't handle the quantity (bars and restaurants, for instance), so more will have to be built to accommodate this.

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And using the term "reallocated" as a synonym for "free money" is completely disingenious. This money would've have been spent on other needs but now is being diverted.

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It doesn't matter. There's going to be NEW revenues coming in, as I just explained. Whatever projects the money was previously allocated to are not simply gone. They will be covered by new revenues generated by the 2-3 million NEW people who will be coming through that area every baseball season.

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I do find it remarkable that as a financial planner you'd make this statement. So, as my planner if I'm 50% light on where I need to be now to hit the number I told you to hit for my retirement, I'm not underfunded? No need to maybe put more away? Will I just grow my way into it? What if rates rise as you expect? Think that fixed income portfolio is going to take a hit?

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Huh? I specifically said they ARE "under-funded", which does not mean "un-funded". Two separate things.

If I design a financial plan for you, and determine that you need $5 million at age 65 to retire, live like you want to live, and not risk running out of money... but today, at this moment, you only have $1 million in investment assets, then guess what, you're "under-funded" by $4 million.

But you got 25 years to grow that investment portfolio and get to your funding goal.

Well that's how Cobb's pension fund looks. They are meeting budget needs every year and are not doing any sort of deficit spending or borrowing to cover todays pension needs. And guess what, the Braves stadium is simply an "investment" designed to grow their portfolio assets so that in the future, as their pension needs grow, they will be able to meet those needs financially.

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So...we're not raising your taxes. It's just that we're going to "reallocate" the taxes you're paying now to pay off the stadium once the bonds we originally sold you on are paid off. It won't impact your police and fire because this is debt service. Once we pay of the debt, we could reallocate this to fire, police, etc....or even reduce the millage so you can keep your money...but what fun is there in that? We need your money more than you do. frick you taxpayer...

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Again, Huh? They're not raising taxes (except the .3 mil inside the stadium district), so you're saying the tax payer is getting fricked because they're not raising taxes? Or because they're not lowering taxes?

I hate taxes as much as anyone, but come on. That logic doesn't fly. The county is adding a professional baseball stadium and it's not costing you anything extra for Christ sakes, and this upsets you?

Hell, the fact I don't have to drive downtown anymore is worth it, if nothing else. In fact, if I lived in say, North Cobb, and they wanted to charge me .3 mil more (which is about $50 bucks per $200k of property) I'd GLADLY shout hell yes for the simple fact they're saving me that much in gas not having to drive downtown and sit in traffic for 2 hours every game I attend.

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They are issuing revenue bonds and paying them off plus interest with tax revenue. This is borrowing money. You're obviously connected so I recommend you call your buddies and advise them that their own press releases are in error.

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There are not going to be any "Braves Stadium Project 30 year Municipal Bonds" issued for this. TRUST ME!!!!!

The only bonds being issued are for existing county services bonds that they always issue virtually every freaking year. And again, they may "re-allocate" those monies temporarily (ie. BORROW is the technical term for this particular situation), but they will be re-funded/re-allocated right back upon revenue receipts each budget balance.

The SEC does not allow municipalities to just randomly register and issue bonds for a specific project under a general use name. If there were going to be bonds specifically for the stadium project, they would be issued as exactly that. But there aren't.

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You pay for prime real estate through the market price of the property....which also results in a higher tax value...which produces higher taxes. Now, Cobb has decided that they can apply higher millage on top of the higher market price. You're cool with that? I hope they don't determine your rentals are in a prime money making district....

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Yes, absolutely cool with that.

3 of my rental properties will be within 2 miles of the new stadium and I will be subject to this new district tax on all 3.

But who freaking cares. The value of all 3 homes is going to go up by at least 30% AND i'm going to be able to charge at least 20-30% more rent. I'm going to cover 5 years worth of that new tax difference after the first month's new rent charge.

2 of my 3 renters are currently begging me to lock in a new long term rental contract and I've had to tell them sorry. That would be throwing away money and foolish. Come 2017, they'll either be staying and paying more rent or i'll have new renters in there paying more.

