Tagged: Bank of America Stadium

  Charlotte taxpayers will pick up nearly two-thirds of the $147 million tab to renovate and maintain Bank of America Stadium.

The Charlotte City Council voted unanimously Monday night to give the Panthers $87.5 million it will collect through a tax on prepared food over the next 10 years. 

In exchange for public money, the Panthers promise to stay in Charlotte for at least six years, with financial penalties that kick in if the team leaves within ten years. City staff call the deal a "tether" that will keep another city from poaching the team.  

  A group of former Charlotte reporters from the 1970s are taking the city to court over its decision to negotiate behind closed doors for tax money to renovate Panthers' stadium. 

These same journalists and their lawyer sued the city for violating the state open meetings law in the early 1970's – and won. As a result, Superior Court Judge Frank Snepp placed the city under a permanent injunction against breaking the law.

The Charlotte City Council has given up the fight for permission to raise the local restaurant tax as a way to raise money for Panthers' Stadium upgrades.

Councilman James Mitchell says the measure passed by the state house Wednesday is "the best the city will get." It only gives the city flexibility to use existing restaurant tax revenues for the football stadium.

A funding plan for Bank of America Stadium renovations has cleared the state House. On Wednesday afternoon, Representative Ruth Samuelson's measure passed with little debate.

"There are no new taxes; there is no new revenues – state or local," said Samuelson, introducing her bill for debate on the House floor. "There are just two new options for the Charlotte City Council – which has joined us here today – to consider."