brownstraining.jpg

A group of Cleveland Browns players ride bikes during day nine of Cleveland Browns training camp last August.

(Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com, File, 2015)

The Cleveland Browns and the Columbus business community want Greater Cleveland taxpayers to help pay $5 million for the Browns to move their training camp to a site on or near the Ohio State University campus.

This outrageous request was quietly added to a list of projects the Columbus Partnership wants funded in the biennial state capital improvements bill, scheduled to be introduced in late March or early April.

I've obtained a copy of that list [see document below], which Columbus leaders worded in an underhanded way designed not to attract attention to the fact they want every taxpayer in Ohio to help pay for the Browns' three-week relocation.

That list, asking that Ohio taxpayers spend $5 million to move the Browns' training camp to Columbus every year for at least the next decade, has been sent to leaders in the House and Senate, and to the office of Gov. John Kasich.

The request from Columbus business leaders says the $5 million is to help pay for an "athletic practice training facility."

It then describes the project this way: "The Athletic Practice and Training Facility will serve as a backdrop for collegiate athletic teams and community youth programs to utilize throughout the year. It will also attract professional athletic teams and franchises to our region."

Translated: We're going to disguise this as a tax request to help kids, but it's really about the Browns.

Some defenders of the deal -- and there are precious few -- argue the practice and training facility would also be used by other groups. But that's not enough lipstick to make this pig the least bit attractive.

The fact is, but for the Browns agreeing to move, the training facility doesn't get built.

Capital improvement projects are funded by Ohio taxpayers. The state issues bonds to pay for construction projects it deems worthy and uses tax dollars to retire the bonds.

The Columbus Partnership, which includes leaders of about 50 of that city's largest corporations, is the lead proponent of using state tax proceeds to move the Browns. But the funds are being sought with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam's knowledge and approval.

Haslam has been negotiating to move the team's training camp to Columbus since nearly 50,000 fans attended an intrasquad scrimmage at Ohio Stadium last summer.

Under terms of the deal between the Browns and Columbus, the team would train there for about three weeks prior to every season, beginning in late July.

There's nothing in his agreement with Berea to prohibit Haslam from moving the training camp 120 miles south. About a half dozen NFL teams already train in other cities.

But neither the Browns nor the Columbus establishment have any right to expect any taxpayer outside of Greater Columbus to pay for any such move.

Not wanting this controversial request to become an issue in the March 15 primary election, Columbus business leaders hoped to keep it secret until at least mid-March.

Now they've been caught.

And if the legislature approves spending $5 million for the Browns' move, two things might happen:

*Cuyahoga County voters could begin an effort to repeal the sin tax they extended in the spring of 2014.

*Any legislator who supports taxing his or her constituents to move the Browns training site would -- and should -- face a political backlash from voters.

That's especially true of the three existing state legislators who hope to be elected in November to represent Berea in either the House or Senate. Those legislators are State Reps. Mike Dovilla and Nan Baker, and State Sen. Tom "Hey Sweetie" Patton.

Patton brags about being one of the select few who makes "big decisions" in Columbus. If that's true, he should be able to kill this idea in no more than six seconds.

Kasich could also put an end to this by telling legislative leaders he would line-item veto any bill that uses Cleveland taxpayer money to move the Browns' training camp.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership, which will provide state officials with its own list of projects for funding, has neither endorsed nor opposed the Columbus proposal.

Traditionally, cities do not use the capital improvements bill as a weapon to hurt another part of the state. The GCP has never done that. Now the Columbus Partnership wants to change the ground rules. And it's disgusting.

Alex Fischer, Columbus Partnership president and a driving force in this deal, passed the buck to Linda Logan, head of the Columbus Sports Commission.

Logan declined to comment on the wisdom of using capital dollars for this project, but said the potential deal with the Browns has been years in the making.

"I think it's a wonderful collaborative effort," she said. "We're exciting about what this could mean for the community."

Browns spokesman Peter John-Baptiste said the team is exploring all options to move the training camp offsite and that Columbus is one of those option.

Meanwhile, residents of Berea would be right to wonder why they've showered the Browns with $25 million in incentives and outright gifts since 1991.

The Browns pay no rent at the team headquarters, which Berea built for them in 1991.

Taxpayers will also shell out $14 million to $15 million for a major renovation and expansion planned at the headquarters. In return, Berea splits player income taxes with Cleveland and keeps 100 percent of the nonplayer income taxes.

Berea Mayor Cyril Kleem said moving training camp would cost the city about $40,000 a year in tax revenue. That doesn't include the losses restaurants and other businesses would suffer in Berea and surrounding communities.

This deal is public policy at its worst.

In a year when angry voters seem more convinced than ever that the system is rigged to punish hard-working taxpayers, the Browns and Columbus business leaders are doing their part to prove them right.

Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer's editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.

To reach Brent Larkin: blarkin@cleveland.com

This column was updated at 9:54 am to add a comment from the Browns.