COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohio Senate Republicans’ new budget plan would require Cuyahoga County to keep giving the Cleveland Browns a third of the county’s “sin tax” revenue, even if the team moves to suburban Brook Park.
Under the budget plan, unveiled Tuesday, county officials would also be permitted to double the county’s liquor tax from $3 per gallon to $6 per gallon for stadium construction and/or maintenance – but only if voters approve it.
If the budget language ends up becoming law – which isn’t yet a guarantee – it would be another significant win for the Browns, who would also get $600 million in state money to help pay for the new stadium’s $2.4 billion estimated cost.
For years, the Browns have gotten a third of the $13 million or so per year raised by the county’s “sin tax” on beer, wine, liquor and cigarettes for repairs and maintenance work on its current lakefront home. The remainder of the tax revenue is split between Progressive Field and Rocket Arena, home to the Cleveland Guardians and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively.
That three-way split currently isn’t required but rather was set by an agreement between the county and the city of Cleveland. The Senate GOP’s budget plan, if passed, would cement that policy into state law, guaranteeing that their third of “sin tax” revenue would follow the Browns if they move to Brook Park – at least, that is, until the current sin tax expires in 2035.
County and city officials have vocally opposed the Browns’ attempt to move to Brook Park and have instead pushed to make renovations to the team’s current stadium, city-owned Huntington Bank Field.
Cuyahoga County officials have lobbied state lawmakers for permission to raise the county’s sin tax rate – the maximum currently allowed under state law – to help pay for maintenance work at Rocket Arena and Progressive Field.
Besides the liquor tax of $3 per gallon, Cuyahoga County’s sin tax currently is 1.5 cents per 12-ounce can of beer, 6 cents per bottle of wine, and 4.5 cents per pack of cigarettes.
Last month, the Cleveland Cavaliers expressed concern that if sin tax money was allowed to be used for a new Browns stadium, the effort to raise the tax would be “doomed to fail.”
Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne was critical of the Senate plan to earmark future sin tax proceeds, if increased, to the Browns.
Ronayne said the sin tax now brings in $4 million to $5 million per team. He said he requested the state to change the law to allow that to increase to about $15 million per team. But instead, this proposal would limit the increase to about $8 million to $9 million per team.
“It’s not enough to get the job done,” for maintenance needs for the Guardians and Cavs, Ronayne said. Plus, he thinks it would fail if taken to the voters, because of the unpopularity of the Browns.
Ronayne called for DeWine to line item veto both the sin tax idea and the $600 million if those aspects of the budget reach him.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Jerry Cirino, a Lake County Republican, told reporters Tuesday that he and his GOP colleagues wanted to make sure there was a “proper sharing” of county sin tax money between sports teams, “regardless of where the teams are in Cuyahoga County.”
Cirino acknowledged that Cuyahoga County voters would have to give their blessing for any liquor tax increase.
As for the push for permission to raise the current sin tax, Cirino said, “We don’t like that idea at all.”
It remains to be seen whether the House, as well as DeWine, will also endorse the idea, one of a number of major changes the Senate made Tuesday to the state’s enormous two-year budget bill.
The Senate is expected to make further revisions before passing their final budget plan later this month. A House-Senate conference committee, made up of a handful of lawmakers from each chamber, will likely then meet behind closed doors at the very end of the budget process to hammer out a final plan by June 30.
The budget would then be sent to DeWine, who has the power to veto individual parts of the budget that he doesn’t like. Lawmakers could override such line-item vetoes, but only with the support of at least 60% of each chamber.
Reporter Rich Exner contributed to this story.