The Tampa Bay Rays say they have no plans to reopen negotiations on the financial template for a proposed stadium approved last week by local governments.
In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, CEO Ken Babby said that despite objections from some Tampa City Council members over the economics in the non-binding deal, the next phase will focus on resolving a handful of remaining issues.
“We’ve worked for six months to reach the framework, so when you bring it to the public body, that doesn’t open up the dynamic to renegotiate the framework,” Babby told the Times in New York, where the Rays were playing the Yankees.
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The Rays want to build a $2.3 billion stadium on Drew Park land now used by Hillsborough Community College's Dale Mabry campus under a public-private partnership that includes a combined $976 million in city and county contributions.
The MOU commits $80 million from the city’s share of the half-cent Community Investment Tax and $100 million reinvested from future property taxes in an existing Community Redevelopment Area.
The city was represented in talks by members of the mayor’s staff, but none from the council. The council voted 4-3 to approve the agreement on Thursday.
Moments before the vote, however, councilors Lynn Hurtak and Bill Carlson asked whether a community development district (CDD) or new tax-increment funding on just the stadium project could be used, rather than an existing Drew Park CRA.
A CDD is designed to issue infrastructure bonds backed by dedicated property assessment, which Hurtak and Carlson argued could offer more favorable borrowing terms.
“I think that is 100% the way to go,” Hurtak said. “Carve out the entire 130 acres. They could get more than $100 million.”
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Babby told the council the non-binding MOU allows such options but also downplayed the possibility, noting, “You can’t build a ballpark based on IOUs. It doesn’t work.”
Babby told the council the Rays already increased their stadium investment from $1.065 billion to $1.27 billion. The Rays also agreed to take the $80 million CIT contribution over four years in a pay-as-you-go structure rather than through bond financing.
“The county and city really pushed hard on us and continued to push to make the deal a better deal for the public, and they did that. And they continue to push hard,” Babby told the Times. “I think we’ve given a lot. We continue to take on more and more, and we believe this is a fair framework.”
The Hillsborough County Commission voted 5-2 to advance the memorandum on Wednesday.
Negotiators will now begin drafting binding agreements covering construction responsibilities, maintenance costs, funding guarantees and the Rays’ community benefits obligations.
These will also require approvals by the city council and county commission.
