Taxpayers burned by Abbotsford Heat deal

Abbotsford residents are learning a hard lesson about why we should ban politicians from spending tax dollars on private business. new report by Abbotsford city manager Frank Pizzuto reveals that ratepayers are being forced to shell out $1.76 million this year to the Abbotsford Heat — the privately owned AHL farm team of the NHL’s Calgary Flames — under the terms of a 10-year deal the city signed with the team to get them to play in the Fraser Valley community.

Under the contract — signed before the 2009-10 hockey season so Abbotsford would have an anchor tenant in its new $66-million Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre — the city guarantees that the team will receive $5.7 million a year in revenue. In 2009-10, city taxpayers were forced to pay just over $450,000. The shortfall grew to $1.31 million in 2010-11 and has now climbed to $1.76 million in 2011-12. Pizzuto says the Heat needs an average of 3,905 paying fans per game not to need a subsidy but only got 2,653.

According to the Abbotsford Times, Pizzuto is “optimistic about the future of the team in Abbotsford” and that the Heat “provide an excellent professional hockey experience.” Those may be true, but many people are asking why taxpayers were asked in the first place to subsidize a private business. The subsidy has grown every year, with no end in sight.

Like the Olympic Village in Vancouver, the Heat deal shows why amateur politicians should leave business to professionals so that taxpayers don’t get burned.