By Robert Haugh

Santa Clara Stadium Authority Member Kelly Cox issued a blunt warning about Levi’s Stadium finances at Tuesday’s Stadium Authority meeting. 

The stadium is headed toward a “financial cliff,” while millions of dollars in approved capital projects remain unfinished.

“Anybody paying attention knows, we’ve hit a financial cliff and we really need to start solving this problem,” Cox said.

Cox said the issue isn’t simply that the aging stadium needs more money for repairs and improvements. She said the 49ers’ stadium management company has repeatedly failed to complete projects after the Stadium Authority approved the money.

According to Cox, over roughly the past decade the Stadium Authority approved about $130 million in capital spending but only about $33 million (approximately 25 percent) was actually spent.

This year, she said, the Stadium Authority spent about 49 percent of its approved capital budget.

“We cannot continue to budget tens of millions of dollars and have a fraction of that done,” Cox said. “Inflation costs go up. The cost of projects rise.”

Cox said those delays could now have serious financial consequences as Levi’s Stadium gets older and major repairs become more expensive.

She also warned that Santa Clara residents should not expect the stadium to continue producing the same excess revenues for the City’s General Fund.

“What we know right now is our general fund will not make money off the stadium anymore except for our rent,” Cox said.

“For the next 10 years, we will not make any money,” she said, referring to revenue beyond performance rent.

Finance Director Kenn Lee acknowledged that the stadium’s long-term capital needs are a problem.

When discussing the amount currently dedicated to capital improvements, Lee said, “When you look at the size and the value of our asset, that’s insufficient.”

He said the Stadium Authority is conducting a facility condition assessment to determine Levi’s Stadium’s future capital needs.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor then shifted the discussion to another unresolved financial question. 

Gillmor asked exactly how much the Stadium Authority has been charged for Super Bowl LX and FIFA World Cup preparations.

Lee couldn’t provide the number.

“I don’t have the exact number,” he said, adding that staff would have to provide updated information later.

When Lee later explained that staff time and other general administrative expenses connected with FIFA continue to be charged to the Stadium Authority, Gillmor immediately followed up.

“So you’re continuing to charge the Stadium Authority for Super Bowl and World Cup costs,” she asked. “That’s why I want to know the total to date, what you’re charging the Stadium Authority, which is the public.”

Santa Clara’s official policy for the World Cup was to obtain reimbursement for event costs and avoid impacts to the General Fund. 

The City also negotiated agreements requiring the Bay Area Host Committee to reimburse qualified Super Bowl and FIFA expenses. 

Today, the Stadium Authority Board still does not have a complete public accounting of exactly what the two events have cost the Authority or how much of those costs will ultimately be reimbursed.