Since 2014, the City of Cleveland has been on the hook for $28 million in repairs at the Browns’ lakefront home.
As Browns Stadium’s owner and landlord, Cleveland is responsible for major repairs at the 25-year-old structure. City Hall last week turned over a log of stadium repairs in response to a Signal Cleveland public records request. Cleveland is required to maintain the list of repairs per a clause in its lease with the Browns.
Here’s how that $28 million breaks down: To date, the city has completed $18.9 million in capital repairs. Another $3.8 million in repairs are listed as under construction, and $5.4 million in work has either been approved or proposed.
So far, taxpayers have spent $4 million replacing 11 pedestrian ramps, $3.7 million automating lights and other building controls, $2.4 million installing new security cameras, and millions more on a raft of other projects. Cleveland just wrapped up a $3.5 million fire alarm upgrade, and more projects are coming.
The costs date back as far as 2016. No repair projects are listed for 2015 or 2014, the two earliest years included in the log.
The city uses the proceeds from the Cuyahoga County sin tax to pay for those capital repair costs. But that’s not all that City Hall must pay. On top of that, the city has been covering part of the bill for the 2014 stadium renovation by spreading out a $30 million General Fund payment over 15 years.
There’s also the mortgage. Cleveland owes a remaining $40.2 million on the bonds issued to finance the stadium’s construction in the late 1990s. That debt will be paid off in 2028, just in time for a new Browns lease.
If all these numbers make your head spin, the point to take away is this. Even as the Haslam Sports Group and city officials negotiate the cost of a major stadium renovation, taxpayers are still footing the bill on the stadium we have now.
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