Atlanta Braves' new stadium hardly a home run for Cobb County taxpayers

United States Navy fighter jets fly over SunTrust Park during the national anthem before a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres in Atlanta, Friday, April 14, 2017. The Braves are playing their first regular-season game in SunTrust Park, the new suburban stadium that replaced Turner Field. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
United States Navy fighter jets fly over SunTrust Park during the national anthem before a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres in Atlanta, Friday, April 14, 2017. The Braves are playing their first regular-season game in SunTrust Park, the new suburban stadium that replaced Turner Field. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Former Cobb County Chairman Tim Lee was fond of calling the decision to build a taxpayer-funded stadium for the Atlanta Braves the "biggest economic development deal in our county's history."

In 2015, two years after the deal was approved and one year after his own finance director warned that county spending was quickly overtaking its revenue, Lee issued the following statement:

"Thanks to serious, conservative leadership, Cobb County will realize a 60 percent annual return on investment from the SunTrust Park partnership," he wrote. "In fact, it will be the first private public partnership of its kind to result in a return on investment to taxpayers in the very first year."

Lee, who could not be reached for comment, was voted out, and county officials now say Cobb will be lucky if it breaks even on the project.

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