On April 30, 2025, Executive Director Yesim Sayin was quoted in WAMU:
Yesim Sayin, who spent years in the CFO’s office and now heads the D.C. Policy Center, notes that the tax was originally supposed to sunset once the baseball stadium debts were satisfied, a move meant to quell criticism from some in the business community. Local business groups have generally welcomed the news of the RFK deal, but there is no doubt that many of their influential members will continue to bear the brunt of paying for the District’s sports pursuits.
Sayin adds that the city will likely need to pull money from other planned construction projects to afford costs beyond the $500 million. In particular, she questions how the city will fund the $202 million it plans to spend on utility work on the site—Bowser won’t reveal all the details until she delivers her full 2026 budget proposal.
“This cannot be done on the shoulders of the ballpark fee…you have to move money around to do this,” Sayin said. “That will have to come out of somewhere. Because we are not seeing a bright revenue picture, we are not seeing anything to suggest our standing will be higher.”
Read More: The biggest unanswered questions about D.C.’s deal with the Commanders at RFK
Additional reading: Laying the foundation for a resilient fiscal future for the District of Columbia