Among the budget proposals released by Governor Walker this week came the plan for a new Milwaukee Bucks Arena. Governor Walker’s plan will give the Milwaukee Bucks $220 million in state bonds once $300 million has been raised from other sources.
The plan calls for the creation of a Sports and Entertainment District, and any growth in income taxes generated by the Bucks, salary increases, or TV contracts will be used to pay back the bonds.
It is projected that without a new arena the Milwaukee Bucks would leave Wisconsin by 2017. Their departure would leave no source of income to pay the $100 million in maintenance and debt on the current Bradley Center.
The bonds for the arena will be in the Governor’s budget, which will be announced on February 3rd in full.