And this is going to be the case for EVERYONE around that area who is a business generating revenue inside that district. If you're a simple homeowner, your main benefit will be increased property value. If they're smart, they'll move and just rent out their house that's inside the district. Businesses are going to have potentially 2-3 million new customers, so they're going to reap significant benefits above some measly .3 mil tax.

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I do find it interesting how your typical small govt. conservative can go all in on higher taxes and govt. money if it's something they like.

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I'm with on this one. I get annoyed at those people who use taxes as a reason to legalize something, too. Whatever arguments you want to make, make them, but if you are for smaller government and lower taxes, leave tax revenue out of it unless it is about fewer/lower taxes.

If we could put half the effort of getting Dale Murphy into the Hall of Fame as we do discussing the move of a stadium to Cobb County, maybe we could get somewhere. THE MAN CARRIED THE SOUTHEAST ON HIS BACK FOR A DECADE C'mon!

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Would you rather watch the Braves in Cobb? quote: SquatchDawg First of all, I have 2 financial planning clients that are on the Cobb Co. Board of Commissioners, one of which is Bob Ott. I have discussed at length with him all about the stadium project. And yes, I got to know these folks because most of my rental properties are in Cobb Co. and I've been flipping homes and brokering commercial properties in Cobb for almost 15 years now. Candace Ellison and I know each other by the sound of our voices on the phone, we talk so much. She's the CCC. Her assistant, Barbara, has my cell on speed dial. My parents still live in Cobb Co. and my dad is a retired Judge for Cobb Co. Magistrate. I graduated from Sprayberry in 1990, got my masters from Kennesaw, and lived around Cobb for probably 20 years. Over the next 5-7 years, those numbers I stated will come to be. All those jobs, all those businesses, all those residences, and all those hotels. Hell, Post Properties is already buying up property off Spring road and north of Paces Ferry for new apartment complexes. Those 2 locations alone will likely bring 500 new residents to the area. Pulte Homes is currently working on a large chunk of land just south and west of Powers Ferry for a new home community as well. The mixed development property right around the stadium is going to have a bunch of new residential housing and at least 5 new hotels. As for the money, I've been selling 15-30 year Cobb Co. muni bonds for 12 straight years. This is the norm. They've ALWAYS had them as revenue generators, with or without the stadium project. Also, the cutbacks/slimming down are merely government efficiency and redundancy measures that were already in the plans way before the stadium project was even proposed. The furlough days are makup days for weather SNAFU's that happened last year. Teachers losing jobs is because of a couple school closings. All of which has nothing to do with the funding of the stadium project. In 2012, Cobb had a $19M revenue SURPLUS. In 2013, they had a fully balanced budget. Under-funded pensions have nothing to do with the yearly budget. They are not "un-funded" liabilities. They just don't have future fund projections meeting future cost projections at this point. But that can change for all sorts of reasons. Right now, they easily meet budget needs and then some every year. They have multiple funds that they will pull from to pay for the stadium and then yes, they will replenish those funds with tax revenues, which I already explained. They do have the cash on hand for this. They will be self-financing. 1. 6,100,000 From Braves 2. 8,670,000 Reallocation of property taxes (no change, would have been paid with or without the project) 3. 940,000 Existing hotel-motel tax (no change, just reallocation) 4. 5,150,000 New .3 mil tax on property within stadium district (Of course, you're in a special prime money making district, you pay for prime real estate... DUH!) 5. 2,740,000 New $3/night room tax on hotels within the stadium district (And this only effects out of towners, not the local residents.. DUH!) 6. 400,000 New Rental Car tax (same thing, this only effects out of towners, not the local residents of Cobb Co., so big whoop!). For a total of $24 million a year, plus built in inflation kickers if interest rates rise, which they surely will eventually. And these are projections with current figures. It doesn't even account for the new businesses, new hotels, new jobs, and increasing population to the county over time. It's not like all this will happen overnight. It will be gradual, but it will happen.

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I think. I just found my next best friend!