Paul Brown Stadium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paul Brown Stadium - Essay Example The cost rose from $280 to an all inclusive costs of nearly $555 million (Albergotti & McWhirter). The county took out $1 billion in bonds to finance these projects. The county and its taxpayers are paying a hefty price for the bad decision that was made. In 2009 Hamilton County had to pay $34.9 million in costs related to the stadium deals which represent 16.4% of the county’s general fund. The normal cost to budget ratio in other counties that help finance stadiums is less than 2%. The county when the proposal was on the table exaggerated the economic benefits the new stadium would bring. Their absurd estimate was $300 million in benefits. These multi-million benefits never manifested. The stadium deal Hamilton County signed with the Bengals is considered the most lopsided deal in favor of a team in NFL history. It was a bad decision that will ruin the fiscal health of the county until the maturity date of the bonds. Currently 1 of 7 residents in Hamilton County is living be low the federal poverty line. 2) Who had ultimate responsibility for the problems? The person that is ultimately responsible for this debacle is the mayor of Hamilton County. He selected a team of three negotiators that acted as puppets of the Bengals. There was corruption and collusion in this deal evidenced by the fact that one of the negotiators, Bob Bedinghaus, joined the Bengals organization in 2001 as the team’s director of business development. The mayor should have never approved the project and he should have been the person negotiating the deal. He delegated a function that he is supposed to perform. Now the damage is done and the taxpayers of Hamilton County are paying a hefty price. That money that is being wasted paying for the expenses of billionaires could have been used to help a community that has 14.28% of its population living in poverty. Other political leaders in Hamilton County should have stepped in and spoke out against this move. Only a few political leaders spoke out against the deal. If the majority of the political leaders would have formed an alliance against issuing the bonds this whole fiscal mess would have never occurred. 3) Discuss the ethical implications of what occurred. This case study is an example of an ethical dilemma regarding governmental spending. The taxpayers are crying wolf now, but when the deal was signed thousands of fans were happy both teams stayed in Cincinnati. The Bengals deal was horrific. It does not make any sense why the county and its mayor approved such a lopsided deal. Hamilton County paid for the entire cost of building the new stadium, they have the Bengals a preferential lease agreement, they let the team keep all the parking revenues and the city is paying for all the securities costs. Hamilton County under any circumstance could not afford to pay for these stadiums themselves. They needed the help of other nearby counties, the city, and the state. They did not receive their support. It w ould have been better to let the Bengals go and keep the Reds in town. The Bengals deal was the deal breaker that destroyed the finances of Hamilton country for decades. 4) Are there any internal control issues to be addressed? A preliminary audit performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that there were insufficient financial controls by the project managers. The location move was a bad idea that increased the cost of the project by $70 billion. The contract could have had stipulation that mandated the stadium be