clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Taxing questions

I'm dancing like Jason Taylor around a few things on the dockett this morning but there's still plenty to talk about, so I've got a few shorter posts ready to go.

First things first, let's jump in with a hot political topic. No, this has nothing to do with the election; TST is a refuge from the world's maddness. Nobody wants the Rams to leave St. Louis - at least not metro area or regional fans - but that topic is going to be with us through at least 2015 when the team's lease on the Ed Jones Dome lapses.

As you know, the Rams lease allows the team to opt out in 2015 if the EJD doesn't rank as one of the top 8 venues in the league, a very unlikely scenario with the stadiums that have been built recently and will be built between now and then.

You don't need to be a doyen of city politics to see where this heading: a request for a publicly financed new stadium. That will mean a tax increase of some kind, and with modern NFL stadiums now approaching the $billion dollar mark, the tax increase would be noticeable on the municipal level. A few weeks ago the PD's Brian Burwell mused on a publicly financed stadium, reminding readers that the public tacitly acknowledge this likelihood when the Rams came to St. Louis. He also suggests that the Rams start winning before asking Joe and Jane Lunchpail for a slice of their hard earned pay. Can't argue with that.

But let's just start with the big question first. Would you support a tax increase for a new stadium to keep the Rams in St. Louis?