By Robert Haugh
Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone decided not to appeal a decision by Superior Court Judge Helen Williams that cut the 49ers property tax assessment by $180 million.
It’s the largest reduction in Santa Clara County history. Wow.
Stone told Santa Clara News Online (SCNO) in a December interview that he’s never seen an appeal this large. Stone was elected in 1994, 30 years ago.
As previously reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, here’s the financial damage to local schools and government:
- The Santa Clara Unified School District will lose $2.4 million in revenue per year, $72 million total.
- Santa Clara County government will lose over $1 million per year, $32 million over the life of the lease.
- The city of Santa Clara loses about $800,000 a year or $24 million in tax revenue over 30 years.
Stone was a major champion of the 2010 49ers stadium campaign and remains close to the team. He sent out a press release yesterday. In it, Stone emphasized that he wasn’t suing the team.
“Many people think I sued the 49ers, but that is not the case,” clarifies Stone. “My legal challenge is with how the AAB (Assessment Appeals Board) reached its decision.”
It seems odd that Stone decided not to appeal because his press release made a strong case against the 49ers.
“I believe that the AAB’s ruling did not take into consideration the value of all of the 49ers’ private interests in the stadium, which allowed the 49ers to generate significant revenue not only from sporting events, but also concerts, corporate conferences, and retail and restaurant spaces,” stated Stone.
“How can you ignore the benefits to the 49ers when the stadium hosts a Taylor Swift concert or an international soccer game?”
In the December interview, Stone told SCNO that he did not believe he had a conflict of interest on this issue.
No surprise here.
The time has come to start taxing attendees of all events at Levi’s Stadium. It may be the only way to guarantee a steady stream of income for the general fund of Santa Clara. Yeah, it’s a great idea whose time has come.
The Thomas Calvello Tax is back! It ain’t happening, Tom.
It never went away. If you live in Santa Clara why would you be against it?
Another”win” for the 49er at the expense of the people who live in Santa Clara. Terrible!
The official Assessor’s Office press release published by Autumn Young also details, “The Superior Court denied the challenge, finding that the process the AAB used to come to its decision was appropriate, and left in place the AAB’s ruling that the 49ers should pay tax on only half the value of the stadium.”
“I believe we made the correct assessment of the stadium, and I stand behind the work of the expert certified appraisers on my staff,” says Stone, “but the result, on balance, does not merit an appeal, so we accept the decision of the court.
Neither the SCUSD or City of Santa Clara lost money they never had.
All entities had to write checks back for monies received because of this idiotic ruling. $14M from SCUSD alone. StadCo was working from Day 1 to screw schools, community college and city out of property taxes.