Players are in camp and the annual rite that is Spring Training is underway.  Life is good, although news from camp has been slow.  That doesn’t mean that things aren’t happening.  Unfortunately for the Cubs, most of the news for them in Arizona has been off the field.

Opposition to the plan to fund the Cubs new spring Training facility put forth by Arizona House Majority Leader John McComish continues to build.   The plan calls for an 8% tax on all Spring Training tickets.  Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the White Sox, is leading the charge against the proposed legislation.  Now, all of the MLB owners with Spring Training facilities in Arizona have gone on record as opposed to the funding plan.  MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has also voiced his opposition to the plan.

The thing that gets me about the opposition is how hypocritical it is.  In essence, the crux of the opposition is that it is unfair for fans of the other 14 teams in the Cactus League to help pay for the Cubs Spring Training facility.  Is it more fair for an Arizona resident who has no interest in baseball at all to pay a tax that would help build the facility?  Remember, most of the MLB owners opposed to the current plan have already received taxpayer funding to help build and/or maintain their Spring Training facilities.  These are the same owners who have no problem charging their fans premium ticket prices when the Cubs come to town.  “It’s okay to gouge the fans,” these owners seem to be saying, but only if the money goes in the owners’ pockets.

The solution being offered by Bud Selig and MLB is that the state should simply use tax-increment financing.  This method of financing has been used in the past to finance big projects.  The idea is that the projects will eventually generate tax dollars, so the state (or county) will front the money to the developer to build the project and then they’ll get the money back once the taxes start to flow in.  It’s a nice idea, but is currently not allowed in Arizona.  For Selig’s plan to work, the Arizona Legislature would first have to propose, debate, and pass a bill that would allow the state to use tax-increment financing.  It’s a little naive on Selig’s part to expect all of this to happen before the end of the year.

In addition to MLB owners and Bud Selig, opposition is mounting at the grassroots level to oppose any referendum that comes before the voters of Mesa to help fund the Cubs new facility.  Initially, Mesa voters were told that no local taxes would be used to fund the project.  However, even if the tax plan being proposed in the Arizona Legislature passes unaltered, it will likely only raise about $58 million.  That’s $26 million less than the anticipated cost of the new facility.  Mesa taxpayers will be looked to for at least part of the shortfall.    Because of this, local opposition in Mesa is already mounting.

The way the deal will work if everything falls into place is that the Cubs will purchase a piece of land and then turn it over to the City of Mesa.  Mesa will build a new ballpark on the land and then give the Cubs exclusive rights to use the stadium, other buildings, and land.  The Cubs will not have to pay rent.

Because of this proposed arrangement,  the biggest threat to the funding proposal may come from the conservative Goldwater Institute in Arizona.  Clint Bolick, Director of the Institute, pointed to a recent Arizona court decision that makes it unconstutional for a government entity (in this case, the City of Mesa) to provide a benefit to a private entity (the Cubs) without receiving a commensurate benefit in return.  According to Bolick, the only thing the Cubs are offering is to show up, which is inadequate under the Arizona Supreme Court decision. 

As Bolick points out in his op-ed piece in the East Valley Tribune:

Any baseball fan would want to have the Cubs here. And certainly the Cactus League is a valuable asset. But at some point, incentives become illegal subsidies, and taxpayers are asked to do too much.

Whether the current proposal is unconstutional or not is almost immaterial.  If the proposal draws a lawsuit and a long and costly legal battle ensues, the Cubs new Spring Training home will be in jeopardy.  If the Goldwater Institute files a lawsuit, how expensive will it be for the State and/or the City of Mesa to fight it?  Will they be willing to fight it?  What will it cost?  At what point does support of the proposal become more trouble than it’s worth?

And from the Cubs prospective, do they really want to get themselves in the middle of this fight?  When they agreed to negotiate exclusively with the City of Mesa, they were given assurances that funding for the project would be found.  If funding becomes a big question mark (bigger than it is now), are the Cubs better off turning their attention to Naples?

I know there is a large and vocal portion of Cubs fans who believe they should stay in Arizona come hell or high water.  But at what point does the effort become futile?  Naples is offering to build a Spring Training home for the Cubs using primarily private money.  The tax money that would be needed for the project has already been approved.  There’s very little that needs to be done to move forward with the project other than getting the go ahead from the Cubs.

The Arizona project is far from a sure thing.  Funding is currently a huge question mark.  Even if the current proposal passes the legislature, it awaits a potentional court challenge.  If the court challenge doesn’t materialize, the project still has the problem of finding approximately $26 million which will likely have to come out of the coffers of the City of Mesa.  Will voters be willing to hand the Cubs a $26 million check?

There are many obstacles that the current proposal in the Arizona Legislature must overcome.  Although the proposal passed committee, it will face much stiffer opposition in the full house.  If it clears that hurdle, a lawsuit (or threat of a lawsuit) from the Goldwater Institute could still derail the entire project.

Everyone wants the Cubs to stay in Arizona, but at the moment, no one wants to help pay the cost of keeping the team in the Cactus League.  And all the while, Naples is sitting on the sidelines with what appears to be a no-muss, n0 fuss proposal.  It will be interesting to see how long the Cubs loyalty to Arizona lasts before they change directions.