Will Lambeau expansion get support from the state? - Ingles

On Thursday, the Green Bay Packers are expected to break ground on the franchise's $143 million expansion of Lambeau Field.

The expansion includes the installation of new videoboards, the addition of escalators and elevators and more than 6,600 seats in the south end-zone area. The entire project is expected to be completed in time for the 2013 season, with much of the heavy construction work in the off-seasons.

The Packers will not use public tax dollars to pay for the project, but are expected to use a combination of their own money, money from the National Football League's stadium fund, a possible user fee for season-ticket holders buying seats in the new sections, and a stock sale.

When the $295.2 million Lambeau Field makeover was completed in 2003, one of the components of the financing plan was state support totaling $9.1 million.

Could that happen this time around? To be clear, the Packers have not asked for any state support.

A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker said the governor has not pledged any support for the project.

The last time the Packers held a stock sale, which was 1997-'98, they raised an estimated $24 million. The price then was $200 a share.

The biggest change in financing the construction work will be no sales tax. In 2000, Brown County voters approved a 0.5% sales tax. Tha tax is expected to be retired in 2015. This article was written by Don Walker and appeared in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.