IRS issues new ruling on tax exempt bonds for sports facilities
October 22, 2008. Yesterday the IRS issued a long-awaited ruling that will make it harder, if not impossible, to finance the construction of future spots facilities with triple tax-exempt bonds, but the ruling grandfathers in financing for existing projects. Because the new restrictions don’t apply to projects that were “substantially in progress” as of October 19, 2006, this means that the Yankees and Mets will be able to secure millions in additional tax-free bonds for their new stadiums. Whether or not the proposed Nets Arena at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards was “substantially in progress” as of that date, and whether it will be eligible for the same financing scheme as the Mets and Yankees stadium, is debatable.
View GJNY's 2007 comments to the IRS on its proposal and our recent letter to New York City's Congressional delegation on the subject
View news links from the New York Daily News, The New York Times, and Atlantic Yards Report
View a statement by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn on whether the new IRS restrictions apply to the Nets Arena
This Friday, October 24, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich's Domestic Policy Subcommittee will hold a hearing into whether New York City officials improperly inflated the value of the land under the New Yankee Stadium in order to secure triple tax exempt bonds. Learn more here.