CLEVELAND, Nov. 7 -- Cuyahoga County residents voted a resounding 'yes' Tuesday on a 10-year extension of an alcohol and tobacco tax that appears to be the last chance at keeping the NFL Browns in Cleveland. With more than two-thirds of precincts reporting results, the vote was more than 70 per cent in favor of extending the 'sin tax' originally passed in 1990 to partially fund baseball's Jacobs Field andbasketball's Gund Arena in downtown Cleveland. But Browns owner Art Modell, who announced Monday that the team will move to Baltimore in 1996, reportedly informed city and state officials to tell the public that a proposal to renovate Cleveland Stadium would not necessarily keep the Browns in the city. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Tuesday it obtained an Oct. 5 letter in which Modell urged Gov. George Voinovich and Cleveland Mayor Michael White to inform the public that the passage of the sin tax would not guarantee anything. Modell still needs the approval of 23 of 30 NFL owners to relocate. The proposal would extend the additional tax on cigarettes and drinks for 10 years beyond its current expiration in 2005. It originally was approved by voters to help finance construction of the Gateway Project, which included new facilities for the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers. 'I am troubled that the public and business community may be led to believe that the sin tax extension will solve the problem when, in fact, as we have explained ... it will not,' Modell wrote.
'I urge you ... to use your best efforts to make sure that they are not misled.' Both White and Voinovich have urged passage of the sin tax extension, originally to keep the Browns in Cleveland. After Modell made his announcement Monday, political leaders urged passage of the issue to facilitate obtaining another NFL franchise.
