[2:01] .

[2:01] >> ken hagan: good morning and

[2:02] welcome to the board of county

[2:03] commissioners special meeting

[2:04] for consideration and action on

[2:05] the development and funding

[2:07] agreement guarantee and team

[2:09] nonrelocation agreement between

[2:11] hillsborough county, the city of

[2:13] tampa, the rays entities

[2:14] regarding the hillsborough

[2:16] college dale mabry campus

[2:16] ballpark project.

[2:18] At this time, I will pass things

[2:21] over to the administrator to

[2:23] begin introducing today's item.

[2:26] >> thank you, and good morning,

[2:27] everybody.

[2:27] And I want to thank you for

[2:29] being here today for this

[2:31] special meeting for the time,

[2:33] attention, and thoughtful

[2:34] consideration you have given to

[2:35] this project.

[2:38] This is an important moment for

[2:39] hillsborough county, and I know

[2:41] the decision before you today

[2:44] reflects the significance of the

[2:45] opportunity and the

[2:46] responsibility that comes with

[2:47] it.

[2:51] I am grateful for the trust this

[2:53] board placed in me to lead the

[2:54] negotiations with the rays and

[2:56] our partners, and to bring these

[2:57] agreements back to you for

[2:57] consideration.

[3:01] It has been an incredible

[3:02] opportunity to be part of a

[3:03] project of this magnitude and to

[3:04] have a seat at the table as we

[3:05] think about what this could mean

[3:08] for the future of our county.

[3:10] This has been a long process.

[3:12] It has been difficult at times,

[3:14] it has been challenging, and

[3:15] there have certainly been

[3:16] moments when we have had to work

[3:18] through complicated issues and

[3:20] find our way to solutions.

[3:22] to be able to work on a project

[3:24] of this magnitude has been a

[3:25] privilege.

[3:26] And I want to take a moment to

[3:27] recognize the many people who

[3:29] have helped us get to this

[3:30] point.

[3:32] First I want to thank julia

[3:34] mandell and sam hamilton of our

[3:35] county attorney's office.

[3:38] Julia and her team have been

[3:39] extraordinary throughout this

[3:39] process.

[3:41] They worked through countless

[3:43] legal and contractual issues,

[3:44] challenged provisions, protected

[3:46] the county's interests, and

[3:48] helped us navigate an

[3:50] extraordinary complicated

[3:51] transaction.

[3:53] I am grateful for their

[3:53] partnership.

[3:55] I also want to specifically

[3:57] recognize greg horwedel and tom

[3:58] fesler.

[3:59] They have put an incredible

[4:00] amount of time and effort into

[4:01] this process, and have helped us

[4:03] work through the many

[4:05] operational, financial, and

[4:06] policy issues that come with a

[4:09] project of this size and

[4:09] complexity.

[4:11] We have also had the benefit of

[4:12] financial and legal consultants

[4:14] who have provided important

[4:15] expertise and advice throughout

[4:17] the negotiations.

[4:18] Their work has helped us

[4:20] understand the details, evaluate

[4:22] the risks, and approach this

[4:24] from every possible angle.

[4:26] This is truly been a

[4:27] partnership.

[4:28] The city of tampa has been an

[4:29] important partner throughout

[4:31] this process, and I want to

[4:33] acknowledge the city's

[4:34] collaboration and commitment to

[4:36] working together on an

[4:38] opportunity that is has

[4:39] significance for our entire

[4:40] community.

[4:41] The state of florida has also

[4:44] played a vital role, providing

[4:47] land, funding, and critical

[4:48] transportation investments that

[4:49] have helped make this

[4:51] opportunity possible.

[4:52] And eric hart and our partners

[4:54] at the tampa sports authority

[4:55] have been an important part of

[4:56] the process as well.

[4:58] We have appreciated their

[4:59] partnership and expertise, and

[5:01] we have work -- as we have

[5:03] worked through the many issues

[5:04] associated with the ballpark and

[5:06] the broader project.

[5:07] And of course I want to thank

[5:08] whether

[5:10] all of you, the board.

[5:12] You have been engaged throughout

[5:12] this process.

[5:15] You have asked tough questions,

[5:16] challenged us, provided

[5:19] guidance, and shared your

[5:19] perspectives.

[5:22] Those conversations have been

[5:23] important and they have helped

[5:24] make the agreements before you

[5:25] stronger today.

[5:27] I also want to thank the rays

[5:29] organization and their team, the

[5:31] opportunity to work together.

[5:32] We appreciate the time, effort,

[5:34] and collaboration that went into

[5:36] getting us to this point, and

[5:38] the opportunity to work toward

[5:39] bringing the rays to

[5:42] hillsborough county.

[5:43] Getting to this point has

[5:45] required collaboration,

[5:46] persistence, and a willingness

[5:50] to work through difficult issues

[5:52] together: no agreement of this

[5:54] size and complexity is perfect,

[5:55] and this one is no exception.

[5:57] The county did not get

[5:58] verything we wanted, and I know

[5:59] the rays did not get everything

[6:00] they wanted either.

[6:03] That is the nature of a

[6:04] negotiation of this magnitude.

[6:06] But I believe what we have

[6:07] accomplished is a structure that

[6:09] balances the interests of the

[6:11] county, our taxpayers, and the

[6:13] rays, while creating strong

[6:15] incentives for the rays to build

[6:16] a ballpark development that we

[6:18] can all be proud of; and that

[6:20] can be an important part of the

[6:22] future of this community.

[6:23] As we trn to the agreements

[6:25] before you today, I think it is

[6:27] important to recognize that

[6:27] there is still work

[6:29] work ahead of us.

[6:30] There are a number of documents

[6:32] before you today, and there are

[6:33] additional documents and actions

[6:35] that will come later.

[6:36] There are also several

[6:38] conditions that must be

[6:40] satisfied before the county

[6:42] provides any funding.

[6:43] Those protections and conditions

[6:45] are an important part of the

[6:47] agreements, and julia will walk

[6:49] through those with you in

[6:50] detail.

[6:51] She will explain what is before

[6:52] you today, what comes later in

[6:54] the process, and the conditions

[6:55] and protections that are in

[6:57] place to protect the county and

[6:59] our taxpayers.

[7:00] Throughout these negotiations

[7:04] are objectives have been -- our

[7:05] objectives have been clear.

[7:06] To pursue an agreement that

[7:07] creates an extraordinary

[7:08] opportunity for our community

[7:10] while making sure that we are

[7:11] responsible stewards of the

[7:14] public resources with which we

[7:15] have been entrusted.

[7:18] I am proud of the work of our

[7:19] team, the work we have done to

[7:21] this point, and I am grateful to

[7:24] all of you and our partners for

[7:24] `the opportunity to be part of

[7:25] it.

[7:27] With that, I'll turn it over to

[7:29] greg to provide an overview and

[7:31] key provisions, and then to tom

[7:32] to go over financial details.

[7:39] Thank you.

[7:43] >> ken hagan: next man up.

[7:49] >> greg horwedel.

[7:52] Who is lost in an elevator

[7:53] apparently.

[7:53] >> ken hagan: all right, well

[7:54] the show goes on g. Morning,

[7:57] tom.

[8:01] >> so this morning we wanted to

[8:02] run through a short presentation

[8:04] with you.

[8:10] Back when -- back in I believe

[8:12] it was MAY you approved

[8:14] memorandum of understanding, a

[8:16] nonbinding memorandum of

[8:16] understanding.

[8:18] Then you asked us to come back

[8:19] `and negotiate with the rays and

[8:22] then come back for our final

[8:23] consideration.

[8:24] So that's what we've done.

[8:26] Again, we just kind of wanted to

[8:28] run through some information you

[8:29] have probably seen before but

[8:29] for benefit of the public we

[8:36] wanted to go through it again.

[8:36] >> ken hagan: there is no excuse

[8:38] for tardiness.

[8:40] >> there was quite the line, and

[8:41] I apologize.

[8:42] >> ken hagan: you think you've

[8:44] got some pull around here,

[8:44] MR. Horwedel.

[8:45] >> clearly I don't.

[8:46] And I apologize.

[8:48] For the record, my name's greg

[8:49] horwedel, deputy county

[8:50] administrator.

[8:51] And as tom was just beginning to

[8:54] say, and I'm thankful that he

[8:56] didn't have to pull duty on this

[8:58] one, but I did want to go over

[8:59] with you the information that we

[9:03] have about the ballpark

[9:03] proposal.

[9:07] Some of this you have heard

[9:08] before.

[9:09] As tom will tell you in the

[9:10] financial portion of this, I'll

[9:11] turn it back over to him when

[9:13] it's time, we'll go through the

[9:15] detail on the financing, then

[9:17] I'll wrap it up with some key

[9:19] deal points that we have because

[9:21] there's a lot of very complex

[9:24] and moving pieces to this

[9:24] transaction.

[9:26] So thank you for your time, and

[9:28] we will begin by noting this is

[9:31] a proposal that you have seen

[9:32] before, several months ago as

[9:34] you recall.

[9:37] The rays proposed a new

[9:38] ballpark, 28,000 square --

[9:41] excuse me, 28,000 seat ballpark.

