County Shows Taxpayers The Rays Stadium Shiny Hood - Taxpayers Lift Hood And Find a Dirty Greasy Slimy Engine With Missing Parts

Taxpayers look under the Shiny Hood

The public gets shown the Rays Stadium's Shiny Hood. 

When Taxpayers Lift the Shiny Hood, they find a Dirty Greasy Slimy Engine with Missing Parts.

Yet last week Hillsborough County commissioners (5-2) and Tampa city council (4-3) voted to approve the Ray's Stadium Shiny Hood Memorandum of Demands. 

County Commissioners Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller asked NO questions about what's under the Ray's Stadium Shiny Hood. They condescendingly said the Stadium's Shiny Hood was enough to approve moving the Rays Memorandum of Demand along for "further negotiating" 

They were bluffing. The Rays "Kingpin Ken" called it a "Monumental Day" because he knew....

Further negotiating will not come.

Immediately after their Memorandum of Demand was approved, the Rays publicly claimed they are done negotiating. They will not contribute a dime more to their New Stadium.

The only thing left is for the County and Tampa to ram the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood through the Process ASAP.

Under the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood, we find this dirt:

• Rays confiscate 85% of CIT funds from the County and 61% from Tampa in the First year of the Tax
• Rays confiscate 71% of CIT funds from the County and 53% from Tampa over the first FOUR years of the Tax

This is basic information under the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood that County staff, Hagan, Myers, Boles & Miller are hiding from the public.  They know it would spark even more outrage, especially from voters who were told the CIT would NOT fund any New Stadium.

Lifting the Shiny Hood, we find a lot of grime, grease and missing major parts that need major repair work.

Major part missing: Hillsborough County and Tampa refuse to provide the opportunity costs of pushing at least $1.5 BILLION taxpayer dollars (includes debt cost) to the Rays for a New Stadium. Adding in those costs will destroy the fairy dust and unicorn "economic development" narrative.

Some grime: Miller confused the Rays Stadium with the Bucs Stadium. The Bucs Stadium was funded by specifically placing that funding question on the ballot in 1996 that was passed. She cannot equate the two without asking that the Rays Stadium funding be placed on the 2026 ballot and let the people vote.

Very greasy: The Rays Public-Private Partnership is being created by 5 county commissioners who will allow:

• The Rays to jump to the head of the line to confiscate your CIT funds that voters were promised would NOT be used for any New Stadium
• The Rays to raid $103 MILLION of the County's Cash Reserves that Rays "Kingpin Ken" Hagan lectured could never be touched and never be used to fund the County's neglected roads. Roads are an "Essential Core Function of Local Government aka a NEED" but suddenly it's A-OK to raid them for a New Stadium that is "NOT an Essential Core Function of Local Government aka a WANT".
• The Rays to be handed a massive amount of Tourist Taxes Upfront that is Bonded while Taxpayers get hundreds of millions of dollars of debt costs for decades 
• The Rays to get back ALL - dollar for dollar - the Stadium District CRA property taxes that exceeds the debt service which is totally unfair to the rest of the County's taxpayers.
• County/Cit to get No Naming Rights Revenue or an Equity Stake to help protect Taxpayers who are being forced without a referendum vote to UPFRONT pay for about half the Stadium cost and incur debt for decades.

We'll help answer the following Missing Parts that Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller refused to ask about:

1. What would happen when the State eliminates/reduces property taxes on homesteaded property? 

Easy Answer: The Bad Deal totally falls apart.   

2. The Rays get "their" tax dollars UPFRONT so what happens during economic downturns over the next 15 years and the CIT and Tourist Tax tank? 

 Answer: Bondholders must be paid FIRST, projects promised voters in 2024 delayed or ignored, and delayed projects will cost taxpayers more with inflation (That happened when the last 20 years of 1996 CIT were bonded out in 2007 and the Big Recession hit in 2008). Roads and infrastructure will continue to be neglected.

3. What happens to the projects promised to voters in 2024 simply due to the elimination of sales tax on commercial leases? Answer: Revenue will be at least 8-10% less and with the Rays grabbing "their" share UPFRONT, it will negatively impact those projects.

