The best way to whittle down the balance of the state’s unclaimed funds account is to propose using it for a new professional football stadium.
The Senate’s two-year proposed budget, an amended version of House Bill 96, includes General Revenue Fund appropriations of roughly $89.7 billion for the biennium. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine must sign the budget by June 30, which is $201 billion for the two years.
While the Senate amended the House’s version, it retained $600 million for a new $3.4 billion Cleveland Browns stadium in Brook Park, a handout that has been controversial from the start. However, the Senate’s approach differs from the version the House advanced. Instead of using state-backed bonds for funding, as the House proposed, the Senate calls for allocating $1.7 billion from $3.7 billion in unclaimed funds to establish a new “Sports and Culture Facilities Fund.” The Cleveland Browns would receive a $600 million loan as a “performance grant,” which would be “paid back” via tax revenues collected over 16 years.
Perhaps unintended, the announcement sparked a renewed interest in the state’s $3.7 billion unclaimed funds. Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne boosted the fund and encouraged Ohioans to claim their unclaimed funds to lower the amount of money available for grants.
The Akron Beacon Journal reported that, according to Ohio Department of Commerce data, the state received 1,061 unclaimed funds requests on June 1, followed by 1,448 on June 2, 8,057 on June 3, and 15,777 on June 4.
Unsurprisingly, Haslam Sports Group Chief Operating Officer Dave Jenkins said the group was “very excited” that senators included the $600 million in the budget.
“I think what happens between now and June 30, is there’s three different ideas on the table now,” WKYC-TV quoted Jenkins. “So what happens behind in session, behind closed doors? I think those three branches of government will work hard – they’ve all said $600 million is okay for the project and they want to do it, and they want to enable the project. So, I think they’ll work collaboratively to find a final solution,” he said.
“What we asked the county to do initially was to issue bonds – use their credit rating to issue $600 million of bonds that are largely repaid by Brook Park specific tax revenues,” Jenkins added, per the television station’s report. “It was never a true $600 million ask of the county. They have since made it very clear they’re not going to play if we go to Brook Park, which lessens the amount that Brook Park can issue in bonds themselves or through some other authority. So, we are working to solve and have zeroed in on a solve for the remaining balance that otherwise could have been available if the county had issued the bonds.”
The $600 million for the Browns has been far but universally praised.
“Billionaires gorging themselves at the public money trough, with corrupt elected officials in their greedy pockets,” one Cleveland.com reader said in a response to the publication. “Just disgusting. I personally will dedicate every ounce of my being and available resources and engage everyone I know to assure that the stupid, regressive, evil sin tax increase is soundly defeated. Enough is enough. 🤬”
“I absolutely resent the billionaire Haslams and the state government for expecting us to pay for their real estate development deal, let alone their lousy team,” another Cleveland.com reader told the site. “How much do they donate to the campaigns of the Governor and legislators who keep pushing this ridiculous money grab?”
Interestingly, the budget does not include a $350 million request from the Cincinnati Bengals and Hamilton County for stadium improvements, WLWT-TV reported.
The Senate budget would also implement a flat income tax.
Under the plan, the Buckeye State’s top bracket will drop to 3.125% from 3.5% in tax year 2025. A 2.75% flat tax will take effect for the 2026 tax year.
