Paul's Opinion: Government Should Stop Paying For These Failures

We just can't continue to operate like this.

The yearly report from MetraPark came out and some of the numbers may surprise you. The number one revenue-generating event was the PBR. It made $219,000 for MetraPark. Kane Brown was number two, Lil Wayne was number three, Nile Stock Show number four, and The Ian Munsick Show number five.

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What does that mean?

For the year, MetraPark finished with a profit of $1,277,000. Great, right? But wait. MetraPark also received $3,672,600 in tax money to offset expenses. The bottom line is, that without taxpayer help, they would have lost $2,395,600 for the year. Folks, this is a place that is completely paid for: no mortgage, no buildings to pay for. They still lost $2.3 million.

Are they the only ones?

Look at the private sector. All over town, businesses make it even with having to pay for the real estate, the building, and their operational overhead as well. So, why can this facility that had 388 events over the year that had an attendance of over 7 million people go through the gates not pay for itself?

Even more.

Keep that in mind, and now think of the new $143 million levy they want to run for recreation in this town. New water parks, new hockey arenas, a new tunnel under the Rims for bikes, etc.. That money is for the infrastructure. Every year you have to operate it, maintain it, heat and cool it, and employ people to run it. All of these things too are for recreation.