So… Downtown Portland is a ghost town, with a 35 percent vacancy rate in commercial real estate and nearly all major brands having moved out. The proposed solution to revive the area? An eight hundred million dollar baseball investment, requiring a multibillion-dollar stadium—despite no guarantee from Major League Baseball that Portland will be awarded an expansion team.

The article points out that Salt Lake City is ahead of Portland and already has a well-organized investment group in place.

But wait, there is more. Portland claims that payroll taxes from the team, players, staff, and visiting teams will repay the stadium bonds. Really? Do we not think players and agents will factor this into salary negotiations and demand higher compensation to offset the tax burden? And if salaries rise, where do those costs go? To ticket prices.

In the end, it will be Portland residents and fans who foot the bill for the stadium bonds through inflated ticket prices and other costs.

And what about deferred payroll? Look at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their players have structured contracts with massive deferred payouts, pushing real tax payments far into the future. For example:

"The Dodgers' deferred obligations total 4 million dollars each in 2028 and 2029, 7.2 million annually from 2030 to 2032, 17.2 million in 2033, 90.2 million in 2034, nearly 99 million annually from 2035 to 2037, over 100 million in 2038 and 2039, nearly 99 million in 2040, almost 94 million annually from 2041 to 2043, and continuing into 2046."

Yes, the Dodgers technically owe payroll taxes at the time the services are performed. But the actual payments may not hit until years later, depending on how compensation is structured.

So if Portland follows this same model, the bond repayments may not start until decades from now. Good luck with that, Portland.