4. What CIT revenue growth is actually being used with funding the New Stadium? 

Answer: The County has thrown out CIT revenue growth rates like they are darts on a dart board. CIT growth rates have ranged from 3% (what voters were told in 2024) to 3.6% claimed earlier this year after the commercial lease sales tax was eliminated to 4.1% which the Rays claimed and now being used by the County to an absurd 6.1%  

The public has no idea what the actual numbers are under the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood. 

It appears the County throws out whatever growth rate they need at the time for whatever number they are looking for. Did they mislead voters in 2024? Were they intentionally trying to create a slush fund?

Hillsborough County has already lost 2 lawsuits related to misleading voters related to referendums. Did they learn anything?

The Rays Stadium Shiny Hood of Demands have been exposed. The engine under that Hood is Dirty, Greasy Slimy and Missing Major Parts.

The Rays were never going to negotiate further. They got 5 county commissioners and 4 Tampa city council members to approve the Rays Demands by looking at their Stadium Shiny Hood. That's all they wanted.

What was approved last week wasn't to continue negotiating but to Continue the Process to ram the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood Bad Deal through ASAP.

The Taxpayers get stuck with the Dirty, Greasy, Slimy Engine under the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood that's Missing Parts and needs Major Repairs.

Not a good week for Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller. They  either got hoodwinked or were all in on the Rays Stadium Shiny Hood Charade.

Commissioners Get Played By The Rays or Just Bow Down to the Rays "Kingpin Ken"?

Today's Tampa Bay Times Headline

Arrogance drips off the Rays CEO as he admits the Rays were never going to further negotiate and their current Memorandum of Demand Bad Deal is it - take it or leave it.

Local media knew it as local news headlines claimed the County had approved the MOU like it's a done deal.

With this headline being the most laughable:

The Rays and their "Kingpin Ken" used the Non-Binding" (Wink Wink Nod Nod) Memorandum of Demand to flush out and bind four other commissioners to move the Bad Deal forward.

This is why the Rays "Kingpin Ken" wanted to ram a vote through on the Sketchy Stadium Subsidy Scheme that has too little transparency, too many questions and too many issues unresolved.

Disregarding Rays "Kingpin Ken" who will do and say anything for a new taxpayer funded Rays Stadium, the other four commissioners - Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller - gave up the County's only leverage to negotiate a better deal and an equity stake.

Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller voted to approve the Rays Memorandum of Demand that allows the Rays to jump to the head of the line and loot the County's CIT renewal funds Upfront - before a dime of those funds are used for promised road and infrastructure projects.

Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller voted to approve the Rays confiscating $103 MILLION of Cash Reserves - the rainy day fund that "Kingpin Ken" always claimed could never be used for roads - an "essential core function of government" as Boles claimed when he campaigned in 2024.

But the Rays "Kingpin Ken" is A-OK with the Rays taking those Reserves just as Hurricane season is to begin.

All those claims by Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller that this was to just keep the negotiations appears to have been all a Ruse.

 

The Rays say their Demand for the County''s CIT funds, Property Taxes, Cash Reserves, Tourist Taxes and the forcing of massive Debt on taxpayers for decades is the End All Deal and it will not change.

We fully expected Rays "Kingpin Ken" to allow such fiscal malfeasance. But Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller should have said NO and sent the Rays Demand Memo back to the drawing board.

Bad policies, especially those negotiated behind closed doors with little transparency and lots of questions unanswered, should be stopped ASAP not pushed forward.

Seems eerily similar to "We have to pass the [Obamacare} bill so that you can find out what is in it".....

Two years ago a super majority of Hillsborough County commissioners, including Ken Hagan, promised voters in 2024 that NO CIT renewal funds would be used to fund ANY NEW Stadium.

Two years later on May 20, 2026 BOCC a super majority of Hillsborough County commissioners - Hagan, Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller - violated that promise. 

The Bad Deal also violates the 2024 campaign commitments made by Boles and Miller who have already filed to run again in 2028.

Were Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller played by the Rays and "Kingpin Ken". If so that is incompetence and bad judgment reflecting poor governance.

