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Common Cause Board Member: Cobb Should Have Been More Straightforward About Stadium Costs

March 25th, 2014

A Common Cause Georgia board member says Cobb County officials were not as straightforward as they should have been about the total public cost of a new Atlanta Braves Stadium.

Common Cause board member Terry Taylor says even though county officials acknowledged annual payments of more than $17 million dollars with interest over 30 years, they did not use that total in their official communications. Instead, Taylor says county officials have repeatedly used a $300 million dollar figure when speaking about the public cost of the project. With interest, maintenance costs and other expenses, Taylor says Cobb taxpayers will actually be on the hook for at least twice that amount.

“Usually in stadium transactions or stadium deals you always get a lower number than what the outflow actually is. I think what we’re concerned with in Common Cause is what do people hear. Do they hear $300 million or do they hear $600 million? It’s not an accident that you hear the smaller number.”

But Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee says the county has always been upfront when discussing costs for the project.

“I think I was very fair and transparent to speak in project numbers that are reflective of what the community is most familiar with when talking about when we talk about an idea. We were also very clear when we said there would be annual costs associated with it and how that annual cost would be paid….When you talk about the total costs of the project you talk about the costs at the time you’re building it.”

In November, WABE reported with interest Cobb taxpayers are expected to pay at least $537 million dollars over 30 years. Common Cause says it’s not for or against the use of public financing for stadiums. Before the initial Braves stadium agreement, the group called for a referendum. Cobb County Commissioners chose not to put the issue on the ballot. Instead, commissioners approved the agreement about two weeks from when it was first announced publicly. Since that time, a commission critic and failed commission chairman candidate has filed ethics complaints against Lee and three other Cobb County Commissioners, claiming they violated their oaths of office when approving the deal. Lee says the charges are “baseless” and he believes they will be dismissed during an upcoming hearing on the matter.