Hidden Costs Add Up Fast on Cubs Spring Training Complex

While the City of Mesa works hard to convince voters of the economic soundness of a plan to construct a new spring training facility for the Chicago Cubs baseball team, little is being said about the costs involved in the project that go beyond the often repeated $84 million mentioned in the Memorandum of Understanding signed back in January. Specifically, above and beyond the $84 million, the city is obligated to pay for all infrastructure related to the development, the city is obligated to provide stadium parking adequate to accommodate 15,000 fans and the city has to deal with the cost of obtaining the funds. Another item seldom mentioned is the value of the taxpayer’s land that will be given over to the Cubs for their exclusive use. If, for example, a city-owned site of 100 acres with an appraised value of $10 million were utilized for the practice facility, the Cubs would receive a benefit in excess of $5 million versus buying the land. This comes about because the Cubs have the sole year-round use of over one-third of the training area, including two practice fields, the club house, batting and pitching cages, etc. as well as the exclusive use of the balance of the project for three months of the year.

To paraphrase the late U. S. Senator, Everett Dirksen, “A million here, a million there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.”