Panel to probe land appraisals for Yankee Stadium

BY MICHAEL FRAZIER | michael.frazier@newsday.com

7:54 PM EDT, July 29, 2008

A congressional subcommittee hearing centered on the use of public financing to build sports complexes like the new Yankee Stadium was postponed, allowing the panel to probe deeper into why the value of land under the Bronx stadium appeared inflated on tax reports, an official said Tuesday.

The Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- chaired by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) -- had scheduled the hearing Wednesday. It's now planned for sometime in September.

On Friday, Kucinich sent letters to Yankee officials, the Internal Revenue Service and various city agencies inquiring about the accuracy of land appraisals reported to the IRS. In the letter, he requested documentation detailing land value estimates and how they were calculated. He wanted the documents no later than Aug. 6.

But Assemb. Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) had already obtained some of the information Kucinich had sought and on Monday released land value estimates he said bared discrepancies.

The city reported to the IRS that the value of the land on which Yankee Stadium sits is worth $204 million. However, city appraisals for the land valued it at $21 million, Brodsky said, citing the records.

"There is a substantial discrepancy on a whole host of levels that we are going to proceed [to investigate] thoroughly and fairly, but we are going to get to the truth," said Brodsky, chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions.

The hearing was pushed back after the subcommittee learned about the information. The panel wanted more time to "gather original documents that would enable the subcommittee to evaluate the accuracy and consistency of representation made about the property value to federal agencies and investors," an official close to the subcommittee said.

A city Department of Finance spokesman said the land values were taken from separate city appraisals. The lower figure was estimated by the city's Parks Department in May 2006, appraising the land as if it were undeveloped real estate.

The higher estimate was by the finance department, which appraised the land in April 2006, as if the new stadium were complete, the spokesman said. The Yankees declined to comment.

Kucinich, a longtime skeptic of public subsidies for sports complexes, and Brodsky, a critic of public authorities, have questioned the Yankees' request for an additional $336 million in tax-free bonds to help complete the new $1.3-billion stadium. The Mets are also seeking about $52 million more in tax-exempt-bond financing for its new stadium. Brodsky, who earlier this month held a hearing in Manhattan on tax-free-bond financing, said he was invited to testify in the September hearing.