Glendale’s interim City Manager Horatio Skeete has prepared three scenarios involving the Phoenix Coyotes, based on a report by the Arizona Republic.
All three scenarios suggest the city is in dire financial straits.
The projected best case scenario, from a budget perspective, is that a sales-tax hike goes forward and Glendale restructures its arena payment plan.
Under the current proposal, Glendale would pay prospective Greg Jamison buyer $94 million over the initial five years of a $300 million, 20-year plan, but Skeete wants that reduced to $72 million.
The next scenario is that the voters reject the sales-tax hike, but the city still gets its restructured arena payment plan, and the third is that the Phoenix Coyotes leave. What’s obviously missing is a scenario where the city goes with the original $300 million plan and the Coyotes stay in Glendale.
It’s also worth noting that all three of these scenarios are projected to result in the city taking a financial hit annually over the next five years. Even if the sales-tax stays in place and the arena payment plan is restructured, Glendale would need to reduce expenses by $3 million this year and $6 million each of the following four years.
Jamison needs to secure a lease before he can buy the team. At this point, the Globe and Mail suggests that the odds of Jamison completing his purchase are “bleak.”
That all being said, when Shane Doan recently re-signed with the Coyotes, he said he was confident about the team’s future in Arizona.