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Governor Edwards' proposal was not well received by members
of the Legislature. The principal concern involved the $25
million "front-end" appropriation. Negotiations between Mecom
and Pritzger ultimately reached an impasse.
On February 18, 1985, Benson announced that he was
negotiating with the Mecom Group to acquire the Saints. On or
about March 8, 1985, Benson and the Mecom Group executed a sales
contract (the Sales Contract) with respect to the sale of the
team. Section 5.02 of the Sales Contract conditioned
petitioner's obligation as buyer on the State's prior execution
of a lease or a further amendment to the 1975 Lease containing
specified provisions. The required provisions included, among
other things, (a) assignment to the buyer of all revenue derived
by the State and the City from parking and sale of concessions at
the Superdome; (b) assignment to the buyer by the State of all
revenues derived from box suites; and, (c) the agreement of the
State and the City to exempt all transactions occurring in the
Superdome from any and all sales, amusement, and use taxes.3
It was estimated that these concessions, consisting of both the
tax exemptions and the assignment of revenues, would cost the
City and the State between $7.8 and $8.4 million per year.
3This tax exemption refers to the sales and amusement taxes
totaling 14 percent theretofore imposed on Superdome revenues.
The State's portion of this was 4 percent; the remaining 10
percent was split among the City (7.5 percent), the Regional
Transit Authority (1 percent), and the Orleans Parish School
District (1.5 percent).
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