If Kentucky's General Assembly approves its portion of the Louisville arena project, it will get all the money back, and then some. At least that's what Gov. Ernie Fletcher told business leaders Monday morning.
I hope that Ernie's right, but public/private partnerships created for the construction of sporting venues almost always end up costing the taxpayer more than the value of the benefits that they receive from it.
Oh, and by the way, that cost/benefit analysis now has to accommodate an extra $50 million over the original construction estimate.
The Louisville Arena Task Force estimated in September that the project would cost $299 million, but state consultants bumped that figure to $349 million -- a 17 percent jump. The increase was largely due to inflation expected based on completion of the project in 2010.
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