Future of publicly funded stadium project in doubt after commissioners delay vote

GREENSBORO — The Guilford County Board of Commissioners’ vote to table a decision on High Point’s proposed downtown stadium casts doubt on the project’s future.

“With the commissioners’ decision to delay the vote, the City Council will have to evaluate its options. So we’ll see,” High Point Mayor Bill Bencini told CJ after the Sept. 21 meeting.

Bencini’s hope — and the hope of many stadium advocates who rode a chartered bus from High Point to Greensboro to voice their support — was that commissioners would sign off on the tax increment financing plan to help fund construction of the $35 million baseball stadium.

Plans call for the ballpark to house an independent Atlantic League minor league team, with the first pitch tentatively scheduled for the 2019 season.

In addition, High Point University president Nido Qubein has led an effort to raise $50 million in private development — which would include hotels and apartments — within the proposed 649-acre TIF district surrounding the stadium site.

TIF is an acronym for tax-increment financing, a subsidy that eases the tax burden for a company with the idea of using that money to develop a community or site.

But High Point needed commissioners’ support to borrow the money that would ostensibly be paid back with the increased tax revenue from the new development. Commissioners first expressed skepticism during a Sept.7 meeting after they were presented with a spreadsheet documenting the proposed district’s 11 percent decline in tax value since 2008.

Some commissioners argued the 11 percent figure was skewed due to the inclusion of properties that aren’t taxed, such as churches, High Point Regional Hospital and property owned by the city.

Commissioner Hank Henning chastised county officials for “sloppy” work by not removing untaxed properties.

“The numbers they’re using to start this conversation are completely inadequate,” Henning said.

Commissioners were more conciliatory after the recent public hearing and said they want the project to succeed. But more homework is required.

“High Point does need this, and I support the project in principle,” Henning said. “But we have to have time to do our due diligence.”

“I hope High Point leaders will take this opportunity for a rest,” said Commissioner Justin Conrad, who also questioned the numbers.

With these questions in mind, Commissioner Skip Alston made the motion to table the issue for 60 to 90 days in an effort to persuade the majority of commissioners the plan was sound.

“I think the board can get to a ‘yes,’ but you don’t want us to vote tonight because it will be an overwhelming ‘no,’” Alston told the many supporters in the audience. “But we will get to a ‘yes.’ I believe we will.”

While Bencini didn’t address commissioners during the public hearing, High Point City Council member Jay Wagner and current High Point mayoral candidate Bruce Davis expressed their support

“Make no mistake about it — I understand the gravity of decision you have to make,” said Davis, a former Guilford County commissioner. “Please think about the fact that you have the power to change the outlook of a city. Let’s come together and do something that will benefit the entire county.”

Opponents didn’t question the project itself — just the fact that taxpayers could potentially be on the hook.

“If the stadium works, great. But why is it the role of government to build a stadium?” asked High Point resident Jeremy Williams.

Following discussion and debate, commissioners voted 8-1 to approve Alston’s motion tabling the issue, with Carlvena Foster — who represents High Point — casting the lone ‘no’ vote.

“The citizens of High Point have said loud and clear they want this catalyst project,” Foster said.

The John Locke Foundation has not only consistently questioned using public financing for stadiums and other entertainment venues but also the idea of using tax increment financing to do so.

“Advocates say TIFs do not impose a burden on taxpayers. In reality, they have no cost in the same way that having withholding taxes from your paycheck has no cost. The money used to pay the debt service is not available for other needed services, even in the TIF district itself,” wrote Joseph Coletti, JLF’s senior fellow for fiscal policy, in an analysis of tax increment financing. “Taxpayers are just as exposed to the costs, which are higher than with other forms of debt.”