Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013

ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has asked Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank to reduce the amount of money taxpayers would be asked to contribute to a proposed $1 billion stadium.

Plans for the new, retractable-roof stadium initially included a $300 million public contribution derived from hotel-motel tax revenues. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://bit.ly/10EgVu4 ) reports Deal has asked Blank to lower his request for public funding to $200 million.

In December, the franchise and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority agreed on terms surrounding the proposed stadium. Since then, Falcons representatives and state officials have been negotiating details of the proposal and are working toward settling on a final financing arrangement.

The proposal for the new stadium calls for demolishing the Georgia Dome, which was built in 1992.

(Copyright 2013, The Associated Press)