A day for the history books

On Aug. 1, the president signed and Congress passed a half-baked bill raising the debt ceiling, Nassau County residents voted 57 to 43 percent against a taxpayer-funded initiative to rebuild Nassau Coliseum, and I celebrated my 74th birthday.

In Nassau County, voter turnout was low despite a push by local unions and several economic boards. Only about 150,000 votes were cast, about 15 percent of the voting population. Although small in numbers, the opponents were defiant, and, fearing another tax increase, voters had no problem crossing party lines. In the more Democratic and liberal areas of northern Nassau, like Great Neck, and in the even more Republican, conservative South Shore communities of Massapequa, Wantagh and Seaford, the voters rejected the referendum.

Ultimately, the voters’ decision came down to taxes, and already overburdened homeowners did not want to be responsible for financing a $350 million private sports arena and $50 million for a minor league baseball stadium. Why should they have their taxes increased to pay for a stadium that the Islanders and owner Charles Wang would benefit from without investing any private money?

Over the past few years, New York City has had two stadiums built — the new Yankee Stadium and Citifield. Atlantic Yards for the Nets is in the process of being completed. These stadiums were built primarily with tax-exempt bonds issued by New York City. The Yankees received approximately $1.2 billion in tax-exempt bonds and $136 million in taxable bonds, while the Mets received $697 million in tax-free bonds.

Despite the resources from industrial-development bonds and the city’s invested infrastructure dollars, the Mets’ and Yankees’ owners were forced by contract to pay back each and every cent of the construction costs for the new stadiums. Given the economic activity and benefits these facilities generate, it turned out to be a win-win for the city.

Unfortunately, the language in last Monday’s referendum was not as clear, leaving voters doubting that their $400 million would ever be repaid.