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Edmonton officials might tweak Oilers’ arena deal if Katz Group opens its books

darylkatzgetty

James

Edmonton’s city council expressed a willingness to amend the Edmonton Oilers proposed new arena deal - if the Katz Group proves they truly need the money, the Edmonton Journal reports.

David Staples’ report indicates that there’s some disagreement between what the Katz Group claims it will earn from the new arena and what the city believes the ownership group will take away.

If the Katz Group proves that the extra money is needed, council member Bryan Anderson laid out a couple ways in which the city can improve the deal:

If there really is a need, council might then respond, Anderson says, perhaps paying more of the arena’s mortgage with new property tax money collected in the Community Revitalization Levy, or using ticket tax money to pay for some amount of operating costs.

Anderson wants to see what kind of deal the Katz Group would actually agree to. To make his point, he evokes memories of “Super Mario Bros. 3"

“It means that council and citizens will be able to see exactly where the stepping stones through the river of molten lava are, and if we use those stepping stones we can get to the other side, and if we don’t we have to stay on the side that means there isn’t going to be an arena,” Anderson says.

Otherwise: burnt metaphorical feet.

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel reportedly provided the Katz Group with an Oct. 17 deadline to meet with the council, so there’s still time for the Katz Group to prove that they need more money.

However it turns out, let’s hope there aren’t any underwater stages along the way.

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