Baseball plan brings promises for West Sacramento schools
West Sacramento mayor’s office
While many school districts are struggling, including those in California, the school districts in West Sacramento received promised good news from the group that launched a plan to attract a Major League Baseball team.
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If the city is selected for an expansion team and builds
Yolo County schools would receive a portion of local tax revenues, but the 40% figure specifically refers to the city of West Sacramento’s overall share of property taxes generated within city limits — unusually high for a city in California, where tax distributions are limited by rules set in 1978’s Proposition 13.
Under the “Sacramento Pitch” campaign for an MLB expansion franchise, the funding plan relies on tax increment financing from a proposed ballpark district.
Over a projected 40 years, backers say the ballpark district is expected to generate $1.77 billion in tax revenue. Of this, $1 billion is earmarked for stadium construction, and the remaining $770 million is allocated to fund schools, county services, and special districts.
MLB is looking to add two expansion teams before the end of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s tenure in 2029.
“Those school districts would each receive 20% when we have the property tax revenue share,” said West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero, who has been mayor since 2020.
The Sacramento River divides West Sacramento, a city of 53,915, from the state capital city, Sacramento. It’s also the county line.
The city’s existing minor league ballpark lies a short walk across the river from Sacramento, and the proposed MLB park would be built in the same location.
The city would contribute $1 billion to the stadium project tapping revenues on what Guerrero described as a “pay go” basis. She said the city has no plans to tap bonds for the project and she is unaware of whether the private partners are considering going after private activity bonds.
As for the timing of when the city’s two school districts could benefit from the proposed baseball stadium, Guerrero said it would be in line with the timing of the estimated $1.8 billion the city expects to realize from the stadium over a 40-year period. She adds the city conceivably could realize more than that; it just ran the numbers going out 40 years.
Washington Unified School District’s outstanding general obligation bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s Ratings, according to its filings on the Municipal Rulemaking Board’s
The city based its economic analysis on how much revenue the city has realized from having the Athletics play in its minor league stadium, she said.
The Athletics officially decamped from Oakland after their lease at the Oakland Coliseum ended in 2024. The franchise — now simply known as the Athletics without a city identifier — is playing three temporary seasons at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento while awaiting a planned relocation to a new stadium in Las Vegas.
The city analyzed the revenues its three local hotels would realize and how much of a cut the city would receive from through hotel bed taxes, as well as direct stadium revenues.
“We are being conservative and basing it on our experience with this year’s MLB games,” Guerrero said.
Part of that includes the parking revenues the city has accrued.
The A’s averaged 10,820 fans last year at the 14,000-seat venue,
The envisioned project would be not just a stadium, but an entertainment district. Guerrero said that could include a hotel, apartments and retail, but she said the private partners have not worked out how many hotel rooms, apartment units or square footage of retail might be included.
“We are hearing what the property owners are considering,” Guerrero said. “We are having conversations with the property owners in terms of what they want to see. We don’t have the number.”
West Sacramento launched its campaign for an MLB expansion team May 28, backed by a fully entitled 50-acre stadium site and what backers say is nearly $2 billion in public-private investment.
The effort positions Sacramento as a leading West Coast expansion candidate with site control, development readiness and financial momentum already in place, supporters said.
“When MLB moves forward on expansion, Sacramento will be impossible to ignore,” said Mark Friedman, founder and chairman of Fulcrum Property and board chair of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. “We have the market, the site, the capital and the community. Sacramento is ready to compete — and Sacramento is ready to win.”
The contenders to become the 31st and 32nd teams include Nashville, Tennessee; Salt Lake City, Utah; Portland Oregon; Raleigh, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; and San Antonio, Texas.
Oregon lawmakers in 2025, approved
While West Sacramento touts the long-term potential of the stadium district, neighboring Sacramento City Unified School District is contending with a severe financial crisis.
The district has about $1.2 billion in outstanding GO bonds, Moody’s analysts wrote in a May 2 report.
Fitch Ratings downgraded SCUSD’s issuer default rating and unlimited tax general obligation bonds to BB-minus from A-plus, its dedicated tax GO bonds to BBB-plus from AAA and the lease revenue bonds issued by the school district’s joint powers financing authority to B-plus from A on April 27. It also placed the ratings on rating watch negative.
Divya Bali, a Fitch director, and Karen Ribble, a Fitch senior director, told The Bond Buyer the downgrade “reflects the district’s projected rapid depletion of liquidity, which Fitch views as the most immediate risk, as well “as the swift deterioration of reserves.”
Moody’s followed Fitch on May 2 with its own downgrades of SCUSD. Moody’s downgraded the school district’s issuer rating to Baa3 from Baa1 and its GO bonds to Baa2 from A3. It also put the ratings on review for downgrade and continued its negative outlook.
The development came as SCUSD scrambles to close a $170 million budget hole. The district had identified $82 million in projected savings as of April 16, but many of those were one-time cuts rather than ongoing reductions.
Moody’s said its Baa3 issuer rating reflects the expected deterioration of general fund liquidity to a critically low level and negative available fund balance at the end of fiscal 2026.
“The district’s $141.7 million general fund deficit in fiscal 2025 had brought available fund balance to 8.7% of revenue, and management indicated that they were in the process of implementing a “right sizing” plan,” Moody’s said. “However, following negative self-certification in December, the county office of education began providing fiscal oversight and support through a fiscal crisis and management assistance team.”
A state financial agency projects SCUSD could run out of money soon after 2027 begins, potentially triggering a state takeover. Voters most recently approved Measure D, $543 million bond proposal, in 2024.
Despite the deficit, the district has positive cash flow and confidence that its plan will prevent us from running out of money in the 2025-26 budget year, according to the school district’s website.
The district has been working with FCMAT to identify areas for improvement and increased efficiency, according to district documents. It was assigned a fiscal advisor by the Sacramento County Office of Education. The intent of these partnerships is to help Sacramento City Unified improve its financial position and retain decision-making control over finances and programs.
