PawSox stadium deal gets new life at Statehouse
Mattiello: Revised PawSox ballpark plan would remove taxpayer risk
PAWTUCKET – The House Finance Committee on Thursday will vet a revised deal that would finance a downtown Pawtucket Red Sox ballpark and the new approach has the support of House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, as it removes the risk to state taxpayers.
The original legislation, House officials said, was predicated on a state backing but revisions would remove that backing and accompanying taxpayer risk if the deal does not pay for itself.
The key change in the bill from what was introduced earlier this year is that the state will no longer be the guarantor. The bonds issued by the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency to support the project will be paid back from revenues generated in the district, including the team’s lease payment. The state would contribute the same amount as it would have lost if the team moved out of state, House officials said.
“But importantly, the state will not ultimately be responsible for these bonds if the deal doesn’t pay for itself,” House officials said.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien said he’s had confidence in the PawSox staying in Pawtucket for two years now, going back to when discussions first began, but he knew Mattiello’s concerns about mitigating risk were a key factor in seeing the project to fruition.
Grebien said members of his team had been working with the House Speaker’s team over the last few months to discuss potential options that would earn the Speaker’s blessing.
“We feel better with the Speaker on board,” Grebien said, noting that the House was the last piece of the puzzle.
“I had confidence over the last two years that it was the right thing for Pawtucket, the Blackstone Valley, and Rhode Island,” the mayor said. “Nobody wants to lose the PawSox or the economic development.”
“What the Speaker wanted was to get where there was no risk and we appreciate his support,” the mayor said.
The debt will be more expensive, House officials said, but that’s considered the “trade-off” to removing taxpayer risk, because the original deal had the state as the backstop and thus there would have been a lower interest rate.
Mattiello unveiled the revised bill at a Democratic caucus and it was met with enthusiasm, officials said. “I have been reluctant to move forward with prior versions of the deal because of the risk to the state’s taxpayers,” Mattiello said in a statement emailed on Tuesday evening. “This alternative envisions segregating revenues generated in a new Tax Increment Financing District to ensure that revenues from the project will be directly tied to the debt payments, and the project will stand or fall on its own.”
Between the ballpark and the transit-oriented development that will be spurred from the arrival of a commuter rail station on the Pawtucket and Central Falls city line, Grebien said he sees an “anchor” and “great opportunity.”
The ballpark and train station, he said, could be beneficial not just to downtown Pawtucket, but the city as a whole, saying that the stadium and other projects could create an “economic boom.”
“Ancillary development will happen,” he said, before noting that he and his team have been careful “not to overpromise.” But when he looks at Triple-A stadiums around the country, the mayor says “we know development is going to happen.”
“There’s not a major risk there with the additional revenue and ancillary development,” Grebien said.
In an email to The Times on Tuesday night, the PawSox response was: “We are somewhat surprised by this new development. While we were shown a draft over this holiday weekend, we have yet to see the legislation posted today.”
“We will study the proposed legislation in detail when we receive it, to assess the viability and appeal of what we believe is a whole new departure,” the response stated.
“This concept still needs to be put through its paces starting with a House Finance Committee hearing,” Mattiello said. “There will be plenty of opportunities for feedback.”
There will not be a vote from the Finance Committee on Thursday, instead it will be a hearing with input and testimony. If approved by the Finance Committee, the revised bills would need to still be voted on by the full House and State Senate.