Sacramento's general fund to cover Golden 1 Center costs amid parking revenue shortfall
SACRAMENTO — City officials said it wouldn't happen, but Sacramento's general fund will cover the cost of building the Golden 1 Center seven years ago.
A Sacramento Kings game can bring thousands of people downtown, but that hasn't translated to parking revenue, which is now hurting the city.
Jim Cathcart wanted the G1C's construction on a public ballot before it was built and now says the bill has come due.
"The stadium was fine," he said. "It was cool, but why did we have to give so much away."
So what is a city's general fund for?
"Three-quarters of a city general fund discretionary budget is used for police and fire service," said Assemblymember and Sacramento mayoral candidate Kevin McCarty. "The other quarter goes to parks, also goes to libraries, youth programs, homeless programs."
Why is it paying for the Golden 1 Center now? The City of Sacramento told CBS13 that "the city's general fund would be required to cover any shortfall to mitigate negative impacts to the city's credit rating, outlook and reputation."
So because the city isn't making enough money on parking, general fund dollars will have to cover the cost.
"To have the city not do the homework at the time, that's what really aggravated me," Cathcart said.
The Downtown Sacramento Partnership estimates that the city has brought in nearly $2 billion in tax revenue since the G1C's opening and credits its building with the nearly 61 projects completed downtown.
McCarty says it's a tightrope with taxpayers.
"Hindsight is 2020 on this one," he said. "Clearly, we didn't protect the taxpayers enough."
The city could be on the hook for millions more as the parking shortfall continues, pushing the need for more downtown private investment.
"Bringing more retail, more restaurants, bringing more housing downtown – that's really the solution to bring a life back into downtown and protect the city's long-term financial interests," McCarty said.
The city said that parking may return to pre-pandemic levels but that estimates within its own budgets show a multimillion-dollar shortfall for the next five years.