In what has become an ongoing saga, a city-ordered audit says that the 49ers owe more than $2 million to the city of Santa Clara, in both public safety money and stadium costs over the last three years, according to a report in Monday’s San Francisco Chronicle. The 49ers have denied the findings that state they have not paid what they owe.
The draft of the audit, obtained by Matier & Ross, states that the 49ers owe the following:
•$894,000 left over from a stadium construction fund that was used to cover various public safety costs during the opening year at Levi’s — but that wasn’t included in the budget approved by the city-run Stadium Authority.
•$719,000 to cover revenue that the city lost by allowing the Niners to park cars on a city-owned golf course during games and other events.
• $488,000 that the city, by its own admission, never actually billed the Niners for — largely to pay for fire crews around the stadium, and to reimburse local police for investigating the a 2014 beating of a 49ers fan inside a stadium restroom.
The report is also critical of the “Stadium Authority,” which serves as the landlord of Levi’s Stadium, saying it lacks “controls and procedures to verify” that the city’s share of fees collected are accurate. The audit was recommended by the Santa Clara County civil grand jury. The city has given the 49ers until Friday to respond.
Though they haven’t responded in detail, the 49ers did take specific issue with the $894K construction fund surplus that the city claims they used improperly. They say a city stadium representative is the one who decided the funds should be used for public safety.
“These costs were paid at the request of the Stadium Authority’s finance director in accordance with construction fund practices,” said 49ers spokesman Bob Lange told the Chronicle. “We have paid every single bill we have received from the city of Santa Clara.”
Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor told the Chronicle that that claim “makes her laugh,” but also declined to discuss the audit in detail at this time. Gillmor is reportedly pushing to hire a new Stadium Authority manager.