This evening, reports from the Sacramento Bee and KCRA outline what many other communities around the nation have found - that finding support for public funding of a new stadium, even for the most popular of franchises, is a very tough sell.

The city and county of Sacramento broke off talks with the Kings this afternoon, and there is no longer any chance that a measure proposing a quarter-cent sales tax will make it to the November ballot this year, meaning the next opportunity for the arena to make it to the ballot box would be in 2008.

Some of the major issues behind the scuttling of discussions include the skyrocketing of construction estimates. As the talks have meandered over the last four to five years, costs for supplies, labor (and gas, I assume) have all spiked. KCRA said that public opinion is also very low, with a recent poll finding only 27% believing that the Kings need a replacement for Arco anyway.

Sacramento Bee: City, County Call Off Talks With the Kings
Sacramento Business Journal: Talks On New Arena Halted
KCRA: Arena Deal May Be In Trouble

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