James-Love NBA combo is tax boon to two Cleveland towns

Cleveland sports fans were jazzed this weekend as Johnny “Football” Manziel had a quite promising debut in the Browns-Lions preseason NFL game.

But it’s some NBA players who have turned at least two Ohio municipal tax collectors into hoops cheerleaders.

The high profile — and high-priced — additions of LeBron James and Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers is expected to be tax windfalls for the cities of Cleveland and Independence.

Fans and the treasurers of those Ohio towns are still waiting for the NBA to approve the deal that will send Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves to Ohio, where he reportedly will be King James’ teammate for many years to come. When it is finalized, that sound you’ll hear will be cheering to a cash register cha-ching soundtrack.

The two Ohio cities have agreed to evenly split the 2 percent municipal income tax paid by Cavs’ players.

So the basketball starts’ multimillion-dollar contracts will bring about $200,000 per year in extra income tax revenue to Cleveland, where the Cavaliers play, and Independence, where the team practices, John M. Veres, Independence’s finance director, told Cleveland.com.

Earlier financial estimates by Cuyahoga County officials projected that James’ homecoming alone could bring nearly $50 million per year in new economic activity to Greater Cleveland.

There’s no breakdown of how that would translate into taxes, but you can be sure that when things pick up business wise, the tax collector will get his share.

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