Earlier today, New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson , pictured right, announced that the New York Yankees tried to stiff taxpayers out of $11 million in unpaid rent.
Here's a copy of the press release we received from the Comptroller 's office only moments ago:
THOMPSON: YANKEES UNDERPAID CITY $11 MILLION IN RENT
--Yankees immediately pay more than $7 million --
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued an audit finding that the New York Yankees underpaid the City more than $11 million in rent over a two-year period. As a result of the audit, the Yankees have paid the City $7,352,519 plus interest of $635,132 and owe the City another $4,035,636.
In 1972, the New York Yankees, Inc. and the Parks Department entered into a 30-year lease agreement for the rental and exclusive use of Yankee Stadium during the baseball season. In 1973, New York Yankees, Inc. assigned its interest to the New York Yankees Partnership (Yankees). Subsequently, the lease was extended to December 31, 2008, and has been amended 10 times granting the Yankees additional privileges.
The agreement allows the Yankees to sell tickets and provide food and souvenir concessions and restaurant and catering for five restaurants, 19 luxury suites, and 15 "Hall of Fame" suites. The Yankees are allowed to offer parking for season-ticket holders, broadcast baseball games on cable television and conduct post-season baseball games, if applicable. The agreement also allows the Yankees to operate or subcontract concessions. The Yankees subcontract their concessions, which include the stadium's restaurants, catering and souvenir operations.
The agreement requires that the Yankees pay the City the greater of either an annual minimum rent of $200,000 or a percentage of revenues from gross admission, concessions and wait-service, as well as fees from cable television receipts and prepaid parking. Under the eighth and tenth amendments to the agreement, the Yankees are allowed to deduct up to $5 million a year in new-stadium-planning costs for calendar years 2001 through 2008.
Thompson's audit - available at www.comptroller.nyc.gov - covered January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2006. For the audit period, the Yankees reported gross revenues totaling $1.03 billion and made related rent payments to the City of $17.1 million.
Auditors found that the Yankees owed the City $11,388,155 in additional rent, resulting from the inappropriate deduction of $9,035,636 in new-stadium-planning costs from their 2006 rent payment to the City and an additional $2,352,519, consisting of the improper inclusion of $860,595 in new-stadium-planning costs submitted to the City in 2005 and the understatement of gross revenue reported to the City from 2003 through 2006 that resulted in additional fees of $1,491,924.
The auditors also disallowed $1,021,157 in duplicate payments of new-stadium-planning costs, as well as $626,015 in new-stadium-planning costs submitted for non-allowable expenses, including bonuses for the developers' employees and travel expenses.
Yankees officials accepted Thompson's findings and agreed to pay the full assessment of $11,388,155. Of this amount, the Yankees paid $7,352,519 plus interest of $635,132 and agreed to pay the remaining $4,035,636 plus interest on March 10, 2009. Parks Department officials agreed with Thompson's findings.
"The New York Yankees were cooperative throughout the audit process, and when brought to their attention, promptly made payment on the balance owed to the City," Thompson noted.
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