Were Myers, Cohen, Boles and Miller just bowing down to the Rays "Kingpin Ken" for whatever reason? If so, that is unethical governance that reeks of impropriety.

The Rays threw their Memorandum of Demand to the County and the City to get approved ASAP knowing full well they were done with negotiating about the public funding. 

Trust has been destroyed!  

Liars Trying To Use Renewed CIT Funds for a New Rays Stadium

Lies, Lies, Lies and More Lies!

Hillsborough County voters and taxpayers are facing a crisis of lies regarding the use of CIT funds for a new stadium.

The chicken or the egg??? Did the Rays approach Hillsborough County or did Commissioner Ken Hagan approach the Rays about using funds from the 15 year CIT (Community Investment Tax) renewal for a new Rays stadium?

A good bet it was a mutual approach. The Rays want a new stadium, Ken Hagan wants a new stadium and they both want taxpayers to subsidize it. 

Hagan's been so hell-bent on a new stadium that he has refused to honor the intent of term limits in the Hillsborough County Charter. For 24 too long years, Hagan used a loophole to keep leap frogging back and forth between single district and countywide commission seats to keep pursuing a new Rays stadium....even though he should have been term limited years ago.  

There is a major problem with the County trying to use the new CIT tax dollars for a new Rays stadium and a land grab that enriches the Rays new Billionaire owners. 

Intent.

The voters were told in 2024, the renewed CIT would NOT be used for a new sports stadium. The renewed tax would be used for much needed infrastructure and public safety in the growing county. 

Primary Election Time! Take Note of the SimWins Twins and Their Laundry "Machine Candidates"

The Primary election is upon us with early voting and the election on August 20th. Primary elections are where you the voter have the opportunity to elect "your" best candidate to proceed on to the General Election. 

However, the "Machine" believes "they" get to select candidates in the Primary election not you. The Machine wants power, control and influence. They use lots of circular money to do it.

Send Hillsborough County TPO's Pursuit to Tear Down I-275 to the Ash Heap

The Hillsborough County Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) has been pursuing tearing down I-275 north of downtown Tampa for years. In October just before the election, TPO staff stealthily submitted a Federal grant request for over $1.2 million to study replacing I-275 North with a street level transit Boulevard. 

But the TPO's foolishness pursuing the absurd proposal may be coming to an end. The TPO has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday, January 25th from 4-4:30pm to consider canceling that "tear down interstates" Federal grant.

Citizens who oppose the "tear down interstates" nonsense and wastefully spending their tax dollars on a costly Boulevard proposal that will never happen, can sign up to speak in person or virtually here. Comments can also be emailed to tpo@plancom.org by 5pm tomorrow January 24th.

A Red Wave Hit Hillsborough: County Commission Flips Red and the $23B AFT Transit Tax Is Defeated

It was a Red Wave Tuesday in Hillsborough. 

Voters voted Republican up and down the ballot. They flipped a State Senate seat and the County commission. They defeated the $23 Billion transit tax - put on the ballot by the 5 Democrat commissioners. Voters sent a clear message they do not want higher taxes in Hillsborough County. 

Orange County Did So Why Didn't Hillsborough County Put a Clean Transit Tax Hike On the 2022 Ballot?

Orange County appears to have put a much cleaner, more clear and more accurate, according to what Florida State law (FS 212.055) allows, in their transportation sales surtax ballot language. It simply asks voters to vote for or against a 1%, 20 year sales surtax dedicated to transportation and transit improvement for uses authorized by law....as approved by the Board of County Commissioners.

Fiscal Insanity: All for Transportation Is A Tax Hike Scam to Bailout Financially Failing HART

HART is going insolvent and will go over the fiscal cliff soon. They want a taxpayer bailout. 

All for Transportation Sales Tax Is A Fraudulent Tax Hike Scam, Hold Incumbents Responsible in November

The 30 year $23 Billion All for Transportation (AFT) Sales Tax is a fraudulent tax hike scam.

