PITTSBURGH -- It appears the Pittsburgh Steelers are on the clock as it pertains to completing a sale of the franchise.

The four brothers of Steelers chairman Dan Rooney have not rushed a deal to sell their stakes in the team to their brother, but it seems the timeline has been accelerated, and it may have to do with the president-elect.

Watch Jake Ploeger's Report

Steelers President Art Rooney II, the son of Dan Rooney, admitted the sale of the team has become a complicated deal, made even more complex by potential changes in tax law sometime in 2009.

"There’s a few tax issues involved, yes. It’s somewhat complicated, so as I said, a lot of pieces of the puzzle have to fall in place,” said Rooney II.

Those complicated issues include a potential increase in the capital gains tax that have four of the Rooney brothers running a two minute drill to finalize a deal to sell the team to Dan and Art Rooney II before year’s end.

"I think that what were working on is something that everyone wants to see be done by the end of the year. If it’s not done, I don't know what happens after that, but at this point, that's what everybody is working toward,” said Rooney II.

The brothers were apparently close to a deal recently, but finalizing details can delay the process.

"Yeah, we’re hopeful that something will get worked out. A lot of pieces of the puzzle still have to fall in place so we’ll see,” Rooney II said.

President-elect Barack Obama has said he would potentially increase the capital gains tax from its current rate of 15 percent to 20 percent, which could affect how much money the four Rooney brothers stand to make in the sale.

If the tax is increased at any time during 2009, it would be retroactive to Jan. 1.

Jeff Spengler works as a tax expert with McCrory & McDowell in downtown Pittsburgh.

Spengler said the four Rooney brothers looking to sell their shares could see far less money if the capital gains tax increase is imposed.

“If it happens next year in 2009, no matter when the tax law could change, it could go retroactive to the beginning of the year to Jan. 1, 2009, so that’s probably the push to get it done this year,” Spengler said.

The NFL Finance Committee must evaluate the terms of the sale before it can be approved by the NFL owners.

Rooney II preferred not to think about what might happen if a deal has not been struck before the ball drops for 2009.

"I don't really want to speculate on that because it probably starts over again at that point, so who knows what happens,” said Rooney II.

NFL owners are schedule to meet in Dallas, Texas on Dec. 17.

---

Related Links:

• More County News
• Add Us To Your iGoogle Or My Yahoo Page
• D ownload Our Free Desktop Alert For Breaking News

---