by wthr.com
Indianapolis- On Monday,the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board is expected to announce a deal that will keep the Indiana Pacers in town for at least another three years.
That deal will cost $33.5 million in taxpayer money. $10 million a year will be use to help operate Conseco Fieldhouse which, the Pacers say, costs about $18 million to run.
The city will also pay $3.5 million for improvements to Conseco, but that number has the potential of increasing to $4.7 million.
This all follows months of negotiations when the team said they needed financial help from the city to operate Conseco.
In return for the help, the Pacers must stay through the 2012-2013 season.
The current contract with the Pacers lasts through 2019. If the team leaves town before then, they will have to pay back a portion of that $30 million. That amount gets reduced for every season they play in Indiana.
A May study showed Indianapolis businesses would lose $55 million if the team left, but some argue that taxpayer money shouldn’t be spent to assist a pro-basketball team.
Conseco Fieldhouse is owned by the Marion County Capital Improvement Board which has said its in the city’s best interest for the team to stay.
