cleveland cavaliers

Already reeling from economic losses, Cleveland could be out millions of dollars in tax revenue if labor strife leads to cancellation of the upcoming National Basketball Association season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers paid the city $4.5 million in city admission taxes last season, plus income taxes charged against the team’s $53 million payroll. How much in income taxes was not known because Cleveland officials decline to discuss what they collect from specific taxpayers.

The city also took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in parking taxes on Cavs’ game days. The 8 percent tax generated $300,000 for municipal operating expenses, according to Finance Director Sharon Dumas, and a possibly larger sum to pay debt on parking garages.

Effects also could be felt in Independence, which is the site of the Cavaliers’ practice facility and splits income taxes from the home team’s players with Cleveland. The Cavaliers rank as the suburb’s second-biggest source of income taxes this year, accounting for $326,664 through September, according to the weekly Sun Post newspaper.

– Reported by Thomas Ott of the Cleveland Plain Dealer