The Coliseum Commission has reached a deal, just not the one USC fans are eagerly awaiting.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s office announced today that Monday’s negotiation between the California Science Center (which technically owns the Coliseum and is appointed by the Governor) and the Coliseum Commission produced an agreement that should become official in a few weeks. The two parties were essentially operating under an expired agreement that allowed the Commission to pay a small fraction of their rent.

Based on the Governor’s press release, it appears the Commission’s costs to lease the facility will jump from $80,000 to $1,000,000 per year, but that’s still far below recent assessments that had valued the property’s rent at $2,000,000.

The lease term of 47 years coincides with the life of the Commission’s Joint Powers Agreement, which provides for the body’s existence so long as a lease agreement is in place. USC, which essentially sub-leases from the Commission, has asked for a deal that would last as long as 75 years. The Commission can’t lease the facility for longer than it has control over it.

Had this arrangement been in place last year, the Commission would have turned over most of their $1.46 million profit. Keep in mind that any money that the Commission makes gets pumped back into the facility and is not disbursed to any of the participating agencies, Commissioners, employees, etc. This is money that likely would have been put towards additional repairs or saved for deferred maintenance.

Since the State owns the Coliseum, they’re essentially collecting their money immediately instead of letting it get re-invested in their property (and held temporarily in a City fund).

The Commission is proud of their independence and lack of outside funding, but this makes me wonder if they might have an argument for using State taxpayer dollars for any major upgrades since it would be an investment in the State’s facility, not their own.

Photo by Karen Tapia-Andersen / LAT