Dream34
Hakeem"the dream"Olajuwon
Straight off the sonics website. Big things? big changes???
Renton doesn't have Seattle's cool or Bellevue's bling, but the South King County suburb might soon have the Sonics.
Renton officials met Tuesday with Sonics executives to discuss the possibility of moving the team south to a brand new arena off Interstate 405 -- marking yet another chapter in the political saga surrounding the team's threat to leave Seattle unless it gets a better lease and a $220 million KeyArena renovation.
"If they are going to leave the city, we want them to know that there's an opportunity here for them to consider," said Alexander Pietsch, Renton's economic development administrator, who requested the meeting with developers and Sonics President Wally Walker and Vice President Terry McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, posturing continued in advance of today's meeting of the Seattle City Council's park committee, which is expected to approve a resolution directing Mayor Greg Nickels' negotiations with the team. Tuesday, Nickels' office offered grim thoughts on how those talks would go.
Not to be left out, the Sonics -- who weren't invited to this afternoon's City Council meeting -- offered their 2 cents Tuesday. Team owners sent the City Council more than six pages of objections to the proposed resolution.
The resolution says any deal should be funded by visitor taxes, be approved by voters, include funding for the arts and require the Sonics to pitch in a "significant amount." The Sonics responded with a letter that they'd contribute at least $18.3 million, far less than many Seattle politicos say is enough.
The Sonics told the city Tuesday it should keep negotiating for a lease regardless of state politicians' rejection Monday of Nickels' request for a tax package pledge because the team is "evaluating and working with proponents of possible projects for alternative facilities elsewhere in the county."
"Blah, blah, blah," responded City Councilman David Della, chairman of the park committee. "They just need to sit down and talk to us. We have a commitment to sit down and talk.
"Let's let the discussions bear out what resolution could occur on this thing or not."
And if the two sides hit an impasse, Renton is ready.
Tuesday's meeting was the second the city held with team officials on the idea of building an arena for the Sonics on a 68-acre plot of former Boeing Co. land where out-of-state developers are already planning 900 housing units, a 140-room hotel, a multiscreen cinema and 57,000 square feet of office space, Pietsch said. The project near the Park Avenue exit of I-405 is called "The Landing" and is set to break ground on its first work later this year, he said.
During the meeting, the Sonics officials and the city discussed possibly funding an arena through private finances and/or visitor taxes, Pietsch said.
"Their preference is staying in Seattle, (but) it's not clear if there's a deal to be had there," Pietsch said. Representatives of the developers and the Sonics' consultant were also at the meeting, which was a follow-up to a meeting they held April 14 with McLaughlin.
The Sonics also have previously held informal talks with leaders in Bellevue about possibly moving there, if they can get funding for an arena expected to cost at least $400 million.
Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis predicted it's more likely the team leaves the state if there's no deal struck in Olympia.
On Bellevue's odds, he said, "I think that's only in the Sonics' imagination, to be honest, considering its twice as much money (than) to stay at KeyArena."
Ceis also aimed to put Seattle on notice that if the Sonics' owners do leave town, it will be Olympia's fault. Monday, Gov. Christine Gregoire and Democratic legislative leaders rejected Nickels' plea that they commit their "full support" to a hypothetical tax package to subsidize the renovations if the city were to reach a deal with the team's owners.
Gregoire, who had supported the package in concept during the legislative session that adjourned in March, said she wasn't interested in issuing a "blank check" on a deal yet unknown.
A pair of tersely worded statements to that effect, released to the news media Monday, is the end of that discussion until the Legislature convenes in January, said state House Speaker Frank Chopp and Gregoire's office.
"The Sonics have some thinking to do," Ceis said. "And they have to for themselves gauge the reaction of the Legislature. ... I don't sense a strong commitment from the Legislature."
Still, in a memo to the City Council, Walker encouraged politicians to keep trying. "We do not envision completing an actual lease at this time -- just the basic terms of one."
Walker's memo called on the city to bring in a mediator and criticized Della's resolution -- saying it contained factual omissions and inaccuracies.
The nitpicking is misguided, Della said. "The resolution was meant to be very general."
