Browns Receive Major Update From State Senate For Stadium Funding

The Browns will then get their $600 million cut from that new fund to move forward with the Brook Park project. The Unclaimed Property Fund is often made up of unclaimed bank accounts, stocks, insurance policies, and other financial assets that the state takes hold of after a period of 1-3 years. The rightful owners are still able to claim their unclaimed funds at any time.

In the meantime, while the money sits unused, the Senate proposes to use a portion of the nearly $5 billion to help with stadium projects like Cleveland's, which must still be paid back to the state. In this case, the Browns have promised to pay back the money to Ohio using the tax revenues generated by the accompanying development around the $2.4 billion stadium.

This latest plan comes as the Senate rebuffed previous funding models. One came straight from Governor DeWine himself and would have seen the tax on sports gaming companies increase by 40% to generate future funds for stadiums.

That plan was nixed by the House this spring, which instead proposed a more old-school plan for the state to provide the Browns with $600 million in public bonds that would again be paid back with the those development tax revenues.

The Senate budget bill also allows Cuyahoga County to put its proposed sin tax increase on the ballot for voter approval, noting that those funds must be made available to the Browns, Guardians, and Cavaliers, each of whom will still reside inside the county.

It's an interesting addition to the bill, given the recent standoff that has unfolded between county executive Chris Ronayne and the Haslam Sports Group in recent months.

So what happens next? The budget must be approved by June 30 and to get there a conference committee made up of representatives from both chambers, and featuring reps from both parties will put their heads together to build one final budget proposal. It then ends up in front of Governor DeWine for final approval.

The good news is the Browns appear destined to get the $600 million they requested for this stadium project. They're simply waiting to find out how they'll get it.