[9:43] The initial projection was

[9:45] 31,000, but the agreement that

[9:47] you have before you calls for a

[9:50] minimum of 28.

[9:51] There is new residential

[9:52] commercial and industrial -- or

[9:54] excuse me, commercial, retail,

[9:56] and office, and entertainment

[9:59] proposed as part of this

[9:59] development.

[10:02] The site as you know is the

[10:05] hillsborough county college

[10:05] site.

[10:07] That college site will be

[10:09] redeveloped with new college

[10:10] buildings.

[10:12] The state has indicated it will

[10:15] put in 18

[10:17] $180 million for that

[10:18] development.

[10:19] 50 of that is in this year's

[10:19] budget.

[10:22] There is a total of $30 million

[10:23] of transportation improvements

[10:27] in that area, and $150 million

[10:29] for a brand new campus.

[10:31] The ballpark estimate provided

[10:35] to us by the rays is

[10:36] $2.3 billion.

[10:39] And they have requested

[10:40] approximately $876 million of

[10:43] public subsidy from the county

[10:46] and the city of tampa to enable

[10:48] this project to happen.

[10:50] They have set a deadline of

[10:51] APRIL 2029 in order for the

[10:53] ballpark to open.

[10:55] That is their projection.

[10:58] We are working diligently as

[10:58] we're bringing this forward to

[11:03] you to try and accommodate that

[11:04] timeline.

[11:06] There is significant development

[11:07] around proposed around the

[11:09] ballpark between 6

[11:10] 6 to 8 million

[11:11] square feet.

[11:12] As I mentioned earlier,

[11:13] hospitality, restaurants,

[11:14] retail, and entertainment.

[11:16] There is multifamily, I will

[11:18] point out that that is at this

[11:20] stage rental because

[11:21] condominiums would be subject to

[11:24] the restrictions of amendment 3.

[11:26] And that would significantly

[11:28] reduce the ongoing revenue

[11:30] stream from that development

[11:33] should that be condominiums

[11:35] rather than multifamily rental.

[11:37] The direct economic impact as

[11:40] projected to be $34 billion, the

[11:43] indirect is $21.5 billion

[11:44] according to the rays.

[11:47] As you MAY recall, a com

[11:48] provided to us about three

[11:50] months ago an assessment of that

[11:55] proposal based upon our cl -- rc

[11:56] co.'s data.

[11:57] We asked them to update that.

[11:58] They have verified the minimum

[11:59] development proposal that the

[12:02] rays have suggested is feasible

[12:04] and the city of -- in the city

[12:05] of tampa.

[12:06] We asked them to look

[12:08] specifically at the tampa market

[12:13] and our obsorption rate and come

[12:14] up with verification that that

[12:14] was a defensible position, and

[12:16] they have confirmed that.

[12:22] It's about 3.1 million square

[12:23] `feet of multifamily rentals and

[12:24] half a million square feet of

[12:26] office, retail, destination,

[12:28] dine, hotels, and entertainment.

[12:30] There's a 30-year gross

[12:32] financial impact from confirmed

[12:34] available sources that they

[12:38] estimate to be $2.5 billion.

[12:39] That's ad valorem taxes or

[12:42] property taxes, state and county

[12:44] sales taxes, and tourist

[12:46] development tax.

[12:47] The assessed ad valorem values

[12:51] are estimated to be $886 million

[12:52] in 2035.

[12:55] The total assessed values is

[12:57] assessed -- expected to be more

[12:58] than $3 billion for the entire

[13:01] stadium district in 2059,

[13:04] excluding of course the ballpark

[13:05] and hillsborough college.

[13:07] There are other impacts that the

[13:09] rays have suggested will happen

[13:11] around that development site,

[13:12] but we did not consider those.

[13:13] We're not presenting those at

[13:15] this time because that's not

[13:17] anything that we can verify.

[13:18] We think that it's going to

[13:19] happen, but we can't put a

[13:21] number to that.

[13:23] The direct economic impact is

[13:26] expected to total $34.8 billion.

[13:29] With about 5,000 annualized jobs

[13:33] on a 30-year average.

[13:34] There's $12.3 billion in wage

[13:35] earnings associated with this

[13:37] proposed development.

[13:42] Adding the indirect brings it to

[13:42] 43.1.

[13:44] And the others benefiting from

[13:47] this proposal, and I think this

[13:50] is pretty important information,

[13:52] that hillsborough college gets

[13:55] $180 million as we mentioned

[13:56] previously from the state.

[14:00] The state of florida itself gets

[14:01] about $1.4 billion in sales tax.

[14:06] The school district benefits by

[14:08] about $278 million over the 30

[14:08] years.

[14:11] The library services district,

[14:12] $22 million, hart, $22 million,

[14:15] the school board, $20 million,

[14:17] water management district,

[14:19] $7.8 million, port authority,

[14:23] $3.7 million, and even elapp is

[14:24] about $220,000 over the 30

[14:24] years.

[14:26] There is a community benefits

[14:27] agreement that

[14:30] t.

[14:31] That amount's unknown but there

[14:32] will bow a minimum of scoib% --

[14:34] be a minimum of 65% going to the

[14:35] county.

[14:38] With that, now tom can come on

[14:40] up and talk about the financial

[14:46] structure.

[14:46] Thanks.

[14:48] >> so commissioners, just had a

[14:49] few slides I wanted to run

[14:51] through to go over the financial

[14:52] aspects of the deal.

[14:55] The proposed deal.

[14:57] The city and county are

[15:00] proposing to contribute

[15:03] $876 million to the project.

[15:04] The primary funding source from

[15:05] the county is the community

[15:06] investment tax.

[15:07] When we first started out, we

[15:09] were looking at some different

[15:11] models and planning on borrowing

[15:12] against the community investment

[15:13] tax.

[15:14] We decided tat wasn't the most

[15:16] efficient approach.

[15:18] So we changed the way that we

[15:18] were looking at things and what

[15:21] we're coming back with today is

[15:24] a proposal where we actually

[15:26] fund during the construction

[15:27] period $90 million a year for

[15:28] four years.

[15:29] this will

[15:31] will avoid us having to pay

[15:33] any interest from the community

[15:35] investment tax and it'll make it

[15:37] in our view the most efficient

[15:39] prose to use that funding.

[15:40] There was the meeting yesterday

[15:41] over at the city of tampa, the

[15:43] city of tampa is committing

[15:44] $80 million over the same

[15:47] four-year period; I believe they

[15:49] are planning to borrow for thse

[15:50] funds.

[15:51] Then we have the tourist

[15:52] development tax.

[15:54] I'm going to go over a slide

[15:55] with that and what that means in

[15:56] a couple of minutes.

[15:59] The county is committing up to

[16:01] 100

[16:07] $103 million in cash and

[16:07] reserves.

[16:10] Finally we have the cdbg

[16:10] disaster recovery funds.

[16:12] That would be primary for

[16:13] stormwater type improvements

[16:15] within the ballpark district.

[16:16] What I did want to point out in

[16:17] addition to that, so those are

[16:20] the county and the city proposed

[16:21] commitments, but also the state

[16:23] of florida has donated the land

[16:25] for the ballpark district.

[16:28] They have also committed to

[16:30] $150 million to rebuild

[16:32] hillsborough college, and

[16:34] finally, are committing about

[16:35] $30 million in transportation

[16:39] projects for the area.

[16:40] One of the things that we did

[16:41] want to run through with the

[16:42] board is just give you an idea

[16:45] of what we believe could be a

[16:45] recorvey of the

[16:47] -- recovery of the

[16:48] dollars of the investment that's

[16:49] made by the county.

[16:50] So on the previous slide we had

[16:51] $876 million.

[16:53] Here we have $796 million, which

[16:55] is the county's contribution.

[16:57] I am backing out of that, the

[16:58] tourist development tax, because

[17:01] that relates to the sixth cent

[17:02] tourist development tax.

[17:04] That, those funds and that

[17:05] revenue source is restricted,

[17:06] and it's restricted for a

[17:08] purpose such as this, so we did

[17:09] not believe that we necessarily

[17:11] needed to focus on recovering

[17:12] those dollars since that source

[17:14] was available to us.

[17:17] And then we had the cdbgdr,

[17:18] that's a grant so w didn't feel

[17:20] like we needed to recover grant

[17:20] funds either.

[17:22] So what we end up with a target

[17:24] recovery amount for the project

[17:27] for hillsborough county of about

[17:28] $463 million.

[17:29] How do we intend to get those

[17:31] dollars back over time?

[17:33] I will tell you that those

[17:34] dollars will not be coming back

[17:35] to us quickly, it will take a

[17:37] long period of time to come back

[17:42] to us, but we do believe over the term of the

[17:43] lease that we will recover those

[17:44] funds coming out.

[17:46] That will be in the form of,

[17:49] we've negotiated an annual rent

[17:50] amount of $4 million a year that

[17:51] the rays would be paying to the

[17:54] county, and that includes a cpi

[17:54] adjustment every year.

[17:56] So over the 35 years of the

[17:57] lease, that could be up to

[17:58] $200 million.

