The Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency agreed Thursday to delay action on some procedural obligations tied to the Tampa Bay Rays' stadium contract that was approved last month.
The continuances won't undo any provisions of the financial agreement.
The board — made up of city council members - voted to push back two items until its Nov. 12 meeting. One would have directed CRA attorney Clifford Shepard to prepare documents needed to implement CRA-related obligations in the contract.
The other involves finalizing the language of the separate Community Benefits Agreement with the team.
According to the stadium deal, the board must take formal action on removing the 120-acre stadium district site from the Drew Park CRA, extending the Drew Park, West Tampa and East Tampa CRAs, and redistributing half of the tax increment from the Downtown CRA.
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CRAs are overlay districts placed on designated blighted areas that pump future property tax growth back into public projects within the boundaries.
The most significant requirement involves the Drew Park CRA. The stadium property — now used as Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus — would be carved out of the redevelopment area.
This will prevent the stadium district from consuming future CRA tax increment collected for Drew Park businesses and residents.
The change will also designate a new community development district on the 120-acre stadium district, which can borrow money for the project's public infrastructure. The debt would be repaid with future property-tax growth generated by a mixed-use development planned for the land around the stadium.
The deal also requires extending the lengths of the Drew Park, West Tampa and East Tampa CRAs and making changes to Hillsborough County's participation during those extensions.
Separately, the city has agreed to cut its required annual contribution to the Downtown CRA by half. Those savings are expected to be directed toward a proposed citywide infrastructure trust fund, but that would require separate CRA and city action.
Shepard told the CRA board on Thursday that he could not begin preparing all of the necessary documents until he receives more information about what needs to be done.
“I would make any date work, but I need to be provided all the materials first,” Shepard said. He said there was “a bit of confusion” over which documents need to be prepared and noted that some could be drafted by the county rather than the CRA attorney.
The board also delayed work on a Community Benefits Agreement. The Rays have pledged to honor the agreement and have released a framework covering the team's contribution to needs such as affordable housing, local hiring, minority- and women-owned businesses, small-business and workforce development, and youth programs. The Rays have not specified how much they will spend on those programs.
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Board member Lynn Hurtak also questioned why a written report accompanying the benefits agreement item was not available in the board's document system. The board agreed to continue the item and make the report available when it returns in November.
The city council and county commission voted in late August to approve the stadium development and funding agreement for the $2.36 billion stadium. Site work is expected to begin shortly so the building can be opened by March 2029.
Per the agreement, the city and county would contribute no more than $876 million toward the stadium project, while the Rays will cover more than $1.3 billion and all cost overruns.
The city contribution is capped at $80 million and the county contribution at about $796 million, including $360 million from the Community Investment Tax, $263 million in Tourist Development Tax-backed funding, $103 million from other county funds and $30 million in federal disaster-recovery money.