Very Risky Business! 5 Democrat Commissioners Vote to Appeal Judges Ruling Throwing the AFT Sales Tax Off the Ballot

Tampa Centric 5 Democrat
county commissioners vote to appeal AFT ruling

A special BOCC meeting was called by BOCC Chair Kimberly Overman today at 5pm today. At the meeting, the Tampa Centric 5 Democrat commissioners voted to use taxpayer money to hire outside legal counsel and appeal Judge Moe's AFT ruling. 

Judge Moe ruled Monday from the bench to throw the All for Transportation (AFT) Sales Tax referendum off the ballot because it is misleading to the voters. 

Overman called the special meeting at 5pm, an hour before a 6pm commission meeting that had already been scheduled. 

The special meeting was noticed to the public that those who wished to speak would have 3 minutes to make their public comment. The County Attorney clearly stated that the 6pm meeting can start late, it just cannot start earlier than 6pm.

But the Tampa Centric 5 wanted to get the special meeting over as quickly as possible because they had already made their decision. Gwen Myers told the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday the county was appealing:

Commissioner Gwen Myers said the county will appeal a judge’s ruling voiding the transportation tax referendum.

About thirty-three citizens had properly signed up for public comment expecting to have 3 minutes to speak. 

The 5 Democrat commissioners who consistently lecture about citizens having a voice, did not want to hear citizens voices at the special meeting. They voted to cut public comment to 90 seconds. 

The 5 commissioners punished the citizens who wanted to speak because Overman chose to schedule this special meeting, to discuss a very important issue, an hour before another meeting. 

The citizens who took the time to signup to speak were not at fault but the 5 commissioners punished them anyway. Horrible optics! 

About 10 people who signed up to speak did not speak after the 5 commissioners took half of the speaking time away. 

Kudos to Commissioner White for diplomatically bringing up numerous reasons why the County should not appeal. 

Remember White won his lawsuit last year that threw out the 2018 illegal AFT sales tax.

The 5 Democrat commissioners totally ignored White's pragmatic warnings and Pat Kemp and Harry Cohen are lawyers. 

The meeting became a circus as the 5 Democrat commissioners made emotional pleas, tried to paint themselves as victims and want to blame everyone else for the big messes they keep creating. Harry Cohen's loud rant was quite a show. 

Instead of making their case for appealing the ruling, the 5 commissioners made the case for their own incompetence and negligence. They are incapable of properly managing the County's $8.5 BILLION budget. 

 

So the 5 Democrat commissioners voted to spend more taxpayer money hiring more legal counsel and appealing the ruling. 

That money would be better spent filling potholes.

What the 5 Democrat commissioners are doing is risky business that could subject taxpayers to more litigation/lawsuits and another big refund issue.

Watch the meeting here.  

Commissioners Overman, Cohen and Smith are up for re-election.

Voters Beware!

More to come.

 

AFT's Special Interests Donors Call In Their Chits But Judge's Ruling Taints AFT Tax Hike So Take NO Risk and VOTE NO!

AFT Monopoly Men 

Monday the All for Transportation supporters struck out again. Circuit Court Judge Gaylord Moe ruled the All for Transportation (AFT) Sales Tax Hike ballot language is misleading and confusing to voters and struck the referendum from the November ballot. 

Now AFT's wealthy special interests donors are calling in their Chits.  

AFT's rich monopoly men, with money bags in tow, are wanting their donor favors returned and a "return on investment" of the donor dollars they have waged on Overman, Cohen, Smith, Myers and All for Transportation.

Yesterday Hillsborough County commissioner Gwen Myers told the Tampa Bay Times  the County will appeal the judge's ruling. 

We’re going to appeal this and ask voters to keep voting for this while it’s on the ballot now,” said Myers.

Myers, who has championed the tax referendum since her 2020 election to the commission, initially said she would consider scheduling a special election if an appeal is successful.

But Gwen Myers does not speak for all 7 commissioners. The county commissioners have not met yet to discuss the appeal issue and Florida Statute 212.055 requires all local sales surtax referenda must be held in a general election.

BOCC Chair Kimberly Overman released a statement yesterday calling for a special BOCC meeting for Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 5pm. Her statement yesterday, October 11, 2022, was incompetently dated August 4, 2022. 

