Tax break a huge assist

By LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun After getting the door slammed in their faces by politicians, beleaguered Canadian NHL teams finally have a foot inside.
"It's a good step, but there is still a ways to go," Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden said yesterday in reaction to a plan to create a new property-tax class in Ontario. "What was said today (by Finance Minister Ernie Eves) helps break a log jam."

BIG CUT
But if Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman's vow not to co-operate with the provincial plan holds true, then the Ottawa Senators will be the main beneficiaries of the announcement. Queen's Park is prepared to cut as much as $16 million a year in property taxes from privately owned arenas, if the municipalities match it.
The Senators have been making noises about moving to the United States if the property-tax situation, among other issues, is not settled.
"I'm optimistic this is a big breakthrough," Senators majority owner Rod Bryden told a news conference yesterday. "This will cause the local (government) to make up its mind."
Bryden claimed he originally was told his privately funded building, the Corel Centre, would be assessed about $1 million a year in property tax. He said that has escalated to $3.6 million to $3.9 million to $4.2 million.
"Being fairly treated is hardly getting a tax break," Bryden said.
Lastman's opposition aside, Dryden was unsure how the property-tax situation for the Air Canada Centre and Maple Leaf Gardens would change.
"In fact we don't know the (new arena's tax) assessment yet," Dryden said, though sources had it estimated at $10 million to $12 million.
The Gardens, which is on a smaller lot, usually was assessed $1 million to $2 million, though that was to be changed when the Leafs moved to the Air Canada Centre. The Montreal Canadiens pay about $11 million in taxes for the Molson Centre.
Dryden said there would be no improvement in the financial forecast of the six Canadian franchises unless the Ontario tax plan was approved; if other provinces and municipalities followed suit; if there was a cut in Ontario's 10% amusement tax; and changes were made to give teams a slice of the sports lottery pie.
Federal Industry Minister John Manley has been looking to his provincial colleagues for the kind of gesture Eves made yesterday before Ottawa gets involved.
However, Eves was reluctant to be painted as subsidizing the league.
"We can't solve all the problems of the NHL, and they are far more serious than just property taxes," Eves said.
Dryden tried to clarify his group's position on lotteries, saying that the league wasn't proposing a new hockey-based scheme.
"We're talking about the distribution of increment amounts (of existing lottery revenues)," Dryden said.
-- with files from CP

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