Visitors paying less, businesses more for Cobb stadium bonds

Visitors to Cobb County in 2021 again contributed less than expected to pay off the public’s share of the Truist Park construction bonds, shifting more of the costs onto local taxpayers, county financial documents show.

Still, county finance officials characterized the update released on Tuesday as great news for county residents, because the pandemic-fueled dip in hotel taxes was more than offset by a rise in property taxes paid by businesses in the surrounding Cumberland area….

Also on Tuesday, the Braves released a report on the fiscal impact to Cobb County, adding another voice to the debate over whether the stadium was worth the cost to taxpayers.

Most economists are skeptical of such subsidies, because fiscal impact studies touted by businesses fail to consider the opportunity cost of investing public dollars on other things.

The latest study, by sports economist and author Andrew Zimbalist, concluded that so far, the county has spent more on debt payments and public services for Truist Park and The Battery than the projects have generated in annual revenue. But Zimbalist estimated the long-term financial benefit to Cobb County government could be anywhere from $20 million to $126 million in net present value.

“I think this has been a win-win for both the organization and the county,” said Mike Plant, the president of the Braves development arm.

A critique of Zimbalist’s findings here.

Study: Five years after opening, Cobb County taking economic loss on Truist Park deal

A portion of the study, on page 48, compares sales tax revenue per capita in Cobb and other metro Atlanta counties after the opening of Truist Park in 2017, and finds “Cobb’s growth was less than the rest of Atlanta, which is not consistent with the stadium stimulating additional economic activity in Cobb.”

On page 56, Bradbury compares property values inside the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID) - a specially designated development zone created around the stadium by the county - to other Community Improvement Districts in neighboring counties.

The data, according to the study, shows that property value growth in the Cumberland zone - even with the benefit of the new stadium - “appears typical among local CIDS” in Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb, “which is not indicative of extraordinary growth from the stadium.”

And a few pages later, the study examines general property value growth in the county - which has grown considerably. But, as anyone familiar with the current housing market knows, that’s the case in many places.

The study finds no additional benefit coming from the stadium, given that, “Cobb property value growth since 2013 has been typical among area counties, including Atlanta’s prosperous core of DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Fulton.”

Bradbury told 11Alive that “if there was some growth or economic benefits that were stimulated by the stadium, we should see a deviation from Cobb and the CID from other parts of Atlanta, and that’s something that I couldn’t find.”