A hike in property taxes has been eliminated as a source of funding for a new ballpark for a Class AA Southern League team, leaving Livingston Parish officials scrambling to find an alternate revenue source for construction.
No surprise: there’s not much appetite these days to raise taxes in general, and property taxes are generally reserved for essential services. So raising property taxes in the Baton Rouge suburb was going to be a hard sell in any case, and Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer says he won’t even try.
There are deadlines coming up. The original MOU between Mandalay Baseball and the parish calls a 20-year lease at $100,000 a year, beginning in April 2013. Construction would need to start this fall to make that opening. In addition, Mandalay has an option to buy a Southern League team, and the window of opportunity to close on the deal is coming up.
The ballpark would house a Class AA Southern League team. We’re withholding the name of the team until a ballpark deal is reached.
RELATED STORIES: Mandalay working on Southern League team in Baton Rouge area; Double-A team exploring move to Baton Rouge area
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