The Legislative Fiscal Office has decided to not alter its recommendation that the Oregon Legislature approve the University’s $200 million bond request following the revelation of the 2004 ECONorthwest report.
The 2004 report suggested an arena could earn about $4.1 million annually, drastically less than the estimations the athletic department relies on, which are between $10.5 million and $16.1 million.
In an e-mail to reporters, analyst Steve Bender said “the arena project would not be financially viable under the revenue projections in the ECONorthwest report, in that the Legacy Fund principle (sic) would be entirely depleted before the bonds for the project would be paid off. However, with the additional revenues under the new advertising contract, the project could be financed without depleting the Legacy Fund, although a large amount of the Legacy Fund principle (sic) would still be needed over the bond term.”
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means of the Oregon Legislature was expected to move a portion of the $200 million request to the Senate floor for vote this week. The other portion of the bond request will be voted on by the ways and means committee today before being moved to the Senate floor.
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