Downtown arena debate continues, decision could come Wednesday evening

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel says that the city will be the owner of a new downtown arena if the facility is built. The Mayor's comments come as part of a city council discussion into the proposed downtown arena district.

The meeting covered many of the issues still outstanding on the proposed $450M facility, which would included office buildings and an entertainment district.

Oilers owner Daryl Katz has pledged $100M to the arena development, and another $100M to the office buildings surrounding the arena, but there is still a $250M funding gap.

Both a community revitalization levy (CRL) and a ticket tax have been discussed to help pay for the funding shortfall.

A CRL could also be used to provide an additional $125M in funds for the arena district. The CRL would re-divert property taxes from buildings in the 30 blocks surrounding the arena to raise the funds.

In Wednesday's meeting, the Chief Financial Officer of Edmonton said that the area that would be included in the CRL had generated less than $10M under the current municipal tax structure, however in order to be approved, the CRL would need approval from the province.

According to the city's Chief Financial Officer, an additional $125M could be raised from a 7% ticket tax for $100 tickets on 50 events plus games at the arena, but in a letter that came out over the weekend, it was revealed that Katz is not yet committed to the potential ticket tax.

That lack of commitment, and the Katz Group's limited answers on a variety of issues was also a hot topic of discussion at Wednesday's meeting. The owner of the Edmonton Oilers has been visibily absent through much of the process.

"I feel to a degree we are negotiating with a ghost." Councillor Linda Sloan said Wednesday.

Councillor Tony Caterina raised concerns about why the city is even negotiating with the Katz Group before a determination about whether or not public funds are going to be used has been made.

Many of the questions asked by the councillors during Wednesday's discussion have been deferred to a private meeting, which will happen later Wednesday afternoon. While it still seems that there are more questions than answers, it appears that council may finally be ready to make a decision on the project, perhaps as early as Wednesday evening.

"We're passed the point of hopeful speculation." Councillor Sloan said Wednesday. "We need concrete commitments."

With files from Ryan Ellis and Laurel Clark.