By Ridge Mahoney

For the second time in the past year, an MLS stadium project has run afoul of local politics.

New Jersey lawmakers decided Wednesday to delay passage of a bill that authorizes use of state funds for the MetroStars stadium project in Harrison.

Earlier this year, the McKinney (Texas) City Council pulled back an agreement that would have earmarked state-tax revenues to partially fund a stadium for the Burn in that suburb north of Dallas.

The Burn and MLS abandoned McKinney and have been discussing a similar plan with representatives of nearby Frisco.

For the Metros, though, finding another location isn't quite so simple. The Metros' stadium is one component of a proposed $2 billion development project that will include office space, retail complexes, and residential units.

''I'm still pretty confident that we may be able to get this thing done without the state,'' said Metros general manager Nick Sakiewicz. ''That's what we're working feverishly on right now, to put together a plan with our colleagues in Harrison and Hudson County to do that.''

The Senate Economic Growth, Agriculture and Tourism Committee would have voted on the bill Thursday and Sakiewicz said as of Monday five of the six committee members had voiced their support of the bill.

Said Sakiewicz of the bill, ''Any brownfield in the entire state of New Jersey — old industrial sites, dirty sites — can petition the treasurer to take an increment of the new sales taxes in that development and apply them toward the building of anything, including sports and entertainment facilities.''

In pulling the bill from the committee's agenda, state senator Bernard F. Kenny Jr. (D-Hudson) cited a lawsuit filed last week by Attorney General David Samson accusing Philip Anschutz, whose company Anschutz Entertainment Group is operator-investor of the MetroStars, of fraud.

Anschutz was among the defendants named in the suit filed against four firms, including his company Qwest Communications, the stock value of which plummeted and thus cost New Jersey hundreds of millions of dollars in pension funds invested with those firms.

Sakiewicz said without the bill authorizing use of state funds to detoxify the Harrison site and initiate the major development project, AEG and the Metros will look for funds elsewhere if the bill is not revived.

The political flames, believes Sakiewicz, were fanned by a newspaper story that ran in the Star-Ledger Tuesday.

''This bill will not hand over $30 million to Phil Anschutz, as the Star-Ledger reported,'' said Sakiewicz. ''That's completely and utterly a poor analysis of the bill.

''The gives the town of Harrison a tool to fund redevelopment of brownfields. By this bill not passing through it hurts Harrison and Hudson County more than anything.''

Samson filed the suit against Qwest, Tyco, Sears Roebuck and Co. and Electronic Data Systems claiming corporate malfeasance and fraudulent accounting practices had caused the losses.

At some point, committee members will discuss the bill and its possible revival. In the meantime, Sakiewicz will head discussions among the town of Harrison, Hudson County and AEG executives about alternate sources of funding.

Sakiewicz says the exact amount of money that would be generated by the state subsidies is not known but would run into the tens of millions of dollars.

Cleanup of the Harrison site will cost approximately $2 million, said Sakiewicz, unless further contamination is found below the surface. Engineering surveys to determine if subsurface contamination is present will be conducted in the spring.

The balance of the state money would be spent on construction costs.

AEG has pledged approximately $30 million in direct payments and a share of revenues to be generated over the next 20 years by a 5,000-space parking garage adjacent to the stadium.

Bonds to be issued by the Hudson County Improvement Authority would provide the majority of the funding for the stadium and parking garage, the estimated cost of which is $150 million.

The Metros had put together a sports and entertainment bill last year that stalled in committee. The new bill was drawn up this year and according to Sakiewicz has plenty of political backing including that of Governor James E. McGreevey, who took office last January.

The brownfields bill was passed by the State Assembly Nov. 22 and would still need to go through the appropriations process and be approved by the Senate to be enacted.

''We're trying to put together a funding program with just Hudson County and Harrison,'' said Sakiewicz. ''If that's possible we'll try to move ahead with that.

''If not, then 2 and 1/2 years' worth of work are down the toilet. We gotta go somewhere else.''