A high-stakes battle is brewing over who controls Cuyahoga County’s sin tax dollars, and Today in Ohio podcasts hosts are questioning the reason that Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has taken a firm stand against the Cleveland Browns receiving a third of the revenue.
The sin tax—a levy on alcohol and cigarettes that helps fund sports venues—was originally created to support facilities in downtown Cleveland. Now, with the Browns considering a $2.4 billion stadium in Brook Park, Ronayne is pushing back against state budget provisions that would guarantee the team an equal share of those dollars.
Leila Atassi explained Ronayne’s position: “His argument is that the sin tax, that’s the one on things like beer, wine, and cigarettes, that it was originally meant to support… sports venues in Cleveland, not in Brook park or anywhere else.”
The county executive is particularly concerned that including the Browns in a future ballot measure to extend the sin tax could doom the entire effort. According to Johnston, Ronayne claims “that internal polling shows that voters are souring on the Browns and that their presence on the ballot could doom efforts to keep Progressive Field and Rocket arena properly funded.”
But there’s something suspicious about this mysterious poll. As Chris Quinn pointed out, “Why isn’t it released? Why aren’t we seeing the details behind it? Everybody’s whispering the Browns being involved will tank the tax. Now, that could happen. I know people don’t like the Haslams because of their politics and some of the decisions they’ve made, but if the poll is that reliable, where is it? Why aren’t we seeing the science behind it?”
Atassi echoed these concerns: “We’ve seen the top line results of this poll, but without the methodology, we can’t say whether this is solid public opinion research or just some strategic PR move.”
The Browns claim they haven’t lobbied for the provision, though they say they’d welcome the money for future stadium maintenance. Meanwhile, state lawmakers are also considering $600 million in public lending for the stadium from other sources.
What’s particularly troubling about the sin tax situation is how it’s unfolded—largely behind closed doors, without public input or transparency. Quinn noted, “If this would have been an adult negotiation in the sunshine -- I can’t believe how secretive this was. We didn’t know about it till about a month ago -- they would have done this all in the sunshine and done it all righteously.”
The core issues here extend beyond just who gets what money. It’s about democratic process, local control, and whether voters in Cuyahoga County or lawmakers in Columbus should decide how these tax dollars are spent.
For the full breakdown of this complex and evolving situation, listen to the complete episode of Today in Ohio. The podcast continues to provide essential context on the issues that directly impact Northeast Ohio taxpayers and sports fans alike.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Today in Ohio, a news podcast discussion by cleveland.com editors. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.