No word on where the stadium might end up either in Illinois or Indiana.
It doesn’t seem that everyone in northern Indiana is ready to pitch in and send taxpayers money to help the state to partially fund a stadium-village for the owners of the National Football League’s Chicago Bears franchise. Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs, in fact, thinks a lot of Indiana citizens have no appetite to help fund the proposed venue. Bears’ ownership may have state funding in place to build the stadium-village in Hammond, Indiana but there could be a fly in the ointment. Elected officials in Lake and Porter counties have to approve a spending mechanism. That could come from raising the food and beverage tax in Porter County. Indiana elected officials contend that just tourists would be impacted. Biggs said raising the food and beverage tax going to a facility that probably will feature bars and restaurants is senseless. The idea that Porter County could get business from the deal is ridiculous, questioning why people would stop to eat in Porter County when there are plans to develop restaurants around the stadium.
“Where was that enthusiasm and that kind of commitment from our state lawmakers when people all winter long were struggling with their energy bills?” Biggs asked. “Did the Speaker of the House come up here when local elected officials in Lake, Porter and LaPorte, all around the state of Indiana for that matter, were screaming about (the property tax reform bill), on what it was going to do to our budgets?” But Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston recently wrote not to worry. “The project leverages billions of dollars in private investment that will create a flywheel of new businesses, new jobs, increased tourism and new revenue benefiting northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland region, our state and Indiana residents for decades to come.” Note to Huston, the idea rarely works that way.
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