Citizens can sign up to make public comment virtually or at the meeting tomorrow or send a written comment here.

Overman's statement claims:

We cannot afford to wait another 2 years to find relief for those who need these transportation improvements the most. 

We cannot continue with the status quo.

The status quo is the County being negligent, incompetent and not properly funding the County's transportation needs.

The damaging status quo is because Overman and the 4 other commissioners (Cohen, Smith, Myers and Kemp), who put the AFT sales tax hike on the ballot, eliminated the 2017 $840 Million 10 year transportation funding policy. 

The damaging status quo is because these 5 commissioners eliminated a 10 year  transportation plan funded by using the growth of existing revenues. 

Public safety and infrastructure are the top priorities and responsibilities of all local government. Roads are the largest infrastructure asset the County owns. 

Overman and the other 4 commissioners have failed to do their job. They have failed to properly fund a primary responsibility of county government.

These 5 commissioners prefer massive new tax hikes at a time of raging inflation instead of doing their job and making the hard budget decisions the rest of us must make everyday. 

What is sobering is all the special interests including Jeff Vinik, Darryl Shaw, Ron Christaldi and Tampa General, who have dumped thousands of dollars into Overman, Smith, Cohen and Myers campaigns. 

What is alarming is these wealthy special interests are financially supporting commissioners who have failed to do their job. The special interests would never run their own businesses or household budgets with such neglect and incompetence these 5 commissioners have for years imposed on the taxpayers of Hillsborough County.

The special interests refuse to hold the 5 commissioners accountable for their negligence. Instead they buy influence.

Money talks and now the special interests are calling in their chits. 

They want the County to waste your tax dollars to appeal Monday's ruling. 

Protect your wallet. Do not allow another illegal AFT sales tax create another AFT big huge refund issue. 

Taxpayers must NOT be put at risk of having illegal sales tax dollars taken from them AGAIN.

Take NO risk with the AFT sales tax printed on your ballot.    

Just Vote NO! 

Breaking: All for Transportation Sales Tax Ballot Measure Violates Hillsborough County Charter

The All for Transportation (AFT) Sales Tax Ballot Measure on the Hillsborough County November ballot violates Section 8.05 of the County's Charter. 

Section 8.05 requires that all County referendums include a Financial Impact Statement (FIS) in the referendum's ballot summary language. The FIS is not included in the AFT sales tax ballot measure. 

Hillsborough County's "Equity" Transformation: $18B Rail Tax, Remove Interstates, Race Conscious Solutions, Unconscious Bias, DEI Training, Bigger Bureaucracy and Ballooning Budget

Hillsborough County admits the Tampa Centric 5 Democrat commissioners put a rail tax on the November ballot. The 30 year ONE PERCENT (NOT ONE CENT) $18 BILLION rail tax is part of the County's "transformation" to use "Equity" in everything the County does and in all the County's decision making including transportation.

The Sierra Club Took Over the Hillsborough County Commission and They Are On the Ballot in November.

Activists and leaders with the Tampa Bay Sierra Club, Pat Kemp and Mariella Smith, sit on the Hillsborough County commission. The Sierra Club endorsed them both as well as Kimberly Overman.

Transportation Explanation: Inflation and Information

With their constituents struggling with skyrocketing gas prices, raging inflation, rising food prices, exploding rents and property taxes, the Tampa Centric 5 Democrat Hillsborough County commissioners (Kimberly Overman, Mariella Smith, Pat Kemp, Gwen Myers, Harry Cohen) put an unnecessary and egregious rail/transit tax on the November ballot. 

This is atrocious, appalling and totally tone-deaf. 

Record property tax revenues are flowing into Hillsborough County, city of Tampa  and to transit agency HART.

Hillsborough County still owes taxpayers $562 MILLION of the unlawfully collected illegal 2018 All for Transportation rail tax.  

Hillsborough County is about to hand YOUR tax dollars to engineering firm HNTB to fund a taxpayer funded CAMPAIGN targeting voters to vote for the Tampa Centric 5's $18 Billion rail tax boondoggle. 

