Miller Park sales tax generated nearly $31 million last year and could be retired in 2019 or 2020

The Miller Park sales tax generated about $31 million last year, a 3.14% increase from the previous year, a new report says.

The tax, paid by residents of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha and Racine counties, has been in effect since 1996.

The 0.1% tax can be retired by late 2019 or early 2020, assuming "no significant shift from current economic conditions," according to the report presented Tuesday to the Miller Park board. 

"Given the volatility of monthly sales tax receipts and the unpredictability of interest rates, any further refinement of that estimated range would be impractical and unreliable," the report said.

The tax repays $290 million in construction debt plus interest for the stadium, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, which opened in April 2001.

Sales tax collections were hurt by the Great Recession in 2008. That led to "negative sales tax growth in three of the following four years (2009, 2010 and 2012)," Mike Duckett, executive director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, said in a memo to the board.

The Miller Park board has the power to end the sales tax. When the time comes, a two-thirds vote is required to certify to the state Department of Revenue that the construction costs have been covered, Duckett said.

"Every decision we make is made with the goal of turning off this tax as soon as possible," he said.

The stadium district and the Brewers each make annual contributions to a special account dedicated to major capital repairs and improvements at Miller Park.

During the first 30 years of the lease with the team, the district contributes $1.75 million and the Brewers $750,000 each year to the fund, Duckett said.

The joint account is "carefully managed by the District and the Brewers to ensure that necessary funds are available within the (account) to meet future needs of the ballpark, and to ensure that Miller Park will never suffer from 'deferred maintenance' issues," Duckett said.

The stadium district has created an escrow account to ensure that it can continue to make its annual payment to the repair and improvements account once the sales tax ends. That escrow account has about $21 million, he said.