[18:00] As greg had mentioned earlier,

[18:02] we've been working with aecom on

[18:04] potential impacts and dollars

[18:05] that would be recovered.

[18:07] So some of these next few items

[18:10] here are the dollars that aecom

[18:11] elieves that can be recovered

[18:13] over a 35-year period which

[18:15] would be sales tax, it goes up

[18:16] toot state, the state shares

[18:18] back about 8 to 10% of that with

[18:21] us, that's the $145 million.

[18:23] We've got sales tax that will be

[18:24] generated over the 30-year

[18:25] period that will actually

[18:28] increase the amount of cit funds

[18:30] available because we've got

[18:31] $120 million there.

[18:32] Weave got the half cent cit tax,

[18:33] so we believe that those

[18:36] revenues will be generated over

[18:38] that period of time.

[18:40] Finally we have also an

[18:41] dditional contribution from the

[18:42] state of florida as we've gone

[18:43] through this process.

[18:45] The state of florida has agreed

[18:48] to fund $100 million of our

[18:49] lithia pinecrest project, so

[18:52] that was a project that was

[18:54] originally budgeted at

[18:56] $200 million as part of the cit

[18:57] renewal that you approved.

[18:59] It's one of the projects.

[19:01] So that's an offset that we'll

[19:03] be able to take against our cit

[19:07] contribution of $360 million.

[19:11] I will also go over in a few

[19:12] minutes a community dvelopment

[19:13] district proposal for the site.

[19:15] That is where we will share

[19:16] revenues between the city, the

[19:19] county, and the cdd.

[19:20] Again, I will go over that in a

[19:22] few minutes to talk about the

[19:23] $87 million, and then finally,

[19:25] the last few sources will be

[19:26] tourist development taxes,

[19:29] obviously if we have a new, new

[19:30] complex like that it will

[19:31] generate additional tourists

[19:32] coming to the area so that will

[19:33] generate some additional tourist

[19:35] development tax dollars.

[19:36] Then there is the community

[19:38] benefits agreement, we

[19:39] .

[19:40] We haven't arrived at a final

[19:43] amount for that yet.

[19:45] As was, if you were watching

[19:46] yesterday, the proposal is for

[19:47] the county to benefit to the

[19:49] extent of about 65% in the city

[19:51] to benefit to the extent of 35%.

[19:54] But again, a total amount hasn't

[19:55] been agreed upon yet.

[19:57] And then finally, as the

[19:58] ballpark goes under

[19:59] construction, what would happen

[20:01] is we would have a value

[20:03] engineering process, so the way

[20:04] that it's built in the

[20:05] agreements are that if there are

[20:07] savings that are identified in and

[20:09] the ballpark is not $2.3 billion

[20:11] and savings are identified, it

[20:12] would be shared proportionally

[20:13] between the rays and the county

[20:14] and the city.

[20:16] So we would get some additional

[20:17] dollars back that way.

[20:18] Obviously at this point, we

[20:24] can't project what those might

[20:24] be.

[20:26] As far as the tourist

[20:27] development taxes we're

[20:29] proposing to use the 6th cent

[20:30] tourist development.

[20:32] We've got some reyrves

[20:34] reserves in both

[20:35] the three cent tourist

[20:36] development tax and the six cent

[20:38] that we believe could be used up

[20:39] front, $40 million, but then in

[20:43] addition to that, we're

[20:43] proposing $263 million of

[20:44] borrowing.

[20:45] There would be a first tranche

[20:49] of that of about $228 million.

[20:51] And then if capacity is

[20:52] available at some point in the

[20:54] future there might be another up

[20:55] to $35 million borrowing

[20:56] associated with that.

[20:59] So this is the $303 million

[21:00] piece.

[21:01] Currently out of the first three

[21:03] cents of the tourist development

[21:06] tax, that funds visit tampa bay.

[21:08] As part of the sixth cent, 30%

[21:10] of the sixth cent currently goes

[21:13] to visit tampa bay, so that

[21:14] amount would go away.

[21:17] We also are funding a couple of

[21:18] other things.

[21:20] We're making a $2 million a year

[21:21] contribution to the tampa

[21:22] question center through --

[21:23] convention center through the

[21:24] sixth cent and we also have one

[21:25] of our cull

[21:28] cultural assets programs

[21:29] runlz

[21:31] runsthrough that area so we would

[21:33] need to find some alternate

[21:34] funding sources for those.

[21:36] As far as other cash reserves,

[21:39] we've taken a look at reserves,

[21:40] unrestricted reserves that we

[21:40] have across the county.

[21:42] We believe that if we go out and

[21:43] take a look at things such as

[21:45] our half cent sales tax

[21:46] reserves, we have economic

[21:47] development reserves, and you

[21:49] can see some other areas there,

[21:51] that we could come up with

[21:53] reasonably about $103 million of

[21:54] `cash to be able to commit to the

[21:57] deal up front.

[21:58] We believe if we commit that

[22:00] amount, we still would have

[22:00] sufficient reserves and

[22:01] flexibility within our budget to

[22:03] be able to meet ongoing needs

[22:06] and service needs of the county.

[22:07] So it's a lot of money.

[22:09] I don't want to indicate that

[22:11] it's not.

[22:12] But we believe that we can come

[22:14] up with that and still be

[22:16] comfortable with having flexible

[22:17] nough reserves in the rest of

[22:22] the budget.

[22:23] The last slide I will go over

[22:24] has to d with the community

[22:26] development district that would

[22:27] be associated with the ballpark

[22:28] site.

[22:29] So what ends up happening there

[22:31] is the primary funding source

[22:33] that would be generated would be

[22:35] property taxes in that area.

[22:36] So as development occurs,

[22:39] property taxes would begin to

[22:41] come into the county, and the

[22:42] city.

[22:45] And so what I wanted to go over,

[22:46] and what's really important on

[22:48] this piece is this is a big

[22:49] negotiating piece for us with

[22:50] the rays.

[22:54] And so where we ended up is as

[22:58] it relates to the -- cdd, we

[23:00] kind of have a tiered approach.

[23:02] So when you come up with the

[23:03] first $350 million worth of

[23:05] development in the area, the

[23:07] county and the city share of the

[23:08] property taxes coming back from

[23:11] that would be 70%, and then 30%

[23:14] would go back into the cdd, and

[23:17] what that means is the cdd would

[23:18] then reinvest those funds within

[23:21] the ballpark district for public

[23:21] purposes.

[23:23] So that could be reinvestments

[23:24] in our ballpark, which we think

[23:26] is a positive because we want to

[23:27] make sure it stays up to first

[23:30] class standards, or it could be

[23:31] other infrastructure type

[23:34] improvements within the ballpark

[23:34] district.

[23:36] At the next level, it's an --

[23:39] this is an incentivized

[23:39] approach.

[23:43] So we did our best to negotiate

[23:44] a guarantee on the development

[23:45] in the area.

[23:47] This was kind of the negotiated

[23:48] approach which is more of a

[23:49] tiered approach where we can

[23:51] incentivize development.

[23:53] So so as the taxable value goes

[23:55] and the development increases in

[23:58] that area, the percentage that

[23:59] the county and the city receive

[24:01] goes down because we want to

[24:02] incentivize.

[24:04] But the key to this is that each

[24:06] and every year the county and

[24:09] the city get the 70% up to 350,

[24:12] we get the 50% up between 350

[24:16] and 650, and then over the 650,

[24:17] $650 million of taxable value in

[24:20] the area, then we go down to 15%

[24:24] in the cdd gets 85%.

[24:26] I just -- at the bottom here

[24:27] gave kind of an example.

[24:28] I used information that was

[24:32] provided to us by the rays.

[24:33] They kind of gave us estimated

[24:34] development values over a

[24:37] 30-year period,.

[24:40] Those, over that 30-year period

[24:41] they gave us minimum they

[24:41] thought they could develop and

[24:43] then a target.

[24:44] That's kind of their

[24:44] aspirational.

[24:46] What you're seeing here is the

[24:47] minimum development that was

[24:48] proposed by the rays.

[24:49] And what that would result in.

[24:51] What that results in is the

[24:55] county receiving over a 30-year

[24:57] period about $87 million from

[24:57] the cdd area that we could use

[24:59] in other areas of the county for

[25:00] our general purposes.

[25:02] Outside of the ballpark

[25:03] district.

[25:04] The city would receive

[25:05] $100 million.

[25:06] Their share is a little bit

[25:07] larger because this is based on

[25:09] obviously millage rates.

[25:11] And the city of tampa's millage

[25:12] rate is slightly higher than

[25:14] hillsborough county's.

[25:16] And then finally, the amount

[25:17] that would stay with the cdd

[25:20] would be $395 million, and

[25:23] again, that would go back into

[25:24] infrastructure type impriewfts

[25:25] provements or public type of

[25:26] improvements within the ballpark

[25:27] district.

[25:28] It could go to the stadium, it

[25:29] could go to other improvements

[25:30] in that area.

[25:31] And with that I'll turn it back

[25:37] over to greg.

[25:42] >> thanks, tom.