We will continue deconstructing their nonsense and their fiscal irresponsibility, unethical behavior, disinformation/misinformation, false narratives and outright lies. 

First episode of Transportation Explanation is below (about 12 minutes). Direct link is: https://eyeontampabay.podbean.com/e/transportation-information-and-raging-inflation/

With Every Word They Say, Every Game They Play - We'll Be Watching the 5 Democrat Commissioners Focus on Tampa Rail/Transit Not Needed New Road Capacity

We are right again! 

Hillsborough County commissioners Kimberly Overman, Mariella Smith, Harry Cohen, Gwen Myers and Pat Kemp are the Tampa Centric 5 county commissioners. All five are Democrats. Overman, Kemp and Smith are countywide commissioners whose focus is the urban core of Tampa, not unincorporated Hillsborough where most of their constituents reside. 

The Tampa Bay Business Journal (TBBJ) article confirms this in their March 23rd post about the motion by Myers for a do-over AFT 2.0 30 year ONE PERCENT (NOT ONE CENT) $18 MILLION rail tax on the November ballot:

The motion was spearheaded by Commissioner Gwen Myers, who threaded the line between the commissioners looking out for unincorporated Hillsborough County's interests (Stacy White and Ken Hagan) and the Tampa-focused commissioners (Pat Kemp, Kimberly Overman, Mariella Smith and Harry Cohen).

#DrainTheCountySwamp Part 1: Vote Out Tax Raising Commissioner "Crony Cohen"!

The Tampa Bay Times just reported the inflation tax in Tampa Bay is raging at 9.6%. Of course everyone knows the real inflation rate of food, household goods, gas, furniture, vehicles, etc. etc. is in the double digits. 

Crony Tax Raising Harry Cohen 

Hillsborough County commissioner Harry Cohen doesn't care. He is one of the Tampa Centric 5 Democrat commissioners pushing to put another massive $18 BILLION rail tax boondoggle on the November ballot.  

Harry Cohen is running for re-election in November. He wants to burden all Hillsborough County residents and businesses with higher taxes. 

Tampa Centric 5 Must Have No Say In AFT $521M Refund "Hot Mess" They Helped Create, Four Can Be Voted Out Next Year

All for Transportation "hot mess" Dumpster Fire 

The Tampa Centric Five Hillsborough County commissioners were staunch supporters of the unlawful All for Transportation Transit (AFT) $16B rail tax in 2018. Commissioners Pat Kemp, Kimberly Overman, Mariella Smith, Harry Cohen and Gwen Myers, all Democrats, aided and abetted AFT's shameful activity of putting an illegal rail tax hike on the ballot and misleading the voting public. 

The AFT Cabal Have No Shame: They Took Your Money Unlawfully, Want to Keep As Much Of The Illegal Tax Monies As Possible and Start Taking More

Those Who Lose Do Not Get to Choose - Winning Side Gets to Decide

The Refund Process 

The All For Transportation (AFT) cabal is a political clique of wealthy special interests, influential power brokers, political insiders, unethical bureaucrats, "friendly" media, and transit activists, who privately schemed to deceive voters in 2018. After losing the AFT lawsuit, the cabal is now scheming to try to keep as much of the illegally collected AFT tax monies as possible...as they push AFT 2.0 for 2022. 

Hillsborough County Commissioners: Rebate Illegal AFT Transit Tax with one Hand, Start Launch of AFT 2.0 Transit Tax Hike with Other Hand

 NoTaxForTracks (NTFT) issued a statement last week after the Florida Supreme Court threw out the unconstitutional and unlawful All for Transportation (AFT) transit tax hike in its entirety. NTFT requested that the AFT transit tax dollars illegally collected be given back to the residents of Hillsborough County.  

About $502 Million has been collected since January 1, 2019. The Florida Supreme Court did not issue a remedy for disposition of those funds. Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Commission agreed with NTFT and voted 6-0 to refund the hundreds of millions of AFT dollars back to their constituents. 

The commissioners did that because of what came next. Immediately after voting to refund the unlawfully taken AFT transit tax dollars, the county commissioners voted to start the process for putting AFT 2.0 on the 2022 ballot.