Voters consider locker room tax for visiting players at Texas Stadium
If voters approve, fans would also pay an extra 10-percent upcharge on game tickets and a $3 parking tax — all in the name of demolishing the 35-year-old Texas Stadium and redeveloping the area at Texas 183 and Loop 12.
The Cowboys plan to open a $650 million stadium in Arlington’s entertainment district by the 2009 season.
"If we don’t do this, we’ll have to do it with our property taxes," said John Danish, treasurer of Citizens for Texas Stadium Redevelopment, which is advocating for the proposed taxes. "It’s going to leave us with a big hole. I’d rather fill the hole with their money than our money."
If the measure passes, Irving could assess a maximum of $5,000 per player for each of the team’s eight regular season home games. Throw in a couple of pre-season games or playoff games, and it could cost some players a fifth of their salaries. The league minimum wage is $250,000 a year.
There is no official organized opposition to the measure, but plenty of people don’t like the plan — among them players, fans and even the author of the legislation that allows Irving to impose the taxes.
Cowboys officials have had no comment on the taxes because the organization has an agreement with the city to not try to thwart the tax referendum, spokesman Brett Daniels said.
Carl Francis, NFL Player’s Association communications director, said players are familiar with extra charges when they play at stadiums in other states. For example, in California, professional players pay state income tax ranging from 1 percent to 9.3 percent, depending on their income for the day’s work.
But Francis said no other stadium in the league charges players a locker-room tax.
The association’s attorneys will discuss and monitor Irving’s proposal, Francis said, but it, too, had no official comment on the measure.
Dallas Cowboys safety Keith Davis said the locker-room tax would have a significant impact on his pocketbook. Davis earned $380,000 for the 2005 season, according to reports.
"Why change things now that we’re leaving?" asked Davis, who started in all 16 regular season games last year and also played on special teams. "Guys that are making the league minimum, they were banking on that money. I don’t think it’s fair."
The locker room tax would apply only to professional football players at Texas Stadium.
The extra taxes also would pinch season ticket-holder Dave Igo of Plano.
If Irving wants to redevelop the stadium land, Igo said, the funding needs to come from existing revenues.
"It should come out of their money," he said. "It doesn’t make me happy as a season ticket-holder."
Irving Mayor Herbert Gears said the city needs the tax to raise about $30 million over the next three years to demolish the old stadium and build something else. The city may leave the recognizable roof with its hole in place, building something underneath, or may completely raze the stadium and start over from scratch, he said.
"We know for sure that the stadium will not operate as it has in the past because we have a non-compete agreement with the team," Gears said. "I think voters are going to be very receptive."
State Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, authored the 1997 legislation that allows such taxes for sports venues. But he said the bill was intended to provide a way for cities to build new, specific projects. The legislation shouldn’t be used for demolition without a definite plan of how the old stadium will be replaced, Brimer said.
No one, however, has challenged Irving’s proposed use of the sports venue taxes for demolition, according to the Texas Attorney General’s office.
But Brimer said: "If they’re going to build another venue, they need to be more specific."