The Cincinnati Bengals want “50% of city tax revenue” to fund Paycor Stadium, according to a recent report in the Enquirer. That’s an absolute non-starter worthy of a “pound sand” caliber rejection from Hamilton County commissioners. (Editor’s note: For clarity, the 50% of taxes requested by the Bengals is related to the stadium, not half of all of Cincinnati’s tax revenue.)
You can’t say the Brown family hasn’t been bold as brass over their decades-long relationship with this region, and there’s been no shortage of genuflecting to them by local government leadership. The Stockholm syndrome relationship (where hostages or abuse victims develop positive feelings and an emotional bond with their captors or abusers, sometimes even defending them) that Hamilton County taxpayers have with the Brown family and the NFL needs to conclude.
The Brown family, the Bengals, and the NFL are not the victims here. County taxpayers are.
Paycor Stadium needs to be operated as a for-profit entity for Hamilton County taxpayers, just like the Bengals and the NFL are operated for a profit. The stadium should not be a “loss leader” that benefits others on one side of the equation and not the people paying for it.
It’s the 21st century, and time for a new approach away from what has been described as the worst stadium deal in the country.
Steve Deiters, Oakley
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Half of our tax revenue? Hamilton County needs to tell the Bengals to pound sand | Letter
Reporting by Letters to the editor / Cincinnati Enquirer
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