[25:43] As you go

[25:44] you can see, there has been

[25:45] quite a bit of detailed

[25:47] negotiation about the financial

[25:47] component, but there are many

[25:48] other pieces of this discussion

[25:51] that we've had the ways and --

[25:52] had with the rays and had with

[25:53] the city that have led to the

[25:54] agreement that you have before

[25:54] you.

[25:56] The model that we have looked at

[25:58] through this process is the

[25:59] battery in atlanta.

[26:01] That was done about 10 years

[26:02] ago.

[26:04] It is today starting to generate

[26:08] significant tax revenue for cobb

[26:09] county, and it is important to

[26:12] recognize that these types of

[26:14] developments with surrounding

[26:15] ancillary buildings,

[26:17] development, are the type of

[26:19] model that many professional

[26:20] sports teams are looking at.

[26:21] And that's the model that we

[26:22] looked at here.

[26:26] Since the ballpark site does not

[26:29] create any ad valorem tax

[26:31] revenue today, all of the

[26:32] incentive based concepts that

[26:34] tom talked about and that we've

[26:36] negotiated in the agreement will

[26:38] generate dollars for not only

[26:41] the county but also the city and

[26:43] the cdd and I want to emphasize

[26:44] that that's a public entity and

[26:47] they are subject to are the

[26:48] public -- all the public records

[26:48] laws.

[26:49] They have a governing board and

[26:51] all of their, all of their

[26:55] actions are subject to public

[26:55] scrutiny.

[26:57] Bond validation is an important

[26:58] component of this.

[27:00] we want to make sure that the

[27:02] courts look at the proposed deal

[27:04] and bless it so that everything

[27:05] can be moved forward.

[27:08] We don't want to have any loose

[27:08] nds.

[27:09] If there might be a question

[27:11] about whether some of the

[27:12] financial are

[27:14] s are able to be used

[27:14] for this project.

[27:17] The ballpark design is to be

[27:20] mutually agreed by the city, the

[27:22] county, and the tampa sports

[27:24] authority with the rays.

[27:25] I think that's an incredibly

[27:26] important point.

[27:27] We've spent significant time on

[27:30] that concept, and we are going

[27:32] to have a joint conversation

[27:34] about the features and amenities

[27:35] contained in the ballpark,

[27:37] specifically the public areas

[27:38] because we think that that's

[27:40] important that public dollars go

[27:44] to support the public areas of

[27:46] the proposed ballpark.

[27:49] I know with certainty that tsa,

[27:50] the county and the city are

[27:52] going to be looking at value

[27:53] engineering along with the rays

[27:54] to try and reduce the cost.

[27:56] We have not yet seen formal

[27:59] blueprints, but we are confident

[28:00] that there is probably some cost

[28:00] savings.

[28:02] I can't give you a magnitude

[28:04] right now, but I'm certain that

[28:08] tsa will look at that very, very

[28:08] closely.

[28:11] The public areas are nontaxable.

[28:14] Private areas pay ad valorem

[28:14] taxes.

[28:16] The county owns the ballpark and

[28:18] the ground under it after

[28:19] construction.

[28:21] I do want to emphasize one other

[28:25] point, that the rays have agreed

[28:27] to cover all cost over runs.

[28:28] So even after all of this, if

[28:32] there are additional costs that

[28:33] related toot construction of the

[28:34] stadium, the rays are

[28:38] responsible for that.

[28:40] There is a 35-year license and

[28:42] use agreement, and they have

[28:44] five three-year options to

[28:45] extend.

[28:47] The rays are going to pay

[28:50] $40 million annual rent with cip

[28:51] adjustments.

[28:52] As tom indicated earlier, tat

[28:55] is a significant revenue source

[28:56] that we believe helps offset the

[28:59] initial county investment.

[29:00] There's a nonrelocation

[29:01] agreement that requires the rays

[29:04] to play their own games in

[29:04] hillsborough county throughout

[29:06] the term of the agreement.

[29:09] There is a guarantee agreement

[29:10] that requires the rays to

[29:11] perform.

[29:12] So all of the things that

[29:14] they've said financially and all

[29:17] of the conditions precedent that

[29:18] I know our county attorney will

[29:20] talk about after I'm done, all

[29:22] of those are required for the

[29:24] rays to perform.

[29:26] There is no city or county

[29:27] obligation to pursue alternate

[29:28] funding sources.

[29:29] We think that's critical.

[29:32] There MAY be something that for

[29:33] whatever reason falls through

[29:33] the cracks.

[29:37] We don't think that's likely,

[29:39] but at this stage we want to be

[29:39] absolutely sure that we're not

[29:40] on the hook for finding

[29:41] additional funding if something

[29:45] like that were to happen.

[29:48] The county MAY choose to reduce

[29:51] the final payment if the state

[29:54] that does not follow through on

[29:55] its $100 million commitment for

[29:57] lithia pinecrest.

[29:58] We think that's a remote

[30:00] possibility, but we want to be

[30:02] absolutely sure our job is to

[30:03] protect the county and the

[30:04] county taxpayers so that we can

[30:05] make sure that those dollars if

[30:08] they don't come through to cit

[30:10] and offset some of our other cit

[30:11] contributions, we have a

[30:13] mechanism in place to hold back

[30:16] some of the dollars.

[30:17] Mentioned earlier, there is a

[30:18] community benefits agreement, no

[30:22] less than 65% will go to the

[30:22] county.

[30:23] And finally, ballpark

[30:25] construction will follow public

[30:28] procurement law.

[30:30] There are three agreements

[30:31] before you.

[30:34] These are the foundational

[30:34] documents.

[30:35] They are necessary for us to

[30:40] have the following agreements

[30:41] formalized and we're still

[30:43] working on those.

[30:44] But these three that are before

[30:46] you today, I know the county

[30:47] attorney will talk more in

[30:49] detail about them, these are the

[30:51] foundational pieces that we

[30:53] absolutely if the board feels

[30:55] like this project is something

[30:57] that we need to have in our

[30:59] community, we have to have your

[31:01] ascent to approve these and then

[31:02] move forward.

[31:04] So we'll be looking for that

[31:05] during your discussion and

[31:06] direction.

[31:07] With that I'll turn it over to

[31:10] julia and following julia's

[31:13] comments, tom and I and julia

[31:14] and county administrator will

[31:16] all be available for questions.

[31:18] >> thank you very much.

[31:19] And I believe -- greg and tom

[31:21] did a really excellent job going

[31:22] through the highlights of the

[31:23] agreement.

[31:24] It's obviously a very dense

[31:25] agreement with a lot of legal

[31:28] stuff in it, but I think it's

[31:29] important that everybody

[31:32] understands that we through this

[31:34] process wanted to ensure that

[31:36] the document protected the

[31:37] county and the city as well as

[31:40] our partner in order to ensure

[31:42] that we were moving forward

[31:43] through this process with a

[31:45] document that we could live with

[31:46] and could recommend.

[31:47] I'm going to just go through

[31:50] some of the other kind of higher

[31:53] points and not belabor them, but

[31:55] certainly can be available for

[31:55] any questions.

[31:58] The financial pieces have been

[31:59] discussed and how those are

[32:01] going to work, but I do think it

[32:02] kind of runs into three

[32:02] tranches.

[32:05] One is the county's

[32:05] contribution.

[32:06] The second is the city's

[32:07] contribution.

[32:09] The third is the team's

[32:10] contribution.

[32:12] And then the piece related to

[32:15] the cdd and how that will be set

[32:16] up.

[32:17] Procedurally for the cdd to be

[32:21] set up a couple things are going

[32:21] to need to happen.

[32:22] We're going to have to create

[32:24] what's called a home rule tif,

[32:28] and that's set forth in the

[32:28] agreement.

[32:30] We're going to have to have a

[32:31] cdd created, and I know many of

[32:33] you are familiar with CDDs as

[32:34] we create them dmt county as

[32:35] well, and those are governmental

[32:36] entities.

[32:38] And then there will have to be

[32:39] an interlocal agreement that is

[32:41] between the cdd, the city, and

[32:44] the county for the funds, the ad

[32:45] valorem funds that are in what

[32:49] you will see as exhibit e that

[32:51] describes how those funds will

[32:52] occur, how those will be

[32:53] transferred to the cdd.

[32:54] I think it's very important to

[32:57] understand that the cdd is

[33:00] governed by state statute.

[33:02] So how those funds can

[33:03] ultimately be spent through the

[33:05] project will have to be in line

[33:07] with the statutory provisions of

[33:10] the cdd, and we will also have

[33:11] further opportunity to govern

[33:16] those through an interlocal

[33:17] agreement and that of course

[33:18] will come later but that is how

[33:19] it is set up.

[33:21] The other piece I wanted to note

[33:25] to you is that these different

[33:26] contributions that we're going

[33:27] through, some of them will be

[33:30] bonded, and those will require a

[33:32] bonding resolution.

[33:33] However, all of the pieces of

[33:34] this, the financial pieces of

[33:39] this will be obligated to go

[33:40] through a bond validation

[33:41] proceeding in court.

[33:44] And so that is a condition

[33:46] precedent to us funding any of

[33:46] this money.

