Editing Chase Field (section)

===Stadium funding===
In the spring of 1994, the [[Maricopa County, Arizona|Maricopa County]] [[Maricopa County Board of Supervisors|Board of Supervisors]] approved a 0.25 percent increase in the county sales tax to pay for their portion of the stadium funding. That happened during a huge county budget deficit and lack of funding for other services. The sales tax was very unpopular with local citizens, who were not permitted to vote on funding a baseball stadium with general sales tax revenue (use of public subsidies for stadium projects was prohibited by a 1989 referendum). The issue was so controversial and divisive that, in August 1997, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot and injured while leaving a county board meeting by Larry Naman, a homeless man, who attempted to argue in court that her support for the tax justified his attack. In May 1998, Naman was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.<ref name="asu1">{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Charles |title=Jury Finds Naman Guilty, Homeless Man Convicted of Attempted Murder In Shooting |url=http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn/archives/may98/0072.html |work=The Arizona Republic |date=May 6, 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804190859/http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn/archives/may98/0072.html |archive-date=August 4, 2007}}</ref>

The cost of the stadium was estimated at $279 million in 1995,<ref>[http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/1996/09/02/story6.html Ballpark-Brick Sale to Offset Costs] Bizjournals.com</ref> but cost overruns, in part because of rising prices for steel and other materials, pushed the cost to $364 million.<ref>[http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/1998/07/13/story2.html?t=printable D-Backs Expect Skyrocketing Results From BOB] Bizjournals.com</ref> As part of the stadium deal, the Diamondbacks were responsible for all construction costs over $253 million. The extra expenses, combined with the Diamondbacks and the other expansion franchise, the [[Tampa Bay Rays|Tampa Bay Devil Rays]], not being allowed to share in national MLB revenue for their first five years of operations, left the Diamondbacks in a less-than-desirable financial situation, which came back to haunt team founder and managing partner [[Jerry Colangelo]] and his group.