As the new stadium issue continues to swirl about in the media, here are some questions you might consider asking your local politicians.

For starters, how about “were you planning on seeking my input on this issue or were you just going to put millions of dollars into a luxury project without asking taxpayers?”

That’s a very valid question as there really hasn’t been anything in the way of public consultation on the issue, but there definitely should be. After all, unlike building schools and highways, professional football stadiums aren’t really an essential government services.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has argued that professional stadiums should be paid for by those that use them, but recognizing that politicians won’t resist the temptation to kick in funds for a new stadium, we’ve called for at least a referendum.

As voters will be going to the polls this year across the province for municipal elections, it would be easy to give them a second ballot with the $278 million stadium deal and ask them to vote “yes” or “no” to the tax hikes that will be needed to pay for it. Perhaps ask your local politician what’s wrong a referendum?

Speaking of tax increases, Regina taxpayers in particular would likely appreciate knowing how much their property taxes would go up in order to pay for a new stadium. Proponents are downplaying the impact a new stadium would have on property taxes, but don’t forget they increased by 3.9 per cent in 2012 and 4 per cent in 2011without a new stadium.

Regina taxpayers might also consider asking “how much of the city of Regina’s $60.6 million contribution towards the new stadium would come from property tax increases?” And “how much would come from new taxes such as a hotel tax?”

One more question Regina taxpayers might want to ask is “the city says it has a $246 million deficit for employee pensions. That is up from $238 million last year. It also says it has an infrastructure deficit of $1.3 billion. How can city hall and taxpayers fund a stadium on top of these problems?”

Taxpayers outside of Regina will likely want to keep an eye on the largest component of the stadium proposal – the $208.8 million the provincial government is being asked to contribute. It certainly is a big number for a provincial government that delivered a modest surplus this year; only $95 million on an $11.2 billion budget. One might consider asking “if provincial resource revenues plummet like they did in 2009, can the province really afford a new stadium?

Another big question to ask is “what happened to the private sector?” Initially taxpayers were told the private sector would play a big part in the new stadium deal, but it looks to be all government money. Perhaps the private sector isn’t interested because some politicians are willing to let taxpayers foot the entire bill.

Given all the financial challenges facing taxpayers province-wide, maybe the best choice is to fix up Mosaic stadium while we wait for someone from the private sector to show up. After all, a 2008 City of Regina report showed $6 million could buy Mosaic another ten years.

The cramped, quarters at the old girl might not be the sexiest option out there. But for three hours at a time, for just 10 home games a year, certainly even diehard fans could continue to make do with a fixed up Mosaic Stadium.

One thing is for certain, there are plenty of good questions to ask regarding the new proposal. Hopefully taxpayers will get plenty of good, detail-filled answers.