[33:48] It will have to go through that

[33:50] process, although it is a

[33:52] process that can be expedited.

[33:54] It will take some period of

[33:56] time, the team is aware of that,

[33:57] and they understand that that is

[33:59] something that will be obligated

[34:02] for us to proceed forward.

[34:02] There was a number of questions

[34:04] through this process as it

[34:07] related to the, our use of the

[34:09] cit funds I had provided

[34:10] previously those legal opinions

[34:11] that we've received, however, I

[34:13] anticipate that those issues

[34:14] will come up through a bond

[34:16] validation proceeding, and if

[34:17] there is any appeals to those,

[34:19] they go to directly to the

[34:20] supreme court.

[34:21] But I think it's important for

[34:22] everybody to know the money

[34:23] can't start right away.

[34:25] It's not like we're writing a

[34:26] check tomorrow.

[34:27] These things have to go through

[34:28] the process.

[34:30] In addition to the bond

[34:33] validation proceeding being a

[34:35] condition precedent, there is

[34:36] numerous condition precedence to

[34:42] us putting one dime into this

[34:42] project.

[34:44] I think there is about 28 of

[34:45] them, but the ones that I will

[34:49] highlight for you are the ones

[34:50] related to the city's got to

[34:51] have their money.

[34:53] We have to put our money in, and

[34:54] the team has to put their money

[34:56] into what will be a construction

[34:56] trust fund.

[34:59] And that will be governed by a

[35:00] separate agreement.

[35:01] All of the agreements, not just

[35:03] the agreements that are in front

[35:04] `of you today, which are

[35:08] inclusive of the, the funding

[35:09] agreement, the guarantee

[35:12] agreement, and the nonrelocation

[35:14] agreement, the other agreements

[35:15] that were discussed that greg

[35:19] discussed with you, the use

[35:20] agreement, all of these

[35:21] interlocal agreements with the

[35:23] cdd, the change, the creation of

[35:27] a home rule tif, the ability to

[35:29] have that interlocal agreement

[35:31] with the cdd, all of those

[35:34] things have to acr prior to

[35:34] funding.

[35:36] So those are other steps that

[35:39] will come forward in this

[35:40] process.

[35:41] And I also want to note that,

[35:42] and I've seen lot of questions

[35:45] about this, the financial

[35:47] capability of the team, there

[35:48] are two entities that you've

[35:51] seen in these documents.

[35:52] One is hold co which is

[35:53] basically the parent company or

[35:57] the parent funding of the, the

[35:59] team, and then stag co and team

[36:01] co, which are the separate

[36:03] pieces of how they're running

[36:05] their stadium operations.

[36:06] And I'm not getting in the weeds

[36:07] on that.

[36:08] There's corporate -- corporate

[36:10] governance that, that a lot of

[36:11] folks can talk about, but I'm

[36:14] trying to make it kind of simple

[36:15] and clear.

[36:18] They will have to provide us

[36:20] both hold co and stag co and

[36:23] team co, all of their financial

[36:24] capability prior to us funding

[36:27] in a manner acceptable to us.

[36:29] That is a very specific part of

[36:30] all of this.

[36:32] You will also see that the team

[36:35] guarantee is through hold co,

[36:37] and one of the changes that I'm

[36:38] going to be asking to be able to

[36:40] make on that document is

[36:42] something that the team has

[36:43] agreed to on the guarantee

[36:46] document, which says that that

[36:48] funding mechanism and the

[36:49] funding information will be

[36:51] available to us at our request

[36:53] through the life of the

[36:55] guarantee, not just prior to

[36:55] funding.

[36:57] So we will have additional

[36:58] opportunities throughout the

[37:00] life of this agreement to be

[37:03] able to ask for that

[37:04] information.

[37:05] Some of the other issues that I

[37:06] think are really important and

[37:08] critical and things that we've

[37:11] seen relate to the comprehensive

[37:14] plan and the entitlement ability

[37:15] for them to proceed forward, not

[37:17] just with the stadium, the

[37:19] ballpark as it were, but also

[37:21] with their mixed use development

[37:22] and there was a point in time

[37:24] there was a comprehensive plan

[37:25] amendment that was pending in

[37:27] front of the city of tampa that

[37:30] was not transmitted to the

[37:30] state.

[37:32] There has been another comp plan

[37:34] amendment that has been filed.

[37:37] That comp plan amendment is

[37:38] critical not just for the mixed

[37:40] use development, but also for

[37:41] inconstruction of the -- the

[37:42] construction of the ballpark.

[37:44] That will be a condition precede

[37:44] pt

[37:46] precedent of this as well, or

[37:47] other opportunities for them to

[37:48] develop without the comp plan

[37:50] mendment but candidly, I don't

[37:51] think that's a realistic

[37:52] opportunity.

[37:56] They were going to have to have

[37:57] that as part of the agreement

[37:58] set forward.

[38:01] So that is set as a precedent of

[38:02] the agreement as well as

[38:02] receiving any permitting

[38:03] opportunities that they will

[38:04] need through whatever mechanisms

[38:06] because it's college property,

[38:08] they do have some ability to

[38:09] permit through the college, but

[38:11] that is dealt with within the

[38:15] body of the agreement.

[38:16] As it relates to the

[38:20] nonrelocation agreement, we'll

[38:21] ll -- there was a conversation

[38:24] and a question about some other

[38:26] cretters that MAY have --

[38:28] creditors that MAY have some

[38:29] rights to any of the assets of

[38:29] the team.

[38:34] We will be -- they will be

[38:35] obligated to provide us evidence

[38:37] that the nonrelocation agreement

[38:38] can't be subrogated to another

[38:38] entity.

[38:42] It's a nuance, but one I think

[38:43] is very important to point out

[38:43] to you.

[38:46] I did also want to note that

[38:47] yesterday and many of you may

[38:50] have watched the city of tampa

[38:51] did approve the agreement.

[38:52] It was quite a lengthy process

[38:54] over there, and I did have the

[38:57] opportunity to attend that

[38:58] hearing and answer any questions

[39:01] that might be necessary as it

[39:02] related to the county.

[39:04] The city of tampa did make a few

[39:05] tweaks to the agreement that we

[39:08] will need to make to our

[39:08] agreement.

[39:09] The two most specific tweaks

[39:11] that they made related -- and

[39:13] they all related to their issues

[39:14] not our issues.

[39:16] But related to their $80 million

[39:19] and that they would have the

[39:22] opportunity to have that

[39:24] $80 million paid out on a

[39:25] reimbursement basis as well as a

[39:27] provision in the agreement that

[39:29] says that they were not, that by

[39:31] virtue of the agreement, we

[39:33] weren't agreeing to their deal,

[39:35] and we're not agreeing to our

[39:36] deal that we're standing alone

[39:38] in this, but that, I shouldn't

[39:39] say agreeing.

[39:40] They weren't blessing our deal,

[39:42] and we aren't blessing their

[39:43] deal.

[39:44] That, we're, we're coming

[39:45] together on this, but they

[39:47] wanted to make sure that there

[39:49] was some separation there.

[39:51] Those are as part of any motion

[39:52] that you might make if you

[39:53] respect to proceed forward I

[39:55] would need authority to true up

[39:57] those two agreements in order to

[39:58] proceed forward.

[40:00] I did also want to note that

[40:01] scott steady the city attorney a

[40:02] is

[40:06] attorneyis in attendance as well as

[40:08] chief of staff john bennett and

[40:09] city cfo dennis roharrow if you

[40:11] have any questions of them as it

[40:12] relates to the city's part of

[40:14] this or any of the other

[40:15] questions or alignments that

[40:16] we've had, they have been

[40:18] wonderful partners.

[40:19] I got to go home a little bit

[40:21] yesterday to my old haunting

[40:23] grounds to spend am time with

[40:24] them, and it was -- some time

[40:25] with them, and it was an

[40:26] interesting experience, but I

[40:27] have to tell you tled me to

[40:29] realize that I absolutely adore

[40:32] being here.

[40:33] So I felt compelled to say that

[40:37] for the record.

[40:39] No offense to my city friends.

[40:40] The final thing I did want to

[40:41] point out and I should've

[40:43] pointed it out earlier has to do

[40:46] with the process of an owner's

[40:46] rep through the construction

[40:48] process and tsa has also been an

[40:49] mazing partner.

[40:50] Eric hart is here as well.

[40:52] I've had the chance to work with

[40:53] him very closely on some of

[40:55] these provisions.

[40:59] While there will be an owner's

[41:00] rep that will have robest

[41:01] engagement in this process and

[41:03] what we have also added into

[41:04] this agreement is a project

[41:05] newterous

[41:06] neutral process.

[41:07] It's a process we have used with

[41:08] other sports teams that as we go

[41:11] through the process of we are

[41:12] owner's rep

[41:13] rep doesn't agree with

[41:14] something the rays have proposed

[41:15] and something that we can't just

[41:17] work out our sblgz, there's --

[41:18] ourselves, there is an

[41:21] opportunity to go through an

[41:22] expedited project neutral kind

[41:24] of arbitrary process, and

[41:25] that -- arbitrator process and

[41:28] that way we're able to get to a

[41:30] process to find some comfort to

[41:32] what the final decisions are as

[41:33] opposed to being something the

[41:36] team can say yes or no to.

