Update: The Indiana Senate voted 44-4 Tuesday to approve legislation that will keep the Indiana Pacers in town for decades and find ways to pay for a new soccer stadium for the Indy Eleven.

Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, was the only "no" vote to speak against the bill. He criticized taxpayer funding for the Pacers and believes the legislature should allow certain taxes included in the bill to decrease, as they would without this legislation, including on sporting tickets and certain car rentals.

The bill now heads to the governor's desk.

Earlier: Lawmakers have finalized legislation that would find ways to pay for the deals to keep the Indiana Pacers in town and to build a new soccer stadium for the Indy Eleven.

The Senate will vote as soon as Tuesday to accept the Indiana House's version of the intricate bill, which has evolved over the past four months.

A House-Senate committee had been scheduled to negotiate a final version of the measure, Senate Bill 7, because of a dissent by the bill's author, Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen. But he told IndyStar that after reading the bill, he decided more changes weren't necessary.

"I wanted to go over it and check out the changes they made over there (in the House)," he said. "I spoke with the CIB, the city and the Pacers and everyone involved and they were all good with it."



The bill creates funding for the previously announced 25-year deal between the Indiana Pacers and Marion County Capital Improvement Board, which commits roughly $800 million in public spending to keep the team in town.

Revenue will come from a mix of existing income, sales, innkeepers, admissions and auto rental taxes collected mostly from within tax districts located near the fieldhouse. None of them would go up, but without these districts, that money would otherwise flow to the state, city, townships, schools and city-county library.

The CIB, funded through that legislation, would provide $270 million toward upgrades of Bankers Life Fieldhouse over the course of the 25-year extension. The city will contribute $25 million for public infrastructure, contingent on the City-County Council's approval, and the Pacers will spend $65 million.

For operating expenses, the CIB will provide $12.5 million per year in the first six years, $13 million annually for the following six years, then rising to $16 million a year for the remainder of the deal.

The CIB would manage the funding created through the legislation, using it to pay for the Pacers' extension and to provide more modest upgrades to facilities it also owns or manages, including Victory Field and Lucas Oil Stadium.

The House changed the legislation so that it relies on a mix of taxes generated by the new Hyatt hotels near Bankers Life Fieldhouse, as well as the Crowne Plaza, the Omni, the Embassy Suites, the Conrad, the Hilton, the Sheraton and the Alexander. The Senate had proposed using taxes from a wider area.

Indianapolis also is considering a $120 million expansion of the Indiana Convention Center that's become politically intertwined with the bill. Under terms being discussed, the city would pay for that expansion with property taxes collected from two massive Hilton hotels proposed to open in 2023 on Pan Am Plaza.

Lawmakers washed their hands of that deal by removing any mention of the Hilton hotels from the legislation to fund the Pacers.

Local hoteliers have been opposing that deal. They say there's not enough business for the new hotels, which total 1,400 new rooms. They also say the proposed 80,000-square-foot Convention Center expansion is too small for so large a project.

Prospects improve for Indy Eleven stadium

Mishler decided against fighting to keep a restriction in place for a proposed Indy Eleven soccer stadium.

The House removed a stipulation that the Indy Eleven must sign a Major League Soccer franchise by 2022 before beginning construction of the stadium. Under the existing deal, the current version of the team could play in the stadium.

Mishler told IndyStar that he believes the team's owners must still ultimately sign an MLS team to fill a 20,000-seat stadium.

That sounds like a long shot, at least in the near term. Last week, MLS announced it would expand from 24 to 30 teams, up from the 28 announced in December. MLS commissioner Don Garber recently discussed such plans that at this point don't include Indianapolis.

Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir, who runs the development company Keystone Group, has said he plans to push to land the city on that list. He's expanded his ownership group in part to meet a franchise fee that has recently risen from $150 million to $200 million.

Ozdemir has proposed a $550 million development called Eleven Park, which would include $400 million in private investment in restaurants, shops, offices and apartments at a to-be-decided location, as well as the $150 million stadium and other public investments.

Under the legislation, taxes collected from that development would pay back 80 percent of the cost of the stadium. The Indy Eleven would have to pay the other 20 percent, either up front or annually, and cover any shortfalls.

There's still a ways to go before a stadium becomes a reality. The City-County Council will have to approve any deal to fund the stadium.

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.