There is more private money. There are local investors. There are no tax hikes.

There just might not be enough time to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle.

A group of four local businessmen announced a proposal Thursday to buy the basketball team from its Oklahoma City-based ownership group and pay for half of a $300 million renovation of KeyArena.

The offer is contingent on the sale of the Sonics or another NBA team to the group and passage of legislation by state lawmakers. It’s the largest offer of private money to renovate the arena at Seattle Center thus far.

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“This particular announcement, we think, is a game-changer,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels at a news conference at his City Hall office. “We think the fact that local investors are willing to step up with the first 50 percent of the money to get the job done – as well as the incredible investment they will make to buy the team – changes the game.”

The proposal calls for $150 million from the four investors – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Seattle developer Matt Griffin, Costco CEO Jim Sinegal and wireless magnate John Stanton – that would contribute to arena improvements that directly benefit the team, such as club seating, suites and practice facilities.

Griffin, at the news conference to speak on behalf of the investors, said the group has been formulating its proposal since October or November. It originally believed its stake in renovations would be about $75 million, he said, and only in recent weeks did that figure double.

“As far as the $150 million for the arena, I don’t think we’ll ever get it back,” he said. “I think it’s like putting it into the opera or putting it into the symphony hall or the art museum. It’s money for a public facility.”

PUBLIC CONTRIBUTIONS

The public contribution would cover improvements such as widening the concourses, improving restrooms and upgrading the plumbing and heating.

State taxes on bars, restaurants and rental cars in King County would provide $75 million. The taxes are currently used to pay for the debt on Safeco Field, but the bonds on the baseball stadium are set to be paid off early. The KeyArena plan calls for keeping the taxes in effect until 2016, when they are set to expire.

The Legislature’s session ends Thursday. Lawmakers also must grapple with public image: Any bill viewed as financially aiding the Sonics is controversial.

The other $75 million would come from the City of Seattle through admissions taxes and other revenues collected at KeyArena.

“I think it’s terrific that people finally are stepping up to do this,” said state Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, chairwoman of the Senate budget committee and perhaps the biggest advocate for the Sonics in the Legislature.

Prentice said it would be difficult to do anything during this session because lawmakers are finalizing the revised 2007-09 state budget. But something would be possible in the 2009 session, she said.

“We haven’t had any official contact, but it sure looks very promising to me,” she said. “It would be difficult to do anything this session. We have a long way to go, seeing what Seattle really wants to do, and there are a lot of details.”

Unlike previous proposals, this one focuses on refurbishing KeyArena instead of building a new site elsewhere. Nickels stressed the need to renovate the arena even if the Sonics leave.

THE OKLAHOMA QUESTION

The mayor said he has not contacted the NBA or Clay Bennett, the team’s chairman who has often said the team isn’t for sale. Bennett’s group bought the team for $350 million in July 2006 and last November filed to relocate the team to Oklahoma City after failing to gain Legislative support for a publicly financed arena in Renton.

The NBA’s Board of Governors will meet April 17-18 in New York to review Bennett’s request to move the team, pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma City voters overwhelming approved a proposal to fund a $121 million initiative that would make the Ford Center NBA-ready.

“Mr. Bennett has said the team is not for sale,” said Tim Frank, a spokesman for the NBA.

When both Griffin and former Sen. Slade Gorton, who has worked to keep the team in Seattle, were pressed on how long the group would be willing to wait for a new team if the Sonics leave, neither would give a firm answer.

The proposal doesn’t affect the city’s lawsuit that seeks to enforce the team’s lease at the arena through September 2010. A trial date has been set for June 16 in U.S. District Court.

The proposal appears to sidestep the restrictions on public financing placed on the city by Initiative 91, which prohibits Seattle from supporting sports teams with tax dollars unless the investments yield a profit on par with the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond. Voters passed I-91 with about 74 percent of the vote in 2006.

“The public in Seattle had a vote. It was called Initiative 91,” Nickels said. “We believe this complies with Initiative 91 and complies with the spirit of what the people told us they wanted, which is no giveaways but the opportunity to make good, sound investments.”

Many see this as a last attempt to keep the team as time begins to run out.

“I’m here purely selfishly to say, ‘We want NBA basketball,’” Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver said. “We want it to stay here. And we want to do everything we can to keep it here.”