Do elementary school math. The proposed Rays Stadium Subsidy Scheme will loot a super super majority of taxpayers 2024 CIT renewal funds in the first 4 years of the tax.
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| Siren blares as Rays loot CIT |
Hillsborough County Commission will vote on
Wednesday whether to approve the Rays "Memorandum of Demand" for your tax dollars to build a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
If county commissioners rubber stamp their approval, the Tampa City Council will rubber stamp theirs ASAP thereafter.
Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa are running a dishonest disinformation campaign for the Rays. Below is what is being presented publicly on Wednesday.
The County is NOT telling the public the actual percentage of "estimated" CIT funds they will "throw" to the Rays for a New Stadium.
Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa know that if they show the percentages (graphics above), it will spark more public outrage. Voters and taxpayers were told in 2024 "they" were getting "their" infrastructure improvements FIRST NOT providing FRONT LOADING funding for a $2.3 BILLION New Rays Stadium.
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Basic Math the County is NOT telling the Public Wednesday about
how much UPFRONT CIT funds are front loading a New Rays Stadium |
What else is "conveniently" missing from the County's 4 years of Local Funding Framework chart? The Rays' Cash Flow which adds to the County's deceptive disinformation campaign.
The County is voting Wednesday whether to move forward on spending over a Billion dollars of your tax dollars but they are not telling you where the Rays funding is coming from. What is the Rays cash flow, where is it coming from and are they spending at least $500M in the first year?
This lack of transparency is dishonest, deceptive and unscrupulous.
The CIT is a half percent sales tax that was initially approved by voters in 1996 to build the Bucs RayJay stadium, fund roads and needed infrastructure and build schools.
City and County CIT funds are already used to maintain three stadiums in Hillsborough County: RayJay, the hockey Arena and Steinbrenner field.
As reported
here, voters were promised in 2024 the CIT would NOT be used for any
New Stadium. There was NO funding for anything related to any New Stadium, infrastructure or otherwise, in either the County or city of Tampa's list of projects they told voters would be funded by the CIT renewal.
Even with promises to NOT fund a new stadium, the 2024 CIT referendum barely passed 51.57 to 48.43. This reflects a big trust issue voters have with local elected officials regarding how the County and city of Tampa spend their tax dollars.
Today due to the elimination of the commercial lease sales tax, CIT revenue projections are reduced from the get go by approximately 8-10% per year from what voters were told in 2024. That reduces the CIT revenues the County had expected to receive by hundreds of millions of dollars over the term of the 15 year tax.
Also missing from the County's Local Funding Chart is the Revenue side. Voters were told in 2024 the CIT would generate a total of $3.764 BILLION over its 15 year term. The County has never publicly adjusted that revenue forecast after the commercial lease sales tax was eliminated. More dishonesty, lack of transparency and unscrupulousness.
Less revenue generated will already impact projects promised voters in 2024. But the Rays demand they be FIRST in line to get a super super majority of YOUR CIT dollars UpFront.
Due to sales tax revenue volatility, CIT revenues declined during the last 2 fiscal years - before losing the commercial lease tax funds.
CIT revenues declined even with the Rays playing their home games at Steinbrenner field last year.
But there's no CIT shortfall backstop from the Rays.
Risky Business.
Now, the "powers to be" are trying to evade a lawsuit by using semantics claiming your tax dollars are funding the Rays "New BallPark"... like the County is funding a little league baseball field not a Rays Stadium bleachers, walls, roof, etc.
Someone forgot to CYA on the use of "BallPark" instead of Stadium because the Rays agenda item on Wednesday's headlines as a NEW STADIUM PROJECT.
But Houston There Is a Another Problem!
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just sat down with the Tampa Sports Authority, Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa to discuss a billion-dollar renovation of Raymond James Stadium.
Stadium funding stops being a one-time infrastructure investment. It becomes a permanent line item. Schools, roads, hospitals, all competing with the same tax dollars that keep a football team from leaving town.
Hillsborough already committed almost $600 MILLION of CIT taxes to fund "Public Facilities" that includes maintenance of RayJay, Steinbrenner Field and the hockeyArena. Tampa already committed $165 MILLION of CIT taxes to fund maintenance of RayJay and the hockey Arena.
Along with infrastructure and public safety needs, the Rays, the Bucs, the Lightning and the Yankees will all feed off the same budget and the same tax dollars. The math does not work.
This shady sketchy stadium subsidy scheme allows the Rays to raid $103 MILLION from the County's Cash Reserves just as Hurricane Season begins. How ironic that it's been Ken Hagan who has lectured the public for years the County must keep its Reserves high to keep the County's credit/bond rating.
What's also missing from the County's Local Funding chart is the bonding debt and interest costs forced on taxpayers for decades. Bonding the Tourist Tax only will cost taxpayers between $240 and $280 MILLION in interest payments. If CIT was also bonded, those interest costs could approach $1.55 BILLION.
The Rays get circular financing by the taxpayers. The taxpayers foot the bill to hand the Rays hundreds of millions of dollars Upfront. The increased property tax revenues that exceed the debt service for their Stadium District Community Redevelopment District (CRA) will keep circling back to the Rays.
The County continues their deceptive disinformation campaign for the Rays on Wednesday. They dishonestly leave out critical information to intentionally deceive the public.
This backdoor Stadium Subsidy Scheme is a slap in the face to voters and taxpayers.
Concerned about the County allowing the Rays to loot your CIT funds UPFRONT, raid the County's Cash Reserves, and the taxpayers circular financing that benefit the Rays Billionaire owners?
Want the County to honor their 2024 Promise that CIT renewal funds NOT fund a Billionaire's Ballpark?
Want Roads, Infrastructure and Public Safety Funded FIRST, NOT a New Stadium?
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