{"id":84432,"date":"2026-10-08T19:17:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=84432"},"modified":"2026-10-08T19:18:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:18:41","slug":"mayor-butts-moves-for-full-accounting-of-every-tax-owed-to-inglewood-from-hollywood-park-and-sofi-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=84432","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Butts Moves for Full Accounting of Every Tax Owed to Inglewood from Hollywood Park and SoFi Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2015 Development Agreement ruled void, the Mayor’s motion, co-sponsored by Councilmember\u00a0 Dionne Faulk, directs an independent Hollywood Park Revenue Accountability and Ticket Transparency Audit\u00a0 covering 2015 to the present, including ticket transparency protections the Rams opposed in Sacramento\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

INGLEWOOD, CA (October 8, 2026) \u2014 <\/b>Mayor James T. Butts, Jr. will introduce a motion, co-sponsored by Councilmember\u00a0 Dionne Faulk, directing an independent Hollywood Park Revenue Accountability and Ticket Transparency\u00a0 Audit of every tax and fee owed to the City of Inglewood from the Hollywood Park campus, home to SoFi\u00a0 Stadium and YouTube Theater, covering 2015 to the present. The motion follows a California Superior Court\u00a0 ruling that the 2015 Hollywood Park Development Agreement is void, and it continues the Mayor’s long standing commitment to transparency. For years he has insisted that every dollar flowing between the City and\u00a0 Hollywood Park be documented and verified.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“For years, I have asked for one thing: a full and honest accounting,” said Mayor Butts. “Now that the court has\u00a0 declared the development agreement void, the City must take command of every dollar it is owed. Not an\u00a0 estimate, not a number handed to us, but an independent audit, line by line and ticket by ticket. The people of\u00a0 Inglewood deserve nothing less.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Champion of Transparency\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Since at least 2023, the Mayor, through written correspondence from his executive staff and the City Manager,\u00a0 has asked for a full accounting of what was owed under the 2015 Development Agreement, both by the City and\u00a0 to the City. Under that agreement, the City was to pay back the developer’s up-front public infrastructure costs\u00a0 once the development brought in more than $25 million a year in total taxes to the City, and the City’s\u00a0 admissions tax on stadium events was capped at $15 million a year, adjusted for inflation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In December 2024, the Hollywood Park ownership asked the City for approximately $376 million in\u00a0 reimbursement. The Mayor insisted that the City pay nothing without full documentation and directed the City\u00a0 to bring in independent forensic accountants rather than accept the ownership’s figures at face value. The total\u00a0 was hundreds of millions of dollars more than the infrastructure costs presented to voters and the City Council\u00a0 in 2015 and included costs that were clearly not Inglewood residents’ responsibility. When Hollywood Park\u00a0 management claimed the $25 million yearly threshold had been reached, the City asked for a full reconciliation\u00a0 of the relevant taxes to confirm whether that was accurate. From the beginning, the City worked in good faith to\u00a0 make sure every payment was supported and that no gift of public funds was made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Hollywood Park and other venue owners sued the City over its digital kiosks, which fund senior\u00a0 programs, pre-kindergarten classes for low-income families, and upgrades to public safety systems, among\u00a0 other public benefits, the litigation revealed that the 2015 Development Agreement was void from the\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One W Manchester Boulevard \u2022 Inglewood, CA \u2022 90301 \u2022 Phone (310) 412-5301 \u2022 Fax (310) 412-8788 \u2022 www.cityofinglewood.org\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

beginning. The Superior Court agreed with the City and ruled the Development Agreement void. The\u00a0 Hollywood Park ownership has vowed to appeal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every Tax, Every Ticket\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The motion authorizes the City Attorney, working with the City\u2019s Chief Financial Director, to retain an\u00a0 independent certified public accounting firm with forensic accounting expertise in stadium, sports and\u00a0 entertainment, concert, and event accounting practices. Because of pending litigation, the firm will be retained\u00a0 through the City Attorney’s office, and the City Attorney and Finance Director will use all audit, inspection, and\u00a0 records authority available to the City to obtain the records needed. The auditors will compare what the City\u00a0 actually received since 2015 with what it is actually owed under the law, in categories including:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n