A 50% spike in the projected Tidewater Landing stadium cost, to $124 million, led the R.I. Commerce Corp. to direct most of a previously approved $36.2 million tax-increment financing plan for a bigger mixed-use project to just the stadium.
On Nov. 2, the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency approved charging the project developer nearly $10 million more in taxes to help pay back additional debt the city has agreed to take on for the project.
The project has been a recurring subject of debate in the gubernatorial race, with opponents of Democratic Gov. Daniel J. McKee criticizing him for casting the tiebreaking vote on the Commerce board for the reworked financing.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ashley Kalus has called the public financing portion of the $344 million project an example of “corporate welfare.”
McKee has said the Pawtucket project’s potential as a driver of economic development makes it worthy of the public financing.
