Here they are:
According to GoLocal Prov (6/29/17) the combined net worth of the group which is asking you to subsidize their Triple AAA stadium dreams is $8 to $10 billion. Patriot owner, Bob Kraft doesn’t come close to their wealth. Neither does Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. As for billionaire Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and founder of Quicken Loans, he’s a “piker” as well, ranking only number 15 in wealth to the Pawsox consortium who weigh in as number 10 as the richest folks owning sports teams.

Here you are:
You own or rent a home, make no more than $60,000 a year for a family of four or are on limited income, are paying taxes up the kazoo, and supporting your kids and paying for their education. Throw in the mortgage, maybe, and car payments. You are expected to be on the hook for $71 million dollars. That’s right! Despite all the fluff about how revenue from the baseball games and related activities and how the economic development of downtown Pawtucket will generate enough money to pay the bonds, the billionaires are refusing to guarantee the payment of the bonds. You, little guy, and your indentured family have to pay for any shortfall. By the way, while we are at it relative to how much you are on the hook for, you actually will owe many more millions since you have to borrow additional money to pay the costs of the bonds, bond counsel, and the 4 to 5 percent interest on the tax-free bonds over 30 years.

Mind you the “publicity” that the owners are putting in $45 million is pure hyperbole. Other than the 12 million upfront payments, the rest of their “contribution” is actually debt. The hope is that revenue from the ballpark will pay for that debt through lease payments which they’d have to pay anyway.

You alone are at risk if the revenue falls short. The billionaire boys aren’t guaranteeing with their personal signatures to pay another cent. So, while the big shots wax poetically about the fact that this isn’t 38 Studios, it actually is since you have to cough up the $71 million plus costs to pay the bonds. The Pawtucket municipal players are wordsmiths using expressions like “backstop” where the state would pay for the bonds with an amount calculated each year in the budget for the next 30 years.
My brother, Bud Violet, who is an expert on economic development, correctly noted that the state is not qualified to vet this transaction and ascertain the credit worthiness of the project which proffers that revenue will cover the bonds via its projections. This would be a challenge for the most sophisticated CPA firm to supply realistic projections and prepared by a knowledgeable firm in baseball operations who isn’t compromised by owners’ contracts. No private lender on earth would lend money. The state‘s analysis is based on pure puffery and gossamer wings.

So, why won’t the owners guarantee payments? Why should they when they think the state is full of suckers who just never question the reality that the owners don’t have enough faith in the viability of the project to be successful. They got enough fall guys out there.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.