Tom Ricketts’ proposal to have the State of Illinois fund $250 million in upgrades to Wrigley Field died yesterday when the General Assembly adjourned out of veto session yesterday — but expect it to return when the 2011 session opens in January.
The hope was that the Assembly could consider funding during the veto session, but the proposal was never written into a bill, much less presented to legislators. The Chicago Cubs are proposing that increased revenues from the city’s amusement tax, as well as part of the 2 percent hotel tax, be used to fund the renovations. It sounds like using part of the hotel is a nonstarter (revenues from that tax are declining, and it’s also being used to pay off U.S. Cellular Field and Soldier Field renovations), but diverting amusement-tax revenues may be considered by the state, as well as tax-increment financing.
The money would be used for additional Wrigley Field renovations and the addition of a new building in the so-called “triangle” next to the ballpark.
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