Sixty-seven properties in a special tax district drawn to fund a new ballpark for the Chattanooga Lookouts generated $506,000 to help pay stadium debt last year, and all the funds came from off-site projects that were underway or completed by the time Erlanger Park construction began.
The revenue was split between $331,000 from city property taxes and $175,000 from the county, according to records provided by the city and county.
City officials settled on a tax district in 2022 that covers around 470 acres, more than three times the size of the 140-acre blighted former U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site between Broad Street and Interstate 24.
“The whole point from the beginning was not to have that barrier,” Jason Freier, managing owner of the Lookouts, said in an interview. “There’s been hundreds of millions developed within a few blocks of the edge of our site because the impact of this doesn’t stop just because you’re leaving the site.”
(READ MORE: Erlanger CEO defends stadium naming rights deal. Wamp says show the numbers)