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Hartford Again Asks State for Stadium Tax Revenue

Twitter @GoYardGoats
Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford

Hartford officials are again asking legislators to pass a state law to help to pay for its new baseball stadium.

When he decided to build a controversial minor league baseball stadium in the city, Hartford's last mayor -- Pedro Segarra -- went it alone. Segarra said the city would pay for the $60 million stadium for the Yard Goats minor league team all by itself.

Then Segarra changed his mind. The city needs almost $5 million a year to pay back its lenders, and Segarra wanted the state to chip in. Specifically, he wanted the state to give it the hundreds of thousands of dollars in admissions tax revenue the ticket sales at the stadium will bring in.

Now, Segarra is gone. Mayor Luke Bronin is left with the stadium and the tab. And he, like his Democratic predecessor, is asking the state to pass a law and send the city money.

"Dunkin' Donuts Park, the DoNo development in Hartford, is being developed without state funding," Bronin told state legislators on the finance committee Friday. "And we believe it's appropriate for revenue generated by the park to benefit the city of Hartford."

Republican Representative Christopher Davis is on the finance committee, and he has a hard time with the idea.

"One of the things that sold it for many people was, well, at least they're not looking to the state for assistance," Davis said.

Plus, he's not sure how to handle the fact that, before, when the Yard Goats team was in New Britain -- as the Rock Cats -- New Britain didn't get the admissions tax money. So why, he asked, should Hartford?

Bronin faces more powerful Republican opposition, too.

State Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano has long been opposed to the plan. He said the state has priorities, and a stadium for the Yard Goats isn't one of them.

Jeff Cohen started in newspapers in 2001 and joined Connecticut Public in 2010, where he worked as a reporter and fill-in host. In 2017, he was named news director. Then, in 2022, he became a senior enterprise reporter.

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