Thank you for pointing out that these are TOT taxes--Ms. McGimsey's simple use of "tax dollars" could continue the misleading impression that this is revenue collected from residents on their real or personal property, instead of a percentage added to the overnight stay on hotel guests.

Since it can't go into the general fund, we SHOULD be spending it on something that provides the possibility of a significant return.

Posted by BarbaraMunsey (anonymous) on February 7, 2009 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The redskins have 10 million fans?? Wow, Danny must be doing something right off the field since its certainly not happening on the field.

Posted by mattjack (anonymous) on February 7, 2009 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Supervisor Buckley,
I supported your candidacy when you ran in 2007....I was against Mick Staton, because I felt he was part of the good old boy, backdoor dealing politics...I hate to say that I now feel the same about your voting record..The Redskins are rich enough..They give nothing to the county...Homeowners are going into foreclosure all around me, which is only dropping the property value of people that do make their house payments...We don't need to beat our chests by glorifying a sports team that doesn't generate anything meaningful for the county..The money could have been spent in a much more productive way, if it was to be spent at all...The county doesn't need to spend money on some project that markets "Loudoun County to the world."...where is the immediate relief in that????....And one more thing...don't flatter yourself in thinking that this county is that much of a "REDSKIN NATION."...My wife works at Potomac Falls High School, and when the students wear sports jerseys, the Redskins are in the minority...Or maybe you should stop by Dulles Town Center sometime...........The Redskins store rarely has more than one customer in there at any given time...again, I am very disappointed that you were such an ardent supporter of this prok spending........

Posted by eagles227 (anonymous) on February 7, 2009 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Completely ridiculous, regardless of the source of the tax dollars. This type of thing is why citizens are so cynical about government.

I would be curious to know how much the Redskins pay Loudoun in real estate taxes. My hunch is that this deal zeros out Danny Boy's tax bill for the foreseeable future. I don't blame Snyder. I only wish that he brought this type of acumen to running his irrelevant, under-performing football team.

Posted by tammany (anonymous) on February 7, 2009 at 10:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

i think snyder should have done this for free it would be a nice gesture to the county and maybe he could make it a charity tax deducution doesnt any business do anything for the community for free

Posted by DebbieM1106 (anonymous) on February 7, 2009 at 11:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This has nothing whatsoever to do with taxes on Redskins property. They pay a bundle, and still will.

It has to do with spending a portion of the over $3M annually collected that MUST go to tourism on a good opportunity.

Posted by BarbaraMunsey (anonymous) on February 7, 2009 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Dan Snyder is a shameful owner to make a business deal out of something that should be done in the spirit of supporting community development, for no fee. Part of the curse his 'its all about the $$$business" philosophy has had with under achieving team results year after year since buying our city's team. Unless he learns humility, he will never achieve what his predecessor did as an owner. (Look at the mess he has created with our star running back...)It's not what you can do Danny boy, it's what you should do. Show some class and donate the $ to a county program for boys and girls in need...

Posted by gregp2 (anonymous) on February 8, 2009 at 12:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The only way you'll get through to Danny Boy is to stop supporting the Redskins. If eveyone would ignore them for a year and not purchase any items or support the games then the corporate office will pay attention.

Posted by galaxies42 (anonymous) on February 8, 2009 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Will the Redskins go the way of my childhood team, the Baltimore Colts, and become something else for a higher bidder? The "Loudoun Redskins" does not have the inclusive ring of the Washington Redskins, and that is how people in the District, Maryland, and Fairfax other VA and WV areas will interpret the Loudoun pay for play move. Hmmmm....but if you moved the team to Middleburg....or maybe Snickerville...

Posted by P4Potomac (anonymous) on February 8, 2009 at 11:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Congrats BOS! Good move, and I applaud how this was reconsidered. Reconsidering votes that are in error show real backbone.
.
Look how Miller re-invented himself with his work on this initiative. He earned it.

Posted by maravetz (anonymous) on February 8, 2009 at 11:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Barbara - therein lies the problem. A "requirement" to spend money on tourism when the county is bleeding money from every orifice is asinine, at best.

Posted by Hoqenishy (anonymous) on February 9, 2009 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

"...though they were not able to run numbers that would show a guaranteed financial return." All the wonderful words -- surefire, provides the 'possibility' of a significant return -- all fade into wishful thinking when confronted with the fact that after "thorough" study, no one was able to say with any definition that spending this money would have any positive return whatsoever. So we do it. Let us hope that the BOS uses just a little more business sense when it deals with the types of budget reductions it is going to have to make this year -- and the constraints it's going to have to practice when it comes to not increasing the tax rates in the current economic climate. The fact is this money does not come from taxes paid by local residents -- unless, of course, you have family staying over or you've had to stay in a hotel during renovations. But that's never an excuse for irresponsibly spending money generated by others. Never. When you irresponsibly spend money generated by others, it call into question how well you spend our money. And when there is no guaranteed financial return -- no documented ROI -- then in these times we are constrained to say no, don't spend it. Leave it for a project that doesn't rely on the fortunes of the second-wealthiest football team in the Nation. This decision is akin to financing during hard times the teaching of Chinese in our county high schools. Will we continue Chinese, too? Probably, because we don't have any studies that say it is a valuable addition to our local curricula.

Posted by randyrawson (anonymous) on February 9, 2009 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Perhaps next time Mr. Howard and his Chamber of Commerce are so enthused about a project like this, the Chamber could pony up the money themselves! Given his own membership stats, for a little under $200 a piece, the membership of the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce could have funded the whole thing! Perhaps putting our wallets where our mouths are is a practice that the business community in Loudoun county might want to explore -- unless, of course, they don't think it's a particularly good investment....

Posted by randyrawson (anonymous) on February 9, 2009 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)