Inglewood City Council Approves Mayor Butts’ Motion for Full Accounting of Every Tax Owed from Hollywood Park and SoFi Stadium

Independent audit, co-sponsored by Councilmember Dionne Faulk, will recover what Inglewood is owed and  put it to work for residents: keeping families housed, building homeownership and wealth, growing small  businesses, investing in young people, and protecting neighborhoods on event days 

INGLEWOOD, CA — The Inglewood City Council today voted 5–0 to approve Mayor James T. Butts, Jr.’s  motion directing an independent Hollywood Park Revenue Accountability and Ticket Transparency Audit of  every tax and fee owed to the City from the Hollywood Park campus, home to SoFi Stadium and YouTube  Theater, from 2015 to the present. The motion was co-sponsored by Councilmember Dionne Faulk.  The vote follows a California Superior Court ruling that the 2015 Hollywood Park Development Agreement is  void. The motion adds no new tax, fee, or rate. It requires that every tax dollar owed to Inglewood be counted,  collected, and put to work for the people of Inglewood.  

“Today, this Council spoke with one voice for the people of Inglewood,” said Mayor Butts. “For years, I have  asked for one thing: a full and honest accounting. Not an estimate, not a number handed to us, but an  independent audit, line by line and ticket by ticket. With the development agreement gone, this City must take  full command of every dollar due to it, because we cannot command what we cannot count.”  

What Inglewood’s Tax Dollars Will Do 

Mayor Butts made clear that the purpose of the audit is not simply to balance a ledger. It is to recover revenue  that belongs to Inglewood residents and invest it directly in their stability, opportunity, and wealth.  “There comes a point when a community needs more than a handout. It needs a step up,” said Mayor Butts.  “This is not charity. It is our own money, working for our own people, by our own choice. That is  selfdetermination.”  

When Inglewood receives what it is owed, the Mayor said the City will invest in:  

• Keeping families in their homes, through rental assistance in times of crisis, homelessness prevention,  and help for families facing foreclosure.  
• Opening the door to homeownership, with expanded support for first-time homebuyers and the  training to help them buy a home and keep it.  
• Building family wealth, through financial education, one-on-one financial coaching, and credit  counseling.  
• Growing Inglewood’s own economy, with small business assistance, small business loans, and support  for the nonprofits that serve residents every day. 
• Investing in young people, through tutoring, after-school programs, summer camps, and help preparing  for college and financial aid.  
• Strengthening community life and health, with community events and family festivals in Inglewood’s  parks, fitness and wellness programs, access to healthy food, and support for seniors.  

One W Manchester Boulevard • Inglewood, CA • 90301 • Phone (310) 412-5301 • Fax (310) 412-8788 • www.cityofinglewood.org  • Protecting neighborhoods on event days, by covering the growing cost of police deployments and  overtime and continuing to improve traffic management on the boulevards around the venues.  

“When Inglewood is paid what it is owed, we can do the work our residents have been asking us to do,” said  Mayor Butts. “Every event day, our residents pay a price that never shows up on a ticket, in safety, in traffic,  and in the livability of their neighborhoods. As more events are booked, our police overtime has grown year  after year. Our residents should not have to spend the City’s savings to underwrite the events next door. That  

money is owed, and it will be used to make this city safer, stronger, and more prosperous for the families who  live here.”  

Councilmember Faulk: “We Are Not Going Away” 

Mayor Butts credited Councilmember Faulk with bringing the voice of the Renaissance neighborhood, which  borders the stadium, to the effort.  

“Councilmember Faulk doesn’t just represent the families who live next to this stadium, she is one of them,”  said Mayor Butts. “She has carried their concerns into every conversation, and her leadership as co-sponsor  made this vote possible. I am proud to have stood with her on this motion.”  

“I don’t just represent the Renaissance. I live there,” said Councilmember Faulk. “My neighbors hear the  crowds at midnight and sit in event traffic just trying to get home. They tell me every day what they want:  community events that bring us together, programs that catch our families before they fall, health and wellness  for every generation, and the chance to start a business, own a home, and lead in their own community. For too  long, we have had to chase what is ours. Inglewood should not be reliant on the stadium’s generosity. We  should rely on what this City is owed, collected in full and counted in the open. When a family buys a ticket at  SoFi Stadium, part of that ticket belongs to the people of Inglewood, and today we made sure our residents will  finally see what is owed and whether it was paid.”  

Original Champions of the Project Back the Audit 

Councilmembers Alex Padilla and Eloy Morales Jr., who voted in 2015 to bring the Hollywood Park project to  Inglewood, joined in support of the motion. 

“In 2015, we believed in this project and in what it could mean for Inglewood, and we still do,” said  Councilmember Padilla. “But believing in a partnership means holding every partner to account. The promise  we made to our residents was that this project would lift up their lives. This audit makes sure that promise is  kept, with every tax collected and every dollar invested back in our community.”  

“We have always worked with Hollywood Park in good faith, fighting for local hire, small businesses, public  safety, and transportation for our residents,” said Councilmember Morales. “Good faith goes both ways. With  the Super Bowl and the Olympics on our doorstep, Inglewood needs to know exactly what it is owed and what 

it will spend, before the crowds arrive, not after they leave. Those dollars belong in our neighborhoods, our  schools, and our small businesses.”  

Every Tax, Every Ticket 

The approved motion directs the City Attorney to retain an independent forensic accounting firm with expertise  in stadium and event accounting to review every revenue source owed by the Hollywood Park campus since  2015, including:  

• Admissions tax, including amounts owed without the $15 million annual cap set by the void agreement.  • Sales tax, including taxes on bundled ticket packages that include food and beverage, parking, and  merchandise, and on catered private events.  
• Parking, utility users, and business license taxes, and the City’s share of property taxes.  • Advertising and signage revenue, and development and permit fees.  
• Hotel tax, once the hotel now under construction on the campus opens.  

For each source, the audit will compare what the City actually received to what it is owed under City law  without the void agreement, and identify amounts due for past years. It will also independently determine when,  if ever, the $25 million annual tax threshold that triggers infrastructure reimbursement was reached, and  examine the documentation behind every dollar of infrastructure costs claimed against the City. In December  2024, Hollywood Park ownership sought approximately $376 million in reimbursement, an amount the City has  challenged.  

Ticket transparency is central to the audit. Building on the principles of AB 8, a 2023 state bill the Los Angeles  Rams opposed in Sacramento, the audit will examine whether admissions tax has been charged on the full price  fans pay, including service, facility, and processing fees; whether the tax fans paid actually reached the City;  whether ticket sales and refund records match tax payments; and how bundled packages, resale tickets, free  tickets, suites, and premium seats have been handled.  

“The principle behind AB 8 was simple: people deserve to see the whole price,” said Assemblymember Tina  McKinnor. “I congratulate Mayor Butts, Councilmember Faulk, and the Council for applying that principle to  the public’s share of every ticket.”  

Independent and Public 

Initial audit findings will be presented to the City Council in public session within 45 days of the firm’s  engagement, with any litigation-related matters handled in closed session as required by law. The motion also  directs the City Manager to publish a quarterly Stadium Revenue Transparency Report on the City’s website  showing each tax collected, tickets sold and free tickets issued, ticket revenue and fees, admissions tax owed  and received, and event-day costs and reimbursements.  

With SoFi Stadium hosting the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympic Opening Ceremony, the audit gives  Inglewood an accurate, independent baseline as it works toward a new framework for the Hollywood Park  campus, and a clear path to putting every dollar it is owed back into its neighborhoods.  

Every tax. Every ticket. Every dollar, working for Inglewood.