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Arena Deal Reached: Voters Will Decide in November

The Sacramento Bee has the news:

The financing package would rely on voter approval of a new quarter-cent sales tax that would produce about $1.2 billion over a period of years, sources said. Half the money would go to pay for the new arena, and the other half would go to the city and county governments to spend as they wish.

The big, big, GI-NORMOUS news is that the Maloofs will bring $20 million immediately to kickstart the plans and contribute 25 to 30 percent of the costs overall. This is much better than the previously reported sub-20 percent figure they were offering.

Also of major note is that the city will own the arena, and the Maloofs will agree to a 30-year lease. This means, at least as far as contracts go, the Kings would be in Sacramento through at least 2038.

More details are expected to come later. This news is truly encouraging, as several factors are proving better tonic than what the parties were previously thought to be serving up.

Now, it's up to the voters.

Update [2006-7-20 17:29:56 by TZ]: News conference at City Hall at 2:45 p.m. Anyone in the area? I think News10.net will have the live webcast.

Update [2006-7-20 18:27:27 by TZ]: The Sacramento Business Journal has a city source saying the Bee has some facts wrong. No mention of which facts those are, though. The SBJ also says there's a press conference at the railyard tomorrow at 10 a.m., which would assumedly be a bit more enlightening.