[41:37] It's not a question of veto

[41:37] power.

[41:39] It's a question of having a

[41:40] partnership on a building that

[41:42] we have put extensive resources

[41:47] in and that we want to see be an

[41:48] excellent example of a type of

[41:50] facility that we can be proud of

[41:51] much like we're proud of the

[41:53] other facilities that we have.

[41:55] So with that, I will end my

[41:57] boring diatribe of the legal

[42:00] nuances and happy to answer any

[42:01] questions.

[42:01] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[42:03] I'm sure there will be questions

[42:04] for staff, and I'd ask board

[42:06] members to reserve those for

[42:08] during board discussion.

[42:10] We'll go into public comment

[42:10] now.

[42:12] The board welcomes comments from

[42:13] citizens, your opinions have

[42:15] valued in terms of providing

[42:17] valuable ifpet to board

[42:20] input to board members.

[42:21] However at the same time it is

[42:21] requested when you address the

[42:23] board that comments are not

[42:24] directly personally at

[42:24] commissioners or staff but

[42:26] rather the issues.

[42:27] I know there are passionate

[42:29] feelings on both sides to this

[42:29] issue.

[42:33] I am going to ask everyone to

[42:34] please be civil and respectful

[42:37] to those speaking during public

[42:37] comment.

[42:39] The chair will call on speakers

[42:40] by name in the order chin their

[42:42] request to speak -- in which

[42:44] their request to speak have been

[42:44] received.

[42:45] Whendriesing the board please

[42:47] state -- when addressing the

[42:49] board, please speak clearly and

[42:50] say your name into the

[42:50] microphone.

[42:51] We have 55 individuals that have

[42:52] signed up to speak, consistent

[42:54] with how the board handles when

[42:56] we have significant number of

[42:57] speakers, I'd ask for a motion

[42:59] for each speaker would

[43:01] to be given two

[43:02] minutes.

[43:03] Motion, commissioner cohen,

[43:04] second, commissioner myers.

[43:10] Please record your vote.

[43:12] >> motion carried 7-0.

[43:13] >> ken hagan: okay, first three

[43:14] speakers this morning.

[43:16] Robert emerson.

[43:17] Followed by michael marino, and

[43:28] then karen jaroch.

[43:29] Good morning.

[43:30] >>> good morning.

[43:31] Thank you.

[43:33] I'm robbert emerson, I live in

[43:34] apollo beach.

[43:38] I'm humbled to, to give some

[43:38] brief comments here.

[43:40] I'm also humbled having to

[43:41] follow tom fesler.

[43:44] I feel like a singer trying to

[43:46] follow sinatra here after tom's

[43:46] comments.

[43:49] But I'll be brief.

[43:53] I'm here to argue against the

[43:54] proposal.

[43:56] The first reason is the optics

[43:58] are so horribly bad, guys.

[44:01] Like there's not enough money in

[44:02] professional sports already.

[44:05] The owners are all

[44:06] multimultibillionaires.

[44:08] The players are all

[44:09] multimultimillionaires.

[44:11] And to come to a hard pressed

[44:13] taxpayer who's trying to save a

[44:16] few dollars to buy a new bike

[44:18] for his kids, the opticerize

[44:19] just, just horrible.

[44:20] Now I have no problem with

[44:22] people making good money.

[44:26] I've been accused of that myself

[44:26] occasionally.

[44:30] but it seems to me that the club

[44:31] could finance this themselves

[44:33] quite easily.

[44:34] They could float a bond issue,

[44:36] maybe 20, 30-year bond issue a

[44:41] little bit low end of investment

[44:44] grade, triple b, for a

[44:45] coupon, maybe 7, 7 and

[44:47] 7.25%.

[44:48] They could own the whole thing,

[44:49] not have to come to the hard

[44:52] pressed taxpayers.

[44:55] Opticerize just terrible.

[44:57] Second thought.

[44:58] I am from philadelphia

[44:59] originally, many years ago.

[45:00] Some years ago.

[45:01] We rebuilt our sports complex,

[45:03] and it's great.

[45:06] I like the proposed complex

[45:08] here, and the philadelphia

[45:10] complex was great.

[45:12] Pleasant to go to.

[45:14] But there's again, it's the

[45:16] public financing that's the

[45:19] problem, and also I've observed

[45:22] closely with the philadelphia

[45:24] experience for example, the

[45:28] economic benefits are illusory.

[45:30] Illusory is the word I would

[45:31] use.

[45:31] So.

[45:32] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[45:32] MR. Emerson.

[45:33] >> I'm out of time.

[45:33] Thanks.

[45:34] >> ken hagan: appreciate the

[45:34] comments, sir.

[45:36] Michael marino.

[45:37] Followed by karen jaroch and

[45:39] then carmen edmonds.

[45:40] >> good afternoon,

[45:40] commissioners.

[45:42] Michael marino, executive

[45:43] director, westshore alliance.

[45:44] We encourage you to support the

[45:47] rays proposal for the potential

[45:48] economic and infrastructure

[45:50] impact in westshore and drew

[45:50] park.

[45:52] big projects need public-private

[45:53] partnerships and policy and

[45:54] funding.

[45:55] In this case, you're turning

[45:56] public land into taxable private

[45:57] land.

[45:58] It is the best way to get return

[46:00] on the public's investment.

[46:01] We encourage you to support this

[46:01] project.

[46:03] It deserves your support.

[46:05] We look forward to burking

[46:06] working with

[46:08] you to make it successful for

[46:10] all of hillsborough county thank

[46:11] they

[46:11] thank you.

[46:13] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[46:15] MR. Marino.

[46:16] Karen jaroch,.

[46:17] >> good morning, my name is

[46:19] karen jaroch, I don't know if

[46:20] the elmo's up.

[46:23] But today we're going to finally

[46:25] find out if we're going to

[46:26] prepare for our winner here in

[46:28] florida, which is hurricanes and

[46:30] massive growth, or if we're

[46:33] going sing and dance our cit

[46:33] away.

[46:35] Seven years ago, I used, my

[46:36] husband and I used our savings

[46:37] too

[46:39] to buy property and start a

[46:40] business in tampa.

[46:41] The city didn't give us the

[46:42] land.

[46:43] We bought a suitable parcel that

[46:45] was not already a college

[46:46] campus, a tax collector's

[46:50] office, or a law enforcement

[46:51] headquarters: there's vacant

[46:52] land next door from the city.

[46:53] They

[46:56] they didn't give it to us so we

[46:58] could make a bigger project.

[46:59] Our nest egg wasn't big enough

[47:00] to complete the purchase, so we

[47:02] had to refinance the funds

[47:04] to come up with

[47:05] the funds we needed.

[47:07] The city and county didn't pay

[47:08] half.

[47:10] They didn't tax the

[47:10] neighborhoods.

[47:12] And when our roof fails, the

[47:14] city's not going to come, the

[47:17] county mafs' not going to come.

[47:17] We're going to have to do.

[47:18] This is the deal ordinary

[47:19] businesses get, and we work hard

[47:22] and we make it work.

[47:28] I was looking at the deal.

[47:34] This is the proposed property.

[47:36] If you look at that closely, you

[47:37] can see actually here's a better

[47:38] picture of it.

[47:40] You can see the campus here.

[47:42] The hcc campus.

[47:42] Oh, sorry.

[47:45] You can see the hcc campus right

[47:46] here.

[47:48] It's hard to read the lines, but

[47:51] you'll notice that that campus,

[47:54] there's 122 acres, hcc is being

[47:56] relegated to seven acres.

[47:59] This outline here is the

[48:01] ballpark.

[48:03] We're upending the principle of

[48:04] development should pay for

[48:05] itself.

[48:08] We're actually gifting them

[48:10] about $250 million in valuable

[48:11] land.

[48:16] That's not being considered

[48:18] here.

[48:18] >> ken hagan: thanks,

[48:19] MS. Jaroch.

[48:20] Appreciate your comments.

[48:21] Carmen edmonds.

[48:23] >> I just want to say --

[48:23] >> ken hagan: sorry, ma'am, your

[48:24] time is --

[48:25] >> we're going to know if we're

[48:26] prepared for --

[48:27] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[48:28] MS. Hujoation.

[48:31] Appreciate -- jaroch.

[48:33] Carmen edmonds, sussanne

[48:35] susan nicely,

[48:39] cathy brown.

[48:40] Good morning.

[48:41] >> good morning, my name's

[48:42] carmen edmonds.

[48:43] I'm chair of the hillsborough

[48:44] county republican party and we

[48:45] voted again tuesday night at our

[48:47] meeting to unanimously ask you

[48:48] all to vote no on the taxpayer

[48:49] money going towards a new

[48:50] stadium.

[48:52] I've also had over 300 people

[48:55] email our county money asking no

[48:57] county taxpayer money be used

[49:00] for stadium and I also have a

[49:02] video preloading saying no

[49:03] taxpayer money should or would

[49:04] we giewzed for

[49:09] be used for a stadium.

