re: Deal to replace PMAC arena could require LSU land, new tax. Public can't see the details.

This is just very typical Baton Rouge lack of transparency. And rest assured, if Charles Landry is involved (he's the guy that got the College Drive Walmart project approved, and then got Rouzan through the Planning Commission after the Spinosa fiasco), there are endless political deals being made behind the scenes. There are just too many unknowns at this point, and the dollars are so big that we'll never get the whole story about what is being approved. You know the budget will be exceeded, and new tax streams needed to offset this. I promise you there will be language in the agreement protecting "the developer" should the planned tax revenue fall short.

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“It will not have any impact on taxpayers,” Keli Zinn, LSU’s executive deputy athletic director, recently told The Advocate. “It will be financed all through the developer.”

But according to Charles Landry, the lawyer shepherding the deal with TAF, several streams of public money may be needed to make the project work, including new sales taxes that the developer could use to help pay for it.

The Legislature approved a new economic development district surrounding LSU last year that paves the way for potential financing of any new projects there, including the arena. Such districts allow private developers to receive public money, and they allow for new sales taxes of up to 2% within the district. New hospitality taxes or property taxes can also be imposed in the districts.

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