Ohio County Stadium Debts Force Government To Sell Hospital, Raid Savings

from HuffPost:


If Hamilton County officials in Ohio were to post a sign outside Drake Center, a Cincinnati hospital the county plans to sell this week, the pitch might strike potential buyers as a little desperate:



Nearly 20 years after county officials promised that public financing for a pair of professional sports stadiums would help usher in a new era of economic vitality, the reality is somewhat different. The county's agreement to build new stadium facilities for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cincinnati Reds has been described as "one of the worst professional sports deals ever struck by a local government" by the Wall Street Journal. Now, the county is poised to sell Drake Center at a price that critics say is far too low, just to cover one year of stadium debts and related promises. Even the planned sale won't stop the county from having to raid its rainy day fund to cover a $1.4 million budget shortfall.

"I don't think the commission would describe it this way, but what we seem to be getting are a bunch of made-up last-minute excuses to justify what is basically a fire sale," said Dusty Rhodes, Hamilton County's auditor. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/ohio-county-stadium-debts-cincinnati-bengals-reds_n_1347733.html