The Sonics want a "yes" or "no" commitment from the city within 30 days.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is promising to negotiate, but he warned any money will have to come from new, special taxes and not from the general Seattle budget.

"The Sonics, they're important," Nickels said. "No question about that. They're not, perhaps, as important as the replacing the (Alaskan Way) Viaduct or making sure that our schools work."

Is Nickels telling the Sonics 'that's the way the ball bounces, we don't have the money?' Perhaps. But the big message is Seattle won't shortchange cops and kids, and the money for the Key must come from taxes on visitors and spectators.

The usual sports argument is a major league team is the mark of a major league city. But Nickels says that's not necessarily so.

"The President of China, the president of a country of 1.3 billion people chose Seattle as the place he wanted to come to in the Unites States, in his first visit here," he said. "I don't think we have to have the Sonics here to be seen as a world class city."

Having said that, Nickels insists he will do whatever is reasonable to keep the team in town.

City council president Nick Licata says city hall e-mail is running 7-to-1 against spending more city tax money for sports. He says the Sonics may have known that would happen and are setting up the city for the blame if the team moves.

"They are coming in with a proposal that obviously doesn't pencil out for the city," Licata said. "So if we reject it they can accuse us of being the bad guys."

But city council member Jan Drago says she's optimistic. She predicts something will be worked out. She told KOMO 4 News she expects negotiations with the team to begin in early May.