TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Rays have grand plans for a new stadium. But right now, that can’t happen unless the Hillsborough County Commission and the Tampa City Council sign off on it.
And while commissioners have made their move, supporting the idea, council members appear to be holding the ball.
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Under the current proposal, the City of Tampa would bring $180 million to the table — $80 million from the half-cent sales tax and $100 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency.
“It’s not about baseball. It’s not about development. It’s about money,” said Councilman Charlie Miranda.
City Council members have twice delayed a vote on the Rays’ $2.3 billion stadium proposal. Along with those delays, the city council also rejected a change in land-use for Hillsborough College. The Rays needed that to move forward with a review from the state, so that also blocked the stadium proposal from gaining traction.
In May, by a 4-3 vote, the council supported a stadium proposal memo, which is currently a non-binding agreement. But at the time, Councilman Bill Carlson said he would ultimately vote no on the final project.
Hillsborough County Board of Commisioners Chair Ken Hagan said this week that the county won’t discuss the deal again until Tampa’s council makes a move forward.
He told our newsgathering partners at the Tampa Bay Times this week that he wants city leaders to take action.
“It’s because of their obstruction that I’m insistent on City Council voting first,” Hagan told the Times. “I was willing for us to go first last time because I was told that would help a couple City Council members. Well, you saw what happened. It’s the old adage. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I’m not going to subject our board to a similar type situation.”
Councilman Luis Viera agrees with that.
“If that’s something the county commission wants, I don’t think that’s unreasonable, only because of their experience,” Viera said. “If we’re the ones who are objecting, if we’re the ones who are saying no, I think it makes sense potentially to say that we should go first because we’re the ones saying no to things.”
One of the big sticking points has been the upcoming property tax referendum, where the City of Tampa stands to lose millions of dollars. Councilman Miranda would prefer to wait on discussing the Rays stadium until voters decide on the referendum.
“Why am I going to vote today on some money I don’t have, even now knowing that I’m going to have a shortfall of $23 million possibly,” he said. “To me, that’s not a way to vote.”
Viera worries that waiting that long could cost Tampa Bay its baseball team. He is supporting a special meeting next month with the CRA or City Council to continue talks with the Rays.
“If we get to the point that they say this process is getting to be too long, we have to explore other options. That should be a warning sign for us that we have to move forward with vigor,” he said.
Spectrum News reached out to council members Lynn Hurtak, Carlson, Guido Maniscalco and Alan Clendenin. They were unavailable for comment.
The Rays have said they want final agreements by August, so they can open the new stadium by 2029.