Miller Park Sales Tax May Be Cut Off Within 2 Years

The Miller Park Board of Directors accepted a consultant’s report that says the tenth-of-a-cent sales tax that has been paying for the Milwaukee ballpark could end within two years. The analysis says enough money will have been raised by late 2019, or early 2020, to cover the previous costs for the stadium, as well as expected future expenses.

Stadium Board Finance Committee Chairman Doug Stansil said the relatively short time frame is great news.

“Just like when you’re getting down to the last year of making your auto payments, you’re feeling good about things,” Stansil said. “We’re getting very, very close to the end.”

Stansil said sales tax revenue for the ballpark plunged during the Great Recession a decade ago, and the stadium board’s investments haven’t earned much during a long period of low interest rates.

Mike Duckett, executive director of the Miller Park Stadium District, says the exact sunset date for the sales tax will depend on the people in the five southeastern Wisconsin counties who pay the tax.

“Well, we’re still monitoring very volatile sales tax collections from month to month. Some months are really good, some months are off. So, anytime we see consumer spending pick up and there are more sales tax collections, that’s good,” Duckett said.

When the state Legislature passed the stadium sales tax legislation 23 years ago, some lawmakers projected the tax could end by 2015.

The stadium board, known formally as the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District Board will try to set a firm sunset date for the sales tax about a year from now.