The details of a deal to build a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium in Tampa have not been released. But the idea is already creating friction on the Hillsborough County Commission.
The board on Wednesday rejected a motion by Commissioner Joshua Wostal to release all draft documents and personal notes on the deal by the end of the day.
The Rays want tax dollars to pay half the cost of the estimated $2.3 billion stadium.
Wostal said he's afraid of a last-minute deal that could keep taxpayers on the hook for decades.
"I'm going to bring a motion for this board right now for the public to have transparency and at least have some minuscule of understanding of what's going on behind the scenes on a deal," he told fellow commissioners. "That seemed to have moved way beyond the scope that we originally approved."
County Attorney Julia Mandell said any private notes taken during discussions with the team are not considered public record.
Board members instead agreed with a motion by Commissioner Harry Cohen to hold a workshop once the outlines of a deal are released.
"If the public knew that we were going to do that and they had our assurance that we were going to follow a transparent process, there's absolutely no reason to interrupt what our staff is doing before it's done," Cohen said.
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The commission will also get outside legal opinion on whether the voter-reapproved Community Investment Tax can be used to pay to build new sports stadiums. The opinion should be ready by the board's next meeting in two weeks.
The language on the CIT ballot narrowly approved by voters in 2024 asked for renewal of a half-cent sales tax through 2041 to pay for "infrastructure for transportation and public works, public safety, public facilities, public utilities and public schools."
"I want to be clear," Wostal said. "It's not if we're going to be sued on this. It's when we get sued on this if we use CIT for a new professional sports stadium."
Commission Chair Ken Hagan, who has been the board's point person on Rays stadium negotiations, said the deal would not work if the sales tax money is not included.
County Administrator Bonnie Wise confirmed that the county is looking at all revenue sources for a deal, not just money that is in excess of what the CIT could raise.
During public comment, Jim Davison — who was defeated in his race for the county commission in 2024 — said he was opposed to enriching the team's new owners.
"You promised the people that you wouldn't use the CIT tax," he told commissioners. "You took it out of the referendum because you didn't think it was going to pass. It took hundreds of millions of dollars out of the referendum for the schools. And now you're going to give a billionaire hundreds of millions of dollars.
"That's not morally correct," he added.
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His views were echoed by Carmen Edmonds, chair of the Hillsborough Republican Party.
"That CIT money, as promised in the referendum when we voted on it in '24, was only to be used for infrastructure, fire station and existing stadiums," she told board members. "There was specific language put in that referendum by Josh Wostal and Commissioner Mike Owen at the time to not allow that money to be used for new stadiums."
The Rays want to build a 30,000-seat indoor stadium on land now used by the Dale Mabry campus of Hillsborough College. The team's lease at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg ends after the 2028 season.
The college would be rebuilt on the west end of the property.
The Rays would build surrounding development, including hotels, offices, restaurants, residential and recreational areas, that would be “100 percent” privately financed, with tax dollars from the district used to eventually pay off the tab.
The team has held a series of listening sessions with the public. The next one is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Robinson High School's auditorium, 6311 S. Lois Ave., Tampa. Rays CEO Ken Babby and key project partners will provide an overview of the ballpark plan, followed by a Q&A.