As for the talks with Renton, Della said: "I don't care. ... "I'm not going to be pressured (by) rumors of them talking to other cities."
KEY MAKEOVER COSTS
During the legislative session, lawmakers discussed paying for a KeyArena renovation by extending "visitor taxes" now being used to pay for Qwest and Safeco fields beyond 2020. That effort failed.
Mayor Greg Nickels this week asked for legislative support for a hypothetical $220 million tax package, but state leaders were not receptive.
What it costs you
The largest chunk of stadium taxes is now being levied on restaurants and bars and is paid mostly by local residents eating out.
On the cheap
Single person
$5 a day on lunch Monday through Friday: $25 a week.
Dinner out once a week: $30
Total per week: $55
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $265.98
Stadium tax paid per year: $14.30
Two working parents
$5 a day on lunch, each: $50 a week for both.
Dinner out once a week: $50 for both
Total per week: $100
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $483.60
Stadium tax paid per year: $26
More realistic
Urban couple
Lunch Monday through Friday: $7 per day each
Dinner out once a week: $60 for both
$3 lattes three times a week: $9 each
Drinks once a week: $20 for both
Total per week: $168
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $812.45
Stadium tax paid per year: $43.68
Hey, big spender
Single, urban guy
Lunch Monday through Saturday: $10 per day
Coffee and snack twice a day, five days a week: $8 per day
Four dinners out per week: $20 each
After-work drinks: $30 a week
Total per week: $210
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $1,015.56
Stadium tax paid per year: $54.60
Restaurant tax
In King County, people pay a 9.3 percent sales tax for prepared food and drink. This "restaurant tax" includes regular state and local excise taxes, plus an extra 0.5 percent for Safeco Field. Once Safeco Field bonds are paid off (scheduled for 2012), the special tax is supposed to end.
According to the latest available survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Seattle households spent more than the national average in every major category of expenses with the exception of tobacco products. But Seattle consumers spent less of their food budgets on dining out than dining in. According to the survey, the average Seattleite spent $1,875 dining out in 2001-02. That would amount to $9.38 in special stadium taxes.
Renton doesn't have Seattle's cool or Bellevue's bling, but the South King County suburb might soon have the Sonics.
Renton officials met Tuesday with Sonics executives to discuss the possibility of moving the team south to a brand new arena off Interstate 405 -- marking yet another chapter in the political saga surrounding the team's threat to leave Seattle unless it gets a better lease and a $220 million KeyArena renovation.
"If they are going to leave the city, we want them to know that there's an opportunity here for them to consider," said Alexander Pietsch, Renton's economic development administrator, who requested the meeting with developers and Sonics President Wally Walker and Vice President Terry McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, posturing continued in advance of today's meeting of the Seattle City Council's park committee, which is expected to approve a resolution directing Mayor Greg Nickels' negotiations with the team. Tuesday, Nickels' office offered grim thoughts on how those talks would go.
Not to be left out, the Sonics -- who weren't invited to this afternoon's City Council meeting -- offered their 2 cents Tuesday. Team owners sent the City Council more than six pages of objections to the proposed resolution.
The resolution says any deal should be funded by visitor taxes, be approved by voters, include funding for the arts and require the Sonics to pitch in a "significant amount." The Sonics responded with a letter that they'd contribute at least $18.3 million, far less than many Seattle politicos say is enough.
The Sonics told the city Tuesday it should keep negotiating for a lease regardless of state politicians' rejection Monday of Nickels' request for a tax package pledge because the team is "evaluating and working with proponents of possible projects for alternative facilities elsewhere in the county."
"Blah, blah, blah," responded City Councilman David Della, chairman of the park committee. "They just need to sit down and talk to us. We have a commitment to sit down and talk.
"Let's let the discussions bear out what resolution could occur on this thing or not."
And if the two sides hit an impasse, Renton is ready.
Tuesday's meeting was the second the city held with team officials on the idea of building an arena for the Sonics on a 68-acre plot of former Boeing Co. land where out-of-state developers are already planning 900 housing units, a 140-room hotel, a multiscreen cinema and 57,000 square feet of office space, Pietsch said. The project near the Park Avenue exit of I-405 is called "The Landing" and is set to break ground on its first work later this year, he said.
