Tampa Bay Rays stadium negotiations get boost from councilor as new plan floated
Rays stadium update
It's a possible new plan to move the Rays stadium proposal forward to Tampa. A City council member is suggesting a change to how the city would facilitate the Rays' plan for a $2.3 billion stadium. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - A possible new plan to move the Tampa Bay Rays stadium proposal forward is being floated by councilor Bill Carlson.
Tampa Stadium Financing Plan
What we know:
The question is whether the plan could gain enough support from the rest of the council.
"The Rays liked it," said Carlson. "There were some things that we went back and forth on."
Carlson voted for the original plan just to keep the process going, but said he wouldn't support it as is if it got to a final vote.
His goal is to create a new bucket of funding that will get the support of four of the seven city councilors.
A previous plan only had two or three solid yes votes.
His pitch centers on the creation of a TIF district, which is short for a tax increment financing district.
The goal is to see the area around the stadium increase in value by so much that it would create a revenue stream that could provide infrastructure money to the city and county, and also beef up where the stadium is.
Unresolved Ballpark Financial Details
Dig deeper:
Carlson says $80 million of those dollars would be given to the special Community Development District in advance, which would be repaid over time.
"The county's deal is separate from the city, and they'll be rolling that out in the next few days," said Carlson. "And so they have several different parts of it that's more complicated. But from the City, the only thing that we're doing is putting some of the property tax money into the CDD, which can only be spent on infrastructure."
The total city payment remains unclear, though Carlson does say that the MOU's request of $180 million from the city would be by the wayside.
Tampa Stadium Next Steps
What's next:
Since the initial MOU failed at council in June, county negotiators have looked for ways to provide an even bigger piece of funding than the $800 million first floated.
The plan had been to have this done by June, and we are now pushing three months past that, so time is getting short. You could even say this is well into extra innings.
Carlson says the plan could go before council at a late August meeting.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Tampa City Council Member Bill Carlson, who shared details of the proposal and discussions with the Rays, as well as city and county records regarding the stadium negotiations.