Where will your annual MAPS contribution go?

For this exercise, we'll assume that the MAPS tax will cost you $100 per year. How much of that amount will go to each of the MAPS projects?

Your annual MAPS donation

$25.00 to the BARTA rapid transit system.
$49.83 to the domed stadium/convention center.
$25.17 to all the rest of the MAPS projects.

[Want to check my math? Click here.]

The chart on this page shows how much of MAPS sales tax revenue will go to the stadium complex. Here is an estimate of how much of your $100 would go to each of the remaining MAPS projects:

$8.00 - county schools
$4.27 - Birmingham Zoo
$2.51 - McWane Center
$2.24 - Lakeshore rec/training center
$1.87 - public safety
$1.09 - the "greenway"
$0.93 - Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
$0.53 - Jeff State recreation park
$0.49 - Alabama Theatre
$0.49 - Fair Park
$0.49 - Lyric Theatre
$0.49 - Rickwood Field
$0.49 - Vulcan statue & park
$0.27 - county libraries
$0.27 - D.A.R.E. drug ed. program
$0.21 - Alabama Fair Grounds
$0.21 - volunteer fire departments
$0.13 - drug rehabilitation
$0.13 - TEAM, Inc.
$0.06 - Emergency Management Agency

Where will the money go?

MAPS supporters present a very different picture. They give top billing to the relatively minor projects, insisting that "this is not about a domed stadium." Yet the same MAPS spokesmen describe the domed complex as "the economic engine" and "primary job generator" that will "keep our community moving forward." When MAPS was first presented to the public, the domed stadium was described as the project's "cornerstone."

Here are two facts we can agree on:

1. The domed stadium/convention center will require half (49.8%) of all MAPS funding -- two-thirds (66%) of MAPS funding after BARTA revenue is separated.
2. MAPS supporters believe that the domed stadium/convention center will rev up our economy and create jobs. (We'll examine that claim a little later.)

Where did these numbers come from?

The MAPS law is straightforward about the amounts that are authorized for the different projects. When you add these amounts up, the total comes to $703.2 million.

Here is a detailed list of how the Legislature has authorized the Jefferson County Progress Authority to spend its 75% share of MAPS tax revenue:

• $280 million - "Multi-purpose convention and entertainment facility" [Section 1(4), subsection (a)(2)(ix)]
  • This is the figure usually given by MAPS supporters to indicate the cost of the domed stadium, but the total cost is much higher. This figure only includes the cost of building the stadium structure, not of equipping, operating, and maintaining the place. Those items are listed separately.
  • According to figures provided elsewhere by MAPS Steering Committee member Rick Horrow,³ this price tag is higher than similar project estimates for Jacksonville, Fla. ($161 million), Tampa ($168 million), Baltimore ($200 million), Atlanta ($214 million), and St. Louis ($240 million).
  • In the MAPS infomercial, even the $280 million figure was increased to $307 million. The higher estimate is probably more accuate; nevertheless, this analysis will rely on the figure given in the MAPS law: $280 million.
  • The MAPS law specifically exempts the Progress Authority from state law regulating the bid process. One company mentioned as a likely contractor for the domed stadium is HOK.
• $89.25 million - "contingent costs" [Section 1(4), subsection (a)(4)
  • This line item applies to "constructing, acquiring, developing or equipping" both the domed stadium complex and the recreation/training center to be run by the Lakeshore Foundation.
  • However, given the foundation's interest in the training center (which will be used primarily for patient rehabilitation⁴), and the fact that the Foundation will run the place itself, it is fair to say that the Progress Authority's liability for the center's "contingent costs" will be minimal at most. In other words, this line item is part of the domed stadium's cost. (That brings us to $369.25 million.)
  • As is the case with BARTA, the McWane Center expansion, and the "virtual library" system, this recreation/training center will proceed regardless of whether MAPS is approved on August 4.
  • Also note the separate line item below for the Lakeshore recreation/training center.
• $78 million - operation and maintenance [Section 1(4), subsection (a)(3)]
  • This line item is supposed to be applied to both the domed stadium and the existing Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center. However, there is no indication that the Progress Authority will be responsible for taking over the Civic Center, or for replacing its current sources of operating revenue. Again, it's fair to say that this is part of the domed stadium's cost - now up to $447.25 million.
  • Also note the separate line item below for "renovation and modernization" of the BJCC. Day-to-day operation of the domed stadium would apparently be handled by the existing Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority [subsection (c)]
• $20 million - parking, access and security [Section 1(4), subsection (a)(2)(x)]
  • This line item is for "parking, vehicular and pedestrian access and circulation, and security within the convention and entertainment district." In other words, the money will be spent in and around the domed stadium complex.
  • The grand total of authorized stadium/convention center costs: $467.25 million.
• $235.95 million - total of all non-stadium MAPS projects [Section 1(4), subsection (a)(2)]

So more than $467 million in MAPS tax revenue will be spent on the domed stadium complex. That equals:

• one half (49.8%) of increased sales tax revenue (including BARTA tax)
• two thirds (66%) of all MAPS funding (with BARTA accounted as a separate funding item). The 2% lodging tax will go to the MAPS projects, but not to BARTA.

