San Diego voters would decide whether to increase the city’s tax on hotel occupancy to help pay for a new $1 billion stadium for the National Football League Chargers and a $600 million convention center.
The team would contribute $350 million, the NFL would pay $300 million and the city would add $350 million through its hotel tax toward a 65,000 seat stadium, according to a proposal released Wednesday.
The increase in the tax on visitor stays by 6 percentage points to 16.5 percent would back about $1.15 billion of municipal bonds, which would fund the city’s contribution, the convention center and land acquisition.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer praised the deal as being more than a stadium with the inclusion of the convention center.
“My top priorities are to protect jobs, protect taxpayers and do what’s right for all San Diegans,” said Faulconer, in an e-mailed statement. “I will evaluate the proposal’s details through that lens.”
The Chargers had been one of three teams seeking to move to Los Angeles last year before the NFL approved a move by the St. Louis Rams. When the NFL approved the Rams’ move in January, it left open the possibility that the Chargers could share the team’s stadium in Inglewood, California.
The Chargers and supporters of the proposal must gather 66,447 signatures from registered voters by mid-June of the proposal to be on the ballot in November.
Bloomberg Business
by Darrell Preston
March 31, 2016 — 8:45 AM PDT