During the meeting, the Sonics officials and the city discussed possibly funding an arena through private finances and/or visitor taxes, Pietsch said.
"Their preference is staying in Seattle, (but) it's not clear if there's a deal to be had there," Pietsch said. Representatives of the developers and the Sonics' consultant were also at the meeting, which was a follow-up to a meeting they held April 14 with McLaughlin.
The Sonics also have previously held informal talks with leaders in Bellevue about possibly moving there, if they can get funding for an arena expected to cost at least $400 million.
Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis predicted it's more likely the team leaves the state if there's no deal struck in Olympia.
On Bellevue's odds, he said, "I think that's only in the Sonics' imagination, to be honest, considering its twice as much money (than) to stay at KeyArena."
Ceis also aimed to put Seattle on notice that if the Sonics' owners do leave town, it will be Olympia's fault. Monday, Gov. Christine Gregoire and Democratic legislative leaders rejected Nickels' plea that they commit their "full support" to a hypothetical tax package to subsidize the renovations if the city were to reach a deal with the team's owners.
Gregoire, who had supported the package in concept during the legislative session that adjourned in March, said she wasn't interested in issuing a "blank check" on a deal yet unknown.
A pair of tersely worded statements to that effect, released to the news media Monday, is the end of that discussion until the Legislature convenes in January, said state House Speaker Frank Chopp and Gregoire's office.
"The Sonics have some thinking to do," Ceis said. "And they have to for themselves gauge the reaction of the Legislature. ... I don't sense a strong commitment from the Legislature."
Still, in a memo to the City Council, Walker encouraged politicians to keep trying. "We do not envision completing an actual lease at this time -- just the basic terms of one."
Walker's memo called on the city to bring in a mediator and criticized Della's resolution -- saying it contained factual omissions and inaccuracies.
The nitpicking is misguided, Della said. "The resolution was meant to be very general."
As for the talks with Renton, Della said: "I don't care. ... "I'm not going to be pressured (by) rumors of them talking to other cities."
KEY MAKEOVER COSTS
During the legislative session, lawmakers discussed paying for a KeyArena renovation by extending "visitor taxes" now being used to pay for Qwest and Safeco fields beyond 2020. That effort failed.
Mayor Greg Nickels this week asked for legislative support for a hypothetical $220 million tax package, but state leaders were not receptive.
What it costs you
The largest chunk of stadium taxes is now being levied on restaurants and bars and is paid mostly by local residents eating out.
On the cheap
Single person
$5 a day on lunch Monday through Friday: $25 a week.
Dinner out once a week: $30
Total per week: $55
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $265.98
Stadium tax paid per year: $14.30
Two working parents
$5 a day on lunch, each: $50 a week for both.
Dinner out once a week: $50 for both
Total per week: $100
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $483.60
Stadium tax paid per year: $26
More realistic
Urban couple
Lunch Monday through Friday: $7 per day each
Dinner out once a week: $60 for both
$3 lattes three times a week: $9 each
Drinks once a week: $20 for both
Total per week: $168
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $812.45
Stadium tax paid per year: $43.68
Hey, big spender
Single, urban guy
Lunch Monday through Saturday: $10 per day
Coffee and snack twice a day, five days a week: $8 per day
Four dinners out per week: $20 each
After-work drinks: $30 a week
Total per week: $210
Total restaurant excise taxes per year: $1,015.56
Stadium tax paid per year: $54.60
Restaurant tax
In King County, people pay a 9.3 percent sales tax for prepared food and drink. This "restaurant tax" includes regular state and local excise taxes, plus an extra 0.5 percent for Safeco Field. Once Safeco Field bonds are paid off (scheduled for 2012), the special tax is supposed to end.
According to the latest available survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Seattle households spent more than the national average in every major category of expenses with the exception of tobacco products. But Seattle consumers spent less of their food budgets on dining out than dining in. According to the survey, the average Seattleite spent $1,875 dining out in 2001-02. That would amount to $9.38 in special stadium taxes.
Don't worry, Shawn Kemp will save the day.