[49:09] >> ken hagan: I've stated on

[49:10] several occasions that I do

[49:13] not -- with respect to the

[49:14] ballot language I am supportive

[49:16] of removing the school board

[49:17] reference and the community

[49:18] stadium reference that was in

[49:21] the initial 96 ballot language.

[49:22] Commissioner wostal makes

[49:26] excellent points regarding ray

[49:27] jay, unquestionably that was a

[49:27] sweetheart deal.

[49:29] I completely supported

[49:30] eliminating like a community

[49:31] stadium or stadiums being built

[49:32] with the tax, totally fine with

[49:33] that.

[49:34] Totally fine with eliminating

[49:36] tsa receiving money off the top

[49:38] as is currently used.

[49:39] >> I will

[49:40] >> joshua wostal: I will move to

[49:42] amend the ordinance to prohibit

[49:44] the use of cit funds for new

[49:47] professional sports facilities.

[49:49] >> ken hagan: I can live with

[49:50] that.

[49:53] Commissioner cameron cepeda sphk

[49:54] >> donna cameron cepeda: yes I

[49:54] am going to support.

[49:56] >> I am totally in agreement

[49:57] with not investing in any new

[49:59] facilities with this cit money.

[50:00] I don't think we should be going

[50:01] there.

[50:01] >> gwen myers: thank you,

[50:02] commissioner wostal, for making

[50:03] that motion, because I do agree

[50:04] with your motion.

[50:06] >> ken hagan: we've already

[50:07] liminated community stadium,

[50:08] right, off the original

[50:09] ordinance, so that in and of

[50:12] itself, I would think,?Alsz

[50:14] that we're not building any new

[50:15] stadiums and so stadiums is out

[50:15] of it.

[50:18] We're simply -- what -- we

[50:20] didn't advertise community

[50:22] stadium on this, on this go

[50:24] around, correct?

[50:25] >> so I think we get the gist

[50:26] there.

[50:27] We are not opposed to the rays

[50:27] building a stadium.

[50:31] I agree with bob emerson.

[50:35] They have plenty of money to do do do

[50:36] it themselves.

[50:37] We are here in this county

[50:38] suffering with potholes,

[50:39] infrastructure issues, drainage

[50:40] issues, and all kinds of things

[50:45] that are affecting our

[50:46] community.

[50:47] Belize vote

[50:49] please vote no.

[50:50] Thank you for your comments.

[50:53] Susan nicely, cathy brown,

[50:55] followed by DR. James davisson.

[50:56] >> thank yo.

[50:58] Susan nicely, I've libbed in

[50:59] tamp -- lived in tampa for 46

[51:00] years and I've watched the city

[51:02] and county deteriorate.

[51:04] The roads are horrible.

[51:05] The sidewalks are worse.

[51:07] They're like a glow in the dark

[51:09] with all the caution strips

[51:12] because you can't fix them.

[51:14] You're going to use our bonds

[51:16] and resource money for

[51:18] millionaires when you scolded us

[51:20] for years that they could not be

[51:23] used to fix our roads and our

[51:23] infrastructure.

[51:25] How can you compare, how can you

[51:27] sit there after promising not to

[51:31] use our tax dollars and still

[51:34] stand there and want to build a

[51:36] stadium for millionaires?

[51:38] If you vote no, we will campaign

[51:41] hard against you.

[51:42] >> ken hagan: yes.

[51:43] Thank you, MS. Nicely.

[51:45] Cathy brown.

[51:48] And then DR. James davisson.

[51:50] And then melanie alvures.

[51:51] Good morning.

[51:52] >> I,

[51:56] hi, I'm cathy brown.

[51:58] I've lived here in val

[52:00] valrico now

[52:01] for 52 years, and as susan

[52:03] pointed out, our roads have

[52:04] deteriorated and gotten worse

[52:04] and worse.

[52:07] Finally doing some work but most

[52:09] of to put water down to south

[52:09] county.

[52:11] But I'm a big rays fan.

[52:13] I love the rays.

[52:14] I would love to have the rays

[52:17] stadium here: this is a bad deal

[52:19] for us for the county, for the

[52:24] city.

[52:25] Add $360 million from the cit,

[52:29] that money should be spent for

[52:30] roads, for police, for fire

[52:33] protection.

[52:37] We just, the bond interest on

[52:38] the $786 million that we're

[52:39] contributing is going to add

[52:40] huge amount to that.

[52:42] We're going to be spending over

[52:44] a million dollars over the years

[52:47] that we have to be paying the

[52:47] bonds.

[52:51] The county cannot afford this.

[52:54] And what if amendment degree

[52:55] passes?

[53:00] It'll be even worse.

[53:02] our roads are going to get worse

[53:02] than ever.

[53:03] It's going to feel like we're in

[53:05] the early 1900s and potholes

[53:08] and bumps and everything.

[53:09] We just cannot afford it.

[53:10] I'm sorry.

[53:11] Thank you.

[53:12] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[53:12] MS. Brown.

[53:13] DR. James davisson.

[53:16] Not sure if he's here or online.

[53:20] Then melanie alvarez and paul

[53:21] elliott.

[53:21] >> online.

[53:23] >> ken hagan: good morning,

[53:24] DR. Davisson.

[53:27] >> yes, the $360 million that

[53:30] was to be spent in

[53:30] unincorporated hillsborough

[53:33] county at the referendum is now

[53:35] going to be spent completely

[53:36] -

[53:38] within the city of tampa.

[53:41] This gift to the city of tampa

[53:43] will raise their share of the

[53:46] cit to 30% of the total cit

[53:51] value and decrease the total

[53:54] amount of cit, of hillsborough

[53:57] county to a little over 61%.

[53:58] That's in violation of the

[53:59] interlocal agreement that the

[54:01] people voted on.

[54:03] So you lied about how much moey

[54:06] the tax was going to raise.

[54:07] You lied about the stadium.

[54:08] And now you're lying about the

[54:10] interlocal agreement.

[54:13] That's a lot of lies for one

[54:13] referendum.

[54:16] There are going to be

[54:19] consequences, and we're in no

[54:20] hurry.

[54:24] But until this lying and the

[54:27] falsifying of referendum stops,

[54:28] the people of this county are

[54:30] going to get what's needed, and

[54:31] they haven't been for the last

[54:34] 25, 30 years.

[54:36] The county is going to, or the

[54:39] rays are going to get

[54:41] $1.2 billion from the cdd.

[54:42] The entire amount of money from

[54:45] the cdd that the hillsborough

[54:46] county and the city of tampa are

[54:51] going to get is one fifth of

[54:51] that.

[54:54] So I hope you enjoy what you're

[54:56] going to do today, but I can

[54:58] tell you there will be a remedy

[54:59] in the future.

[55:01] Thank you very much.

[55:02] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[55:02] DR. Davisson.

[55:03] >> can you state your name for

[55:10] the record? I think we lost

[55:10] him.

[55:11] >> ken hagan: DR. Jim davisson.

[55:14] Melanie alvures followed by paul

[55:15] elliott and then linda reid.

[55:16] Good morning.

[55:17] >> good morning, commissioners.

[55:19] My name is melanie alvarez and

[55:20] I'm speaking today on behalf of

[55:23] americans for prosperity and

[55:24] taxpayers of hillsborough

[55:25] county.

[55:27] Yesterday the tampa bay, the

[55:28] tampa city council voted 4-3 to

[55:30] move forward with the rays

[55:31] stadium deal, but that does not

[55:34] mean that the county should rush

[55:35] to follow.

[55:38] This isn't about being

[55:39] antibaseball or wanting the rays

[55:40] to leave our region.

[55:42] It's about asking a simple

[55:43] question, what are the taxpayers

[55:46] getting in return for this

[55:46] investment?

[55:48] We keep hearing about economic

[55:49] development and a

[55:50] transformational misuse

[55:50] district.

[55:53] But where is that new economic

[55:54] activity actually coming from?

[55:56] We don't know what businesses

[55:57] will locate there, and if

[55:59] businesses simply move from

[56:00] another part of tampa or

[56:01] hillsborough county into this

[56:03] development, that isn't creating

[56:05] new economic activity.

[56:07] It's moving the economic

[56:08] activity from one place to

[56:09] another while taxpayers are

[56:11] helping to pay for it.

[56:13] That is not the same thing as

[56:14] economic development.

[56:16] There is no reason to rush this

[56:17] decision.

[56:18] Documents were still coming in

[56:21] as late as tuesday night, and it

[56:22] doesn't appear that we really

[56:24] have a final deal here.

[56:25] Pthere's been a lot of problems

[56:26] with transparency, and we also

[56:28] have amendment 3 on the NOVEMBER

[56:30] ballot that we don't know what

[56:32] those implications will be for

[56:34] the county's finances.

[56:37] Why make a multigenerational

[56:39] financial commitment before we

[56:40] have those answers?

[56:42] And let's remember, hillsborough

[56:44] county is still paying for

[56:46] raymond jams stadium,.

[56:48] This excitement surrounding this

[56:50] project does not change the

[56:51] responsibility that you all have

[56:53] to the taxpayers.

