$30 million in federal tax dollars spent on new MLB spring training facilities in Arizona (from White House 'stimulus' fund)

• The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies will get new spring training facilities courtesy of the US taxpayer. Dollar amount teams will contribute if any said to be "confidential."

"A big chunk of the money that will pay for a new spring-training baseball complex on tribal land in the East Valley will be delivered via a financing program that's part of the federal economic-stimulus plan.

• The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community says it may borrow as much as $30 million of the estimated cost of the $100 million complex near Scottsdale that will become the spring home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies.

The tribe applied for the $30 million through a $1 billion stimulus-bond program that is

• part of the federal recovery plan.

The government announced this week that the tribe had been awarded $22.56 million in bonding authority in the program, the maximum because there were more applications than expected.

• Instead of accepting the bonding authority, the tribe has decided to take advantage of
• new rules for tax-exempt financing that came as part of the stimulus act, a spokesman said. Those new rules will let the tribe apply for up to $30 million through a tax-exempt loan program with a bank. The rules also redefine what sort of projects can be financed that way,
• beyond basics such as infrastructure.

The stimulus program increased the borrowing limit on such loans from $10 million to $30 million. That gives the tribe the ability to borrow that amount from a

• bank that gets tax incentives for making the loan. The bank can pass on the cheaper cost of borrowing....

The $1 billion was the first round of a $2 billion bonding-authority program that lets tribes issue bonds to raise money. ...

• He declined to say what the baseball teams may be contributing to the project, saying that was part of a confidential agreement.

The complex will have a ballpark with 11,000 seats, 12 practice fields, and office and training facilities. The 140-acre site is near Loop 101 and Indian Bend Road."...*****

• From MLB.com, no mention of the $30 million taxpayer funding:

• 1/10/10: "A state-of-the-art facility is the new norm for Spring Training.

The Reds' $23 million complex features six full practice fields plus two half-fields for infield work, and space for agility drills. There are multiple bullpens and covered batting cages. The facility also features a 43,000 square foot, two-story building for offices, clubhouses and rehabilitation.

• "It's a new chapter for us," said Dick Williams, Reds vice president of baseball operations. ...

The Reds are the latest team to make the move to the Phoenix area but they will not be the last. ...

• Next year, the Rockies and the D-backs will leave Tucson for a new facility

• on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Native American Community land near Scottsdale."...

Reference: "Stimulus money will help build East Valley baseball complex," AZ.com, by Glen Creno, 9/17/09

• MLB.com, "Cactus league expands from humble roots" 1/10/10 by Jesse Sanchez

Further evidence why MLB is such a reliable source of government propaganda-they are business partners with Beltway bureaucrats. Perhaps baseball can be squeezed in somewhere but fans may get tired of having the game sold out to government profiteers. ed. via mention on a terrestrial radio program

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