What's In It For The Taxpayers?

The Indy Star ran an article today on the lavish nature of the soon-to-be-built Colts stadium.

Fireplaces in club lounges. Pool tables in the quarterback suites. Wireless Internet access throughout. A little more room in the seat.

The nearly 500-page stadium plan released Monday details how nearly every inch of the new building will look and be used -- from the size of potted plants to the width of the seats.

Why not make it lavish? After all, the taxpayers are paying for it! Interestingly, the article's headline reads, "What's in it for the fans"? The better question is in my headline, "What's in it for the taxpayers"? Certainly not a thank you, as Sam Goldstein pointed out in the Sunday Star.

No thanks for people footing the big bill

I was just watching the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Downtown stadium and I heard Mayor Peterson thank a wide range of people for their support in getting this boondoggle. The only group the mayor forgot to thank was the long-suffering taxpayers of Marion County and now most of the surrounding counties.

We have funded facilities for professional sports teams and still have storm sewers that do not function, and our public safety professionals are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. We have given tax breaks to corporations who leave town without consequence while many homeowners are at risk of losing their property due to outrageous tax increases.

I would ask Mayor Peterson and the tax-and-spend Democrats and Republicans on the City-County Council to keep this in mind. The Libertarian Party of Marion County certainly will over the next two years.

Sam Goldstein
Vice Chair, Libertarian Party of Marion County
Indianapolis