GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — State Representative David Steffen held a press conference Monday to introduce legislation that would eliminate the Lambeau Field Stadium District Board.
A statement from the lawmaker's office said it would reassign responsibilities and redress millions of dollars of assets.
"By transferring all obligations and responsibilities [...] to the city of Green Bay, you provide a more appropriate and streamlined relationship between those two parties [Packers and the city]," Rep. Steffen said at Monday's news conference.
The state lawmaker said there is roughly $81 million that exists in a sales tax-created fund. $45 million of it would go to Brown County homeowners in direct checks.
"The city of Green Bay would have to assume all responsibilities currently articulated in the lease," Rep. Steffen said. This includes maintenance of Lambeau Field.
Rep. Steffen said he has told everyone on the stadium district board including the Packers that this was coming. He also announced a website, stadiumdistrictfuture.com, to get public feedback on the proposal.
"I want the people of Brown County to have an opportunity to provide me with feedback. This is a draft. I not only ask but need the input of the people of Brown County," Rep. Steffen said.
Rep. Steffen said that this new proposal does not mean that Lambeau Field won't be maintained. The city of Green Bay will have to come up with the money when Lambeau needs maintenance. Rep. Steffen also said his proposal gives the city control of the "ticket tax" to "offset those expenses pertaining to Lambeau Field."
Rep. Steffen said he's been thinking about this proposal for six years and first approached the Packers on this issue in 2015.
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich released a statement in reaction to Rep. Steffen's proposal:
“I appreciate Rep. Steffen’s willingness to start a conversation about the future of the Stadium District Board. I haven’t yet seen the details of the legislation, but I look forward to learning more about how the proposal might benefit City residents.”
On Tuesday, the Packers and the Village of Ashwaubenon released a joint statement on the issue:
The Stadium District continues to work well and the Packers and Village of Ashwaubenon support the current structure. The Legislature designed and the voters deliberately chose the structure of a single-purpose, non-political entity to oversee Lambeau Field. Voters chose to support that specific structure by binding referendum. Sales tax was collected specifically for the maintenance of Lambeau Field through the terms of the lease. It is fiscally and operationally responsible to continue to use the funding for the purpose it was collected.
The District was not designed to dissolve until it fulfilled its obligations in the lease, which runs to 2033. The District's work is not complete.
