The only people getting a free ride from that Diamond Project ballpark are the citizens of Oregon

Don't be misled or confused -- nobody is asking YOU to pay for this project

I knew I was going to have to write about this again. And probably again and again. If you don’t understand this deal, please read to the end and ask questions in the comments. I’m going to make this a free post to make sure we reach everyone with interest in this project.

So here we go, in the strongest terms I can bring to the conversation:

The money for the ballpark the Portland Diamond Project is asking the legislature for is NOT A TAX ON OREGONIANS! IT’S A TAX ON MULTI-MILLLION DOLLAR BALLPLAYERS AND OTHER EMPLOYEES OF THOSE TEAMS WHO WILL PLAY THERE!!!!

This is how it works: People working in Oregon have to pay state tax for their time working here, even if they aren’t residents of the state. This includes athletes — from the home team and visiting teams, Those athletes make a lot of money.

And this is not necessarily a new thing. NBA personnel, not just players but even media people in their traveling party, are taxed on the percentage of their salaries earned while their team is playing in Portland, and most other cities that have state and local taxes.

It’s a mess for their tax preparers but a boon to the local economies.

All that’s being asked here by the Diamond Project is that a bigger portion of the tax paid by those people in Oregon goes to retiring the debt on the ballpark. That tax is already in place — what’s being asked is to raise the dollar figure, reflective of how much salaries have grown since the original bill was passed.

Once that debt is paid, those entire taxes go back into the general fund in perpetuity.

The Minnesota Vikings financed part of their new stadium the same way and it turned out the debt was paid off 20 years ahead of schedule. Thus the residents got their new stadium AND the projected state taxes from all those millionaire athletes for as long as that team stayed in town.

Oh, and the benefits of the ballpark as far as the quality of life is concerned, are obvious. But not as easy to put a dollar sign on. And if the legislature puts a $900 million tag on this tax on the players, that still means the owners of the team will have paid at least another $1 billion toward the construction of the stadium, as well as a healthy expansion fee in the billions.

So nobody is getting a free ride here, except the citizens who will not be taxed and will have a gorgeous crown jewel of a gathering spot along what has been a largely ignored waterfront downtown. Finally, a refreshing new reason to venture across the bridge again!

A man I respect a lot in the business of sports franchises examined this deal from an unbiased point of view and called it, “The biggest gift horse I’ve ever seen.” Let’s do all we can to take advantage of a deal this city desperately needs.

And allow the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Mike Trout to help pay for it.