Both the city of South Bend and the South Bend Cubs are cheering a newly signed billthat will see the city capture $3 million more a year in tax revenue.
The new bill, signed by Governor Eric Holcomb on Thursday, increases the tax dollars South Bend gets to keep from city-owned entertainment venues like Coveleski Stadium, the Century Center and the Morris Performing Arts Center.
Instead of $2 million a year, the city now gets to collect $5 million a year in sales and income tax money that would otherwise go to the state. A key provision of the law is that $2.5 million will be set aside each year for capital improvements to Four Winds Field.
“I would say this is one of the most balanced win-win situations I’ve ever seen. Baseball fans, citizens, South Bend Cubs, the whole city of South Bend wins," said South Bend Cubs owner Andrew Berlin.
With the new revenue stream, Berlin said the club will begin construction at the end of 2024 on adding a new second level of suites and an event space building in left field. The club is also looking adding two new kitchens and more seating in center field.
“This is a jewel in the city that the citizens own," Berlin said. "And now we get to capture funding to make it an even greater stadium.”
Berlin and Caleb Bauer, South Bend's director of community investment, said the team will likely issue a bond to pay for the stadium work up front and then use the yearly tax money to pay back the loan. The city owns the stadium and leases it to the Cubs, though Berlin has invested tens of millions of dollars into the ballpark and its environs.
The new law also address the Century Center and the Morris Performing Arts Center, which make up South Bend's "professional sports and convention development area." Tax dollars captured under the new law can fund improvements at those venues, though they don't carry the same requirement.
The bill was signed into law by Holcomb on Thursday amid a contingent of South Bend representatives including Berlin, Mayor James Mueller and Venues, Parks & Arts directorAaron Perri. The bill was sponsored by state senators David Niezgodski, Ryan Mishler and Linda Rogers and easily passed both chambers of the statehouse.
Given the upcoming renovations and the South Bend Cubs announcing an April attendance record, Bauer said the city will likely be taking in close to, if not all of, the $5 million each year until the law expires in 20 years.
Bauer added the expansion of the ballpark creates a snowball effect which will only add value to the southern part of downtown, especially as a few housing complexes are set to go up in the coming years.
"For residents, what’s so exciting about that is it doesn’t require us to sacrifice city services to make improvements to the baseball field," said Bauer.