The remaining one-third ($235.95 million) of MAPS funding is to be divided among the eleven other projects described in the MAPS legislation. Here is a list of those projects and their authorized costs:

1. $75 million - Jefferson County school systems
   These funds are to be distributed among the 10 school systems in the county, on the basis of enrollment in each system. [subsection (a)(2)(i)] While this is a "fair" method of disbursing money, it does nothing to address the much greater needs of the Birmingham city schools, as compared with the better schools "over the mountain" in Homewood, Hoover, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills.
   There is also the possibility that, because of their awareness of MAPS funding, Jefferson County voters will become less likely to approve other sources of increased school funding. The MAPS gift would be a windfall, not a stable source of funds.
2. $40 million - Birmingham Zoo
   MAPS would spend $40 million on "the expansion of the Birmingham Zoo and/or development of a new zoo in Jefferson County" [subsection (a)(2)(vi)].
   MAPS publicity has played up the idea of a new "regional zoo," despite public rejection of an earlier attempt to move the Birmingham Zoo from its present Lane Park location, which already provides plenty of room for expansion.
3. $25 million - cultural and/or historic preservation projects
   This line item is a catch-all for several projects. The MAPS law stipulates that this money - just over one-twentieth of the stadium allocation - must be divided among six renovation projects: Alabama Fair Grounds, Alabama Theatre, Fair Park, Lyric Theatre, Rickwood Field, and the Vulcan statue and park. [subsection (a)(2)<v>]
4. $23.5 million - McWane Educational Center
   The McWane Educational Center is a privately funded enterprise. MAPS funding would speed up the pace of development, according to executive director John Mackay. But the center is not counting on MAPS money in order to pursue its plans.
   The law [subsection (a)(2)(ii)] states that "upon receipt of the above funds and completion of such Center," all Jefferson County school groups would get free admission to the McWane Center for two years.
5. $21 million - multi-purpose recreation/training center
   [subsection (a)(2)(viii)] The Birmingham News reports (6/18/98) that this center will be built anyway, regardless of MAPS, by the Lakeshore Foundation. While MAPS supporters tout the center as a public facility, Lakeshore says its primary purpose would be rehabilitation of disabled persons. The facility would be built on the campus of HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital in Homewood.
   HealthSouth executives play a significant role in the pro-MAPS campaign. CEO Richard Scrushy and surgeon Larry Lemak are on the MAPS Steering Committee. State senator Jabo Waggoner, who sponsored the MAPS law, is vice president for community and public affairs for HealthSouth.
   This facility would include office space for TEAM, Inc., a charity that also qualifies for funds under subsection (a)(2)(xii).
6. $20 million - to promote public safety
   Eighty percent of this money would go to volunteer fire departments. The remaining 20 percent would go to the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency. [subsection (a)(2)(iv), subsection (a)(8)]
7. $10.25 million - greenway system
   This line item is for "development of a greenway system consisting of dedicated bicycle and pedestrian trails" [subsection (a)(2)(vii)]. The system is meant to include the Bayview Lake area.
8. $8.7 million - Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
   This line item is for "renovation and modernization of the existing Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center" [subsection (a)(2)(x)]. The BJCC was recently renamed the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
9. $5 million - drug and gang prevention programs and treatment facilities
   The MAPS law mandates that the D.A.R.E. program for fifth- and seventh-graders will get first priority when decisions are made on how to spend this money. The next priority would be to support rehabilitation of youthful drug addicts. Finally, some funds must be provided for the TEAM, Inc. program. (The Lakeshore training center project would also provide office space for TEAM. To date, I have no information about the purpose or mission of TEAM, Inc.) [subsection (a)(2)(xii)]
10. $5 million - public recreation at Jefferson State Community College
    This line item would pay for public recreation facilities, including a park, on the main campus of Jefferson State Community College. [subsection (a)(2)(xiii)]
11. $2.5 million - public libraries
    Jefferson County libraries have already received a $578,000 private grant to build the "virtual library" system touted by MAPS. Of course, the libraries wouldn't turn down additional money from MAPS. [subsection (a)(2)(iii), subsection (a)(7)]

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Footnotes

1. The figures are from Rick Horrow's opinion piece, "Niners' stadium proposal in a league by itself," for the San Francisco Business Times of June 2, 1997. [Back]
2. The Birmingham News, June 18, 1998. [Back]