[56:55] Excitement is not a financial

[56:56] analysis.

[56:57] Promises are not guarantees.

[56:59] And moving businesses is not the

[56:59] -

[57:01] ame as creating new economic

[57:02] activity.

[57:03] Commissioners, there is nothing

[57:05] wrong with taking more time in

[57:08] fact, with this much taxpayer

[57:10] money and this many unanswered

[57:12] questions, taking more time is

[57:13] responsible government.

[57:15] Please allow -- please slow this

[57:17] process down and get the final

[57:19] documents, examine true taxpayer

[57:20] exposure.

[57:20] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[57:21] MS. Alvarez.

[57:21] appreciate your comments.

[57:23] Paul elliott.

[57:24] Paul here?

[57:25] Don't see paul.

[57:29] Followed by linda reid.

[57:29] Linda?

[57:33] Then we have ron reaver.

[57:35] And bret brett

[57:37] brett wayly.

[57:38] >> you're going to get an

[57:39] opportunity today to make a once

[57:41] in a lifetime selection for our

[57:43] children, and our grandchildren,

[57:45] and it's not just a $56 billion

[57:47] worth of economy.

[57:48] Even if half of tht is all

[57:50] that's going to come in, and you

[57:52] see from the battery and

[57:54] columbus ohio and sacramento,

[57:55] california, that those economic

[57:57] models do hold up.

[57:58] But even if it's half of that,

[58:01] the sales tax on that would be

[58:02] $7 billion over the next

[58:03] century.

[58:05] It would be $2.5 billion over

[58:06] just the next 30 years.

[58:08] The economy, however is not the

[58:09] story today for our children.

[58:11] Our children and our

[58:12] grandchildren want to know if we

[58:12] get things done.

[58:14] We can get this done and then we

[58:16] can get rail done.

[58:17] These $10 million visitors a

[58:19] year to this stadium are going

[58:22] to speed it up rail, maybe by a

[58:22] decade.

[58:25] These billion visitors a

[58:26] century, that's right a billion

[58:28] visitors a venchry are going to

[58:29] change this community.

[58:33] 81 home games; not just 9 or 20,

[58:35] but 81 home games.

[58:38] And 30 concerts.

[58:40] $29 billion worth of wages.

[58:42] 12,000 jobs.

[58:43] The opportunity for our children

[58:45] to see that we can do, that we

[58:48] must do when the time comes, we

[58:50] tackle this, then we'll start

[58:51] tackling our insurance rates

[58:52] together with some kind of a

[58:54] common pool and a common fund.

[58:56] Then we'll tackle our education

[58:58] by raising our teachers' pay in

[58:59] order to get our game together

[59:02] not just baseball, not just

[59:04] community, america's past time,

[59:08] maybe baseball, but the

[59:09] community's unitedness and

[59:11] oneness is our lifeline.

[59:13] We must save for our children.

[59:15] We must save for our

[59:16] grandchildren.

[59:18] The opportunity to see that this

[59:19] community comes together, that

[59:25] we celebrate together.

[59:26] -- took much greater odds in

[59:27] getting us the things that we've

[59:30] gotten for our pride and our

[59:31] economy and our sense of self.

[59:34] Our sense of ability to get

[59:37] things done, this is a

[59:38] transformational project.

[59:38] Thank yu.

[59:40] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[59:40] MR. Weaver.

[59:41] Appreciate the comments.

[59:43] Paul elliott, linda reid, going,

[59:45] going, gone.

[59:45] Okay.

[59:46] Brett wayly.

[59:49] Is brett here?

[59:50] No brett?

[59:51] Okay.

[59:52] We've got sharon calvert,

[59:53] virtual, followed by monica

[59:59] potter, and steve cona iii.

[1:00:00] >> sharon has not checked in.

[1:00:01] >> ken hagan: sharon not checked

[1:00:03] in.

[1:00:03] Okay.

[1:00:07] Monica potter?

[1:00:11] Followed by steve conan iii and

[1:00:16] then devon potter.

[1:00:18] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:00:18] Steve cona.

[1:00:21] Excuse me, PRESIDENT And ceo of

[1:00:22] associated builders and

[1:00:23] contractors, florida gulf coast

[1:00:25] chapter.

[1:00:26] Representing 650 construction

[1:00:28] firms in the region, and over

[1:00:30] thousands of skilled workers.

[1:00:30] Our construction industry has

[1:00:33] been a part of this journey for

[1:00:34] decades providing countless

[1:00:35] hours of preconstruction

[1:00:37] services, planning, estimating,

[1:00:40] and expertise to make this rays

[1:00:41] stadium a reality.

[1:00:42] And today is our final moment.

[1:00:43] Our game seven.

[1:00:45] But this project is bigger than

[1:00:46] a stadium.

[1:00:47] It represents one of the largest

[1:00:49] economic and workforce

[1:00:50] development opportunities our

[1:00:52] region has ever seen.

[1:00:53] Through hillsborough college,

[1:00:55] our construction apprenticeship

[1:00:55] programs and our local

[1:00:56] contractors we have the

[1:00:58] opportunity to put generation of

[1:00:59] skilled workers on a

[1:01:00] transformational project right

[1:01:01] here at home.

[1:01:03] The apprentice who helped build

[1:01:07] this project today can

[1:01:08] become superintendents, project

[1:01:09] managers and constructionbeds

[1:01:09] owners of tomorrow.

[1:01:11] We have spent decades trying to

[1:01:12] get here.

[1:01:14] Now is the time to build it.

[1:01:15] I respectfully ask for you all

[1:01:16] to vote yes in support.

[1:01:17] Thank you.

[1:01:18] >> christine miller: thank you

[1:01:19] for your comments.

[1:01:20] Next up is devon potter followed

[1:01:26] by laura lawson.

[1:01:27] >> hey, good morning.

[1:01:28] My name is devon potter.

[1:01:30] As a taxpayer, constituent, and

[1:01:32] a rays fan, I've followed this

[1:01:34] saga for months and I just wants

[1:01:35] to present some metrics during

[1:01:36] my time up here because facts

[1:01:37] can't be argued with, and

[1:01:38] numbers don't lie.

[1:01:40] So let's do some benchmarking.

[1:01:42] And these aren't my numbers.

[1:01:44] These are all from ai assistant.

[1:01:45] Los

[1:01:51] las vegas mlb stadium --

[1:01:52] $750,000,040% of the total cost.

[1:01:53] You might say that's las vegas,

[1:01:55] they have all that casino

[1:01:58] revenue, gnash syl, tennessee,

[1:01:59] $1.26 billion for new nfl

[1:01:59] stadium.

[1:02:03] Plano, texas, a suburb of dallas

[1:02:06] home to a new hockey arena for

[1:02:07] the dallas stars and that was

[1:02:08] done in a week.

[1:02:09] Why is tampa different.

[1:02:11] Why should we be the anomaly,

[1:02:12] the deviation, the outlier.

[1:02:14] Those places I listed have

[1:02:15] potholes, first rsponders,

[1:02:15] et cetera.

[1:02:17] And what does that say about us?

[1:02:18] And our region if we say no to

[1:02:20] an agreement like this.

[1:02:21] What message does that send to

[1:02:23] investors looking to come here,

[1:02:24] companies looking to relocate

[1:02:26] here, people thinking of moving

[1:02:27] here?

[1:02:29] Now, no deal is going to be

[1:02:30] perfect and not everyone is

[1:02:31] going to agree on every detail,

[1:02:33] but that dozen mean if every --

[1:02:34] doesn't mean if every gawks

[1:02:36] isn't checked that we vote on it

[1:02:38] no.

[1:02:39] It.

[1:02:40] Not a project of this size and

[1:02:40] not what's at stake here.

[1:02:41] Now I have to mention that there

[1:02:42] are details in the las vegas

[1:02:44] funding that not everyone loved.

[1:02:45] It was approved.

[1:02:47] I'm sure the same holds flew for

[1:02:50] true for nashville, and plano,

[1:02:51] texas.

[1:02:52] Those people saw the forest for

[1:02:55] the trees and pushed through

[1:02:56] those deals because of what it

[1:02:58] would mean for their regions.

[1:02:59] Let's look at the metrics, not

[1:03:01] one, not two, but three economic

[1:03:02] impact reports that evidence

[1:03:05] this will be a net positive for

[1:03:05] the region.

[1:03:07] The numbers also show the

[1:03:09] majority, 60%, according to the

[1:03:10] U.S. Survey, support this

[1:03:13] project and want this to happen.

[1:03:15] So we're at the 11th hour,

[1:03:15] ladies and gentlemen.

[1:03:17] No one wats to see the rays

[1:03:18] start looking elsewhere.

[1:03:20] The numbers, the data, the facts

[1:03:20] say the following.

[1:03:22] This is a win for the county,

[1:03:24] it's a win for the city, it's a

[1:03:25] win for the rays, and most

[1:03:26] importantly, it's a win for the

[1:03:27] citizens.

[1:03:29] Thank you for your time.

[1:03:29] >> christine miller: thank you

[1:03:30] for your comments, sir.

[1:03:31] Next up is laura