Jim McIntire, the north Seattle rep who’s sponsoring the Sonics subsidy legislation that Josh has been covering extensively in the paper and on Slog, just introduced an amended Sonics bill that contains two very different options; either or both proposals could, if the bill is approved, go before voters later this year.

The first, which city council president (and Sonics subsidy opponent) Nick Licata calls the “Schulz option” (after Sonics CEO Howard Schulz) would provide $320 million to the Sonics (in 2008 dollars), including hotel/motel tax, food and beverage tax, and a tax on car rentals, to pay for $176 million in Key Arena renovations. (The rest would go toward paying down debt, arts funding, reserves, and financing.) That option would also require the Sonics to kick in $44 million toward the renovation.

A smaller $113 million option, which Licata has dubbed “the Licata option,” would put a more modest $60 million toward Key Arena, plus debt, arts funding, and financing costs. The new option would also eliminate the tax on restaurants (which forces restaurants and bars near Key Arena to subsidize their own competition, since much of the proposed renovation would pay for new bars and restaurants in the city-owned facility) and would not make the renovations contingent on the Sonics staying at Key Arena. The city and county would have to agree on which proposal (or proposals) to put on the ballot.