2/23/07: The Washington Post - Funding Plan for Soccer Stadium Denounced

Some District residents are skeptical of public funding.(By Alexandra Garcia -- Washingtonpost.com)

By David Nakamura

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 23, 2008

Ninety D.C. residents and 17 organizations co-signed a letter to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) denouncing a proposal to use public tax money to fund construction of a soccer stadium in Southeast.

In a private meeting with the council last week, Fenty had laid out the possibility of using excess tax revenue that was being collected to service debt on the Nationals ballpark to borrow $150 million in construction bonds for a 27,000-seat stadium for D.C. United. The coalition said in the letter that city leaders should either pay off the baseball stadium debt faster or use the excess taxes for other city services.

"Every penny of public subsidy going into a soccer stadium is a penny that could be used to improve services that DC residents really care about -- health care, education, a clean environment, good libraries, decent housing, and healthy recreation spaces," the letter said.

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