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Speaker questions potential public costs if Haslam group prevails in stadium litigation
Summary
A resident asked council whether the Haslam group could force the city to pay $1.2 billion for a new stadium and questioned where demolition and related costs would come from, citing rising local project prices and recent property-tax increases.
Essey Williams, a Ward 2 resident, used the March 31 public-comment period to press City Council on potential public costs tied to litigation with the Haslam group over a proposed new stadium. Williams said no public money — city, county, or state — should be used for the stadium and asked whether the Haslams could win a court order requiring the city to pay $1.2 billion plus legal fees.
"No public money should be used for this stadium," Williams said. She asked where funds would come from to demolish the present stadium if the Haslam group were successful in court and noted other local capital projects she said were drawing public dollars, including a proposed new jail in Garfield. Williams said the jail project cost had been presented at $750 million when it was proposed but that the cost had risen "as of March of this year" to a higher, unspecified total; she also described steep property-tax increases for residents.
Williams urged councilmembers to consider the fiscal strain on residents and asked how long major corporations would be allowed to benefit from public subsidies while residents face tax increases.
Her remarks were delivered during the public-comment period; the council did not record a referral or vote on the Haslam litigation or stadium financing during the March 31 meeting.
