During the last two years, I’ve written three articles discussing the obsession that some native leaders in New Mexico have with constructing a soccer stadium. In 2022, officers requested voters to fund a brand new stadium for the New Mexico United, the native soccer crew, which might have value taxpayers upwards of $50M and counting. As one native information station summarized it: “Voters overwhelmingly mentioned no”. Voters noticed by way of the faux promise of job creation and financial glory.
After a number of months handed, the concept of constructing a brand new soccer stadium but once more got here up, because of the mayor exhibiting up on a bit of property and telling the world that this may be “the long run house of a New Mexico United soccer stadium”. Oh, and town demanded $50 million from taxpayers for this new stadium, though the general public obtained no justification for that determine. After quite a few different native leaders famous how ridiculously rushed the method was turning into, this concept died down for some time.
Guess what’s coming again? A brand new soccer stadium! However excellent news for everybody as town has harassed that “no tax {dollars} shall be used to construct the stadium itself” and that the crew shall be paying for it “all”. Besides, only a few small issues.
“The (metropolis) council is ready to have a look at the tax incentives that will be supplied to New Mexico United for constructing their stadium at Balloon Fiesta Park…On Monday, town council is ready to go over the IRB, or industrial income bond, being supplied to NM United, to assist fund the stadium” — KRQE, 02/02/2025
Nonetheless, by claiming that no tax {dollars} can be utilized and that the crew can be accountable for your complete stadium development, town purposefully deceived the general public. New Mexico United is totally getting taxpayer assist to construct this new stadium. The crew shall be eligible for tax incentives that permit it to not pay any property taxes for the subsequent 20–30 years. For anybody who doesn’t know, IRB’s are tax incentives that permit a enterprise to restrict how a lot property tax that they are going to pay over the next 20–30 years.
Most common taxpayers don’t care if their sports activities crew are exempt from property taxes. However there’s a purpose so many sports activities groups require property tax exemption for a brand new sports activities venue. It saves them a LOT of cash. One estimate reveals (Per FieldOfSchemes.com) that 79% of the 126 stadiums and arenas for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS are absolutely exempt from property taxes. That signifies that cities have misplaced round $650 million {dollars} in property taxes. Issue within the constructing’s life for all groups, and we now have $18 billion {dollars} of misplaced income.
“There’s no purposeful distinction between a authorities reducing a sports activities crew proprietor a $100 million test and one granting them $100 million in tax breaks” — Geoffrey Propheter, “Main League Sports activities and the Property Tax” (2022)
When KOAT, an area information station, obtained their fingers on a lease settlement between the crew and town, they discovered if a stadium was constructed, there can be “a whole lot of taxes the New Mexico United soccer membership is not going to should pay”. One other subsidy would come from the crew being allowed to deduct “tools bought within the development” from their gross receipts tax invoice. Let’s not overlook the hundreds of thousands spent by taxpayers on the present house of New Mexico United. What else? We don’t know, and the crew received’t present us. Naturally, they are going to have “particulars to share” with the general public as soon as an “settlement is in place”. How good of them to indicate the general public as soon as the taxpayers can’t do something.
One different factor:
“Town has harassed that no tax {dollars} shall be used to construct the stadium itself….Nonetheless, town shall be paying $30 million to enhance the car parking zone, lights, in addition to loos at Balloon Fiesta Park the place the stadium shall be situated” — KRQE, 02/02/2025
When requested about this contradiction, the soccer crew responded in the way in which that you’d anticipate. They proceed to assert that this new stadium can be “privately funded” all of the whereas throwing in just a little menace about how this venture is useless and “can’t occur” with out the property tax financial savings and metropolis contribution.
