If some of Oregon’s most powerful leaders have any say — and they do — hundreds of millions of public dollars will soon be headed toward fixing up Portland’s Moda Center.
That was the overwhelming sense Wednesday morning, as lawmakers began to kick the tires on a new proposal meant to ensure the Trail Blazers remain in the state for decades to come.
Gov. Tina Kotek was on hand to tout the need to “secure Portland’s future.” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson talked of a tenuous civic recovery that would collapse if the Blazers set out for another city. Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, Senate President Rob Wagner, Metro President Lynn Peterson and a longer list of influential officials are all throwing their weight behind the effort.
“This is a market rate deal. This is what it costs,” House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, said during the first public hearing on the bill. “If we let the Blazers slip away — just like Seattle did with the SuperSonics — there will be a line of cities across the country lining up to have them come to their city.”
But a lot remains unknown surrounding Senate Bill 1501, the initial step in piecing together a three-legged public finance package to renovate the aging Moda Center.
Still unspoken is how much money an agreement could siphon away from the state’s general fund. SB 1501 would empower the state to assume partial ownership of the arena and to issue 20-year bonds, backed by the general fund, to help finance a yearslong revamp.
That money would come from income taxes already paid by the Trail Blazers and other employers in Portland’s Rose Quarter, along with taxes paid by performers at the arena and construction firms tapped to do renovation work. Lawmakers have offered no sense of how much money the state would have to forgo for education, health care, public safety and other top priorities.
Also unclear is how large a commitment the Trail Blazers are willing to make in exchange for public money. The team is expected to transfer into the hands of a new owner, Tom Dundon, next month — a development that has brought concerns over the franchise’s future in Portland to a head.
The team has not offered any public sign that it is open to sharing renovation costs. Its current lease at Moda Center expires in 2030, with an option for a five-year extension.
Dewayne Hankins, president of business operations for the Blazers, suggested to lawmakers Wednesday that the organization would be willing to sign a 20-year lease to play in the 30-year-old Moda Center — no longer.
“All the data that we have says that a building really is a 50-year lifespan,” Hankins said. “The work that needs to happen to the building, we believe, can sustain the team for the next 20 years.”
Hankins noted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s comment last year that Portland “needs a new arena.” Hankins said a newly built stadium would be twice the cost of the proposed renovation, which is currently pegged at $600 million. He said the Trail Blazers “were able to work with the NBA office to realize and understand that a renovation was all that’s needed.”
While the franchise launched a new website earlier this week outlining some of the potential renovations at the arena, the team has not explained how it landed on the $600 million figure. Moda Center is not the oldest arena in the 30-team NBA, but it is the oldest to not have undergone an extensive renovation.
Slightly more clear Wednesday was how the city of Portland and Multnomah County expect to chip in for an arena revamp.
Wilson told lawmakers he expects the Portland City Council to vote on spending an initial $120 million and another roughly $14 million a year after that, for “a total of more than $400 million over the life of this investment.” Lawmakers wanted details on how that would work.
“I’m reading in the news that the city of Portland’s budget’s in the red,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, a Republican from Dundee. “Your budget’s stretched and yet we’re coming up with $120 million for basketball.”
Wilson demurred when asked where up-front money might come from, saying that will be up to City Council. But the mayor has floated plucking at least $75 million from the Portland Clean Energy Fund, which is meant to pay for environmental justice projects that respond to climate change.
Wilson said fees on Moda Center tickets or parking fees could cover other portions of the city’s stake.
“Portland is on the rise but our renaissance is fragile,” Wilson said. “Losing the Trail Blazers would be a calamitous blow.”
The third government involved in the complex public financing weave is Multnomah County. Vega Pederson said she expects the County Commission to vote on chipping in $88 million. She said taxes on rental cars and hotel stays could fund that portion.
SB 1501 would not commit the state to spending any money. Instead it would set the conditions for that investment if the Trail Blazers and local governments can reach a deal.
State Sen. Kate Lieber, a Portland Democrat and one of the Legislature’s chief budget writers, stressed repeatedly that Oregon officials would not OK new spending without a detailed agreement, including a lease deal, with the team.
“We’re going to have to stretch to do this, but we can do this,” said Lieber, who is working to close a $650 million hole in the current state budget. “We should do this.”
Not everyone agrees. Wednesday’s hearing included testimony from Tax Fairness Oregon, a group that frequently criticizes tax breaks offered up to large corporations.
Steven Wright, a board member with the organization, urged lawmakers to think about services they would need to forgo in exchange for the arena work.
“While approving this bill may be justified by sports fans, Oregonians will be participating in a practice that taking from the poor and giving to the rich is somehow considered OK,” Wright said.
Overwhelmingly, though, testimony favored the public subsidies, arguing that Oregon risks losing hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity — and potentially even the newly won Portland Fire WNBA team, which is expected to call the Moda Center home — if the Trail Blazers depart.
“As the Blazers go, so does our franchise community,” said Jim Etzel, CEO of the nonprofit Sport Oregon. “They are the bellwether.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.