Oakley option. FC Cincinnati president
and general manager Jeff Berding made a presentation to the Oakley Community Council on Wednesday night.
The other hurdle: a stadium funding plan. Berding told 700WLW on Wednesday night a stadium plan should be
finished within the week. He said the stadium will be part of a bigger development plan.
No new taxes. "We're going to put up, it
looks like at this point, over $300 million of our own money to bring the MLS to Cincinnati," Berding told 700WLW. "It's going to look nothing like what happened on the riverfront. We're not going to
institute a new tax on our residents."
Anti-tax groups have lobbied against any public funding of another stadium after the NFL Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium was heavily subsidized with
public money. Hamilton County is also still paying off Great American Ball Park, home of the baseball Reds.
"Nashville passed theirs last night by a vote of 31-6," said Berding, "and I
don't want to take a backseat to Nashville or anyone else. We're gonna show Cincinnati can get something like this done, and get it done the right way."