Governor Bill Lee’s office made a presentation to the Tennessee House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee on his $500 million bond proposal for a new Titans stadium that included several generalizations with very few details.
Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Butch Eley, who functions as Lee’s chief financial officer, made the presentation on Tuesday.
The $500 million in bond funding for a new stadium was a portion of Lee’s office budget amendment presentation. That presentation did not include the specifics of the bond structure.
Lee’s office stated that the $500 million bonds investment will wind up returning more in tax revenue than was spent. Eley said the state will get 50 percent of the new tax revenue generated by the development of the new stadium and the surrounding area. He said that is in place already.
As that project develops, under the plan that additional tax revenue is slated to go towards the bond debt.
Eley told lawmakers in Tuesday’s presentation that it was important to the governor’s office to make a statement now, with the $500 million bond proposal. He said, “Then we’ll see what Metro Nashville does.”
He added that it’s up to the Titans to fill in gaps at the end, and that they will commit to be the “last dollar” on the project.
The plan includes tearing down of the existing Nissan Stadium, which is owned by Nashville Metro. The Titans’ 30-year lease term ends in 2029. A deal that includes a new stadium would allow the Titans to get out of that lease.
Metro Nashville’s financial contribution to the new stadium is unclear but The Tennessee Star previously reported that Mayor Cooper’s office left the door open to public funding. “The Mayor’s Office continues to work closely with Titans leadership to find a responsible stadium solution. The Titans are important to Nashville and we know that being here is important to the Titans. Planning is still very much underway, and we do not have new details to share at this time.”
The state kicked in $67 million in the late 1990s for the construction of Nissan Stadium while Metro Nashville provided more than $144 million.
Titans president Burk Nihill wants a new stadium to be ready to open for the 2026 NFL season, which, he notes, puts negotiations on an accelerated timeline.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Gov. Bill Lee. Background Photo “Nissan Stadium” by Tennessee Titans.
Bill Lee should not have the authority to spend the tax payers money without the tax payers blessing. If you want to put it to vote during the midterms elections, fine, but because you’re governor doesn’t mean Tennesseans should hand a blank check over to you for something a lot less important than say, roads, areas that need infrastructure, crime, inflation, etc
Kevin – Gov Bill Lee has gone to the politicians Biden school for grifters. Don’t you just love how “they” always say that taxpayer funded stadiums will generate revenue for the city/state? I’d like to know who and how this revenue is generated? Show the studies that prove this because all the studies I’ve heard about with these scam taxpayer stadium packages there is not one that proves this. The ones who benefit are the billionaire owners and multi-millionaire players.
I just do not see how or why the residents who have just had their property taxes increased by 37% should have to pay a single penny for a stadium that millionaires play in! Why can’t the players and coaches pay for this? At a time when buying groceries takes any and all of your “discretionary” pay, how in the H3LL do these politicians have the gall to add on to that with a freakin’ stadium! Just stunning! How dare they!
Who here remembers Bill Lee’s 2018 campaign slogan, “Government is not the answer”? What has changed? How is taking out $500 million dollars in State debt, right when inflation is going through the roof, and the whole economy and world is teetering on the edge, the “answer”?
Oh, but don’t worry, Bill Lee is going to give us a 30-day reprieve on grocery taxes! Big whoop! Do you know how to manufacture a “supply chain” crisis, create a run-on groceries within a 30-day window? It seems like Bill Lee does!
And isn’t it “funny” that one of the purported requirements for the new stadium is that it’s an indoor one. It takes A LOT of HVAC capacity, heating and air conditioning, to operate an indoor venue of that size. Gee, I wonder who might benefit for years and years from the installation and servicing of such a mammoth HVAC system? This seems like the Haslam gas tax deal all over again!