HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson is pushing a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium plan he says would not include any new taxes for Tampa.

Carlson is proposing that only property taxes generated by the Rays’ privately funded multi-use development be used for the ballpark.

His proposal eliminates a nonbinding agreement requiring the city to use $80 million from the community investment tax, or CIT.

The proposal would also separate the Drew Park CRA from the financing, allowing the neighborhood organization to manage its own future instead of tying its finances to the stadium.

Carlson told Spectrum News that no money would be pulled away from other sources.

“We’re taking it from two revenue streams to one,” he said. “Instead of using CIT, pulling money away from other projects, we would just use one revenue stream, and it’s what we’re calling tax revenue sharing, where we will look at the property tax and a TIFF — a tax incrementing mechanism that will generate taxes for the city, county and a CDD.

“So, no money will go to the Rays,” Carlson said. “It will go into a community development district, and then it will be specifically tied to only being spent on infrastructure owned by the city, county or the state.”

Carlson is seeking feedback from the public on this new proposal over the next few days.

He said he will bring this proposal to the Rays and the county and possibly draft an agreement in the next week or so, then wait for a final agreement before voting on it in council. 

According to estimates from Carlson, taxes generated from the entertainment district’s fund could reach $1.5 billion to $2 billion over 35 years. Those funds would be earmarked for city-wide infrastructure needs.

He posted on X about his idea over the weekend:

“What I’m trying to do is create a win-win-win situation. The city went from having to pay money, taking money from other sources, to now participating in a revenue stream that will fund infrastructure without raising taxes.” https://t.co/bAKRMPAjoP

— Bill Carlson (@carlsonbill) August 9, 2026

The Rays have committed to spending $1.2 billion on the project and were previously seeking $976 million in public contributions to the project, with $796 million from the county and $180 million from the city.

Under the current proposal, $80 million would come from the half-cent sales tax and $100 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency.

A new arrangement could eliminate the need for the $180 million.

In May, by a 4-3 vote, the council supported a stadium proposal memo, which is currently a non-binding agreement. At the time, Carlson said he would ultimately vote no on the final project.

But Carlson has recently spent time discussing the project and financing in detail with Rays CEO Ken Babby.

The project calls for a $2.3-billion proposal involving a stadium at the current site of Hillsborough College, across from Raymond James Stadium.

Earlier this year. Tampa city leaders pushed back a vote on the stadium until later this month.

In May, by a 5-2 vote, Hillsborough County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding related to the building of a new stadium. The Hillsborough College Board of Trustees also gave its OK to a lease agreement.

Team officials say they want to be in the new facility in time for the 2029 season.

The county commission and city council would have to agree to any changes on the proposal and then vote to approve.

Carlson said team officials have been receptive.