Cleveland City Councilmembers are furious that the city may foot a $20 million bill to cover capital improvements to Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
The homes of the Guardians and Cavaliers are owned by the non-profit Gateway Economic Corporation, and capital repairs on the two buildings are funded by the county’s sin tax, which was originally passed to build the two facilities.
But Gateway says the sin tax money isn't generating enough revenue for the stadium projects.
At Cleveland City Council’s finance committee meeting Monday, Councilmember Mike Polensek called the $20 million a tough request and said he’d like to see the teams’ owners — the Dolan family for the Guardians and Dan Gilbert for the Cavs — at council’s table to ask for the money.
"Do they really understand the problems in this city?” Polensek said. “The poverty, the despair, the lack of opportunity. Do they really get it?"
The teams make regular requests for repairs to the two facilities, which are then vetted and voted on by Gateway’s board. This round of requests includes elevator and heating system repairs. The full list comes to $44 million beyond what’s available from the sin tax.
Cuyahoga County is considering a request from Gateway for another $20 million. Representatives of Gateway told Cleveland's council they did not know where the final $4 million will come from.
Councilmember Brian Kazy told Gateway and representatives of the two teams that the handouts are getting old.
"I can't, for the life of me, fathom how this city can just hand out money the way we do for the billionaires that keep asking and asking,” Kazy said.
Gateway’s lease with the teams requires they pay for capital repairs and the teams could withhold rent payments if the repairs aren’t made.
When sin tax revenues aren’t enough to pay for repairs, Gateway has no other source of revenue except to come to the city and county, said Gateway Board Chairperson Virginia Benjamin. Council members criticized Benjamin and Gateway staff for failing to warn council earlier about the revenue shortfall.
“We have communicated with the city since the end of 2023 that there are projects that we have approved that we do not have funding for,” Benjamin said.
Those communications went to the mayor’s office and City Council President Blaine Griffin. Griffin encouraged council members, who expressed opposition to passing the $20 million at Monday’s meeting, to remember the city’s obligations under the leases.
“These are one of the situations where this council is following up on the actions of past administrations and past councils,” Griffin said. “There are a significant amount of obligations that led us to this point.”
That reminder did not satisfy the concerns of many council members, including Ward 15’s Jenny Spencer, who called for the legislation to be held while council researches alternative revenue sources, like a surcharge on tickets, instead of using money from the general fund.
“It always seems, when it comes to stadium funding, money just comes like a magic rabbit out of a hat, it just appears,” Spencer said. “But when it comes to other things that residents need, we don't have the money."
The city is looking into adding a surcharge to raise money for future repairs, Griffin said. Gateway officials also acknowledged that another $30 million request for repairs is coming before long.
Polensek, who represents the Collinwood neighborhood on the East Side, was the only member of the body who was in office at the time Gateway was created. He said he voted “no” back then.
“Look at the people who have blue tarps on their roofs in the city because they can't fix their friggin' roof,” said Polensek. “I mean, just look at what we are dealing with in our city. And, again, you guys got your hands out like people standing on Prospect Avenue."
The finance committee is holding the legislation and will continue discussions at its next meeting before it goes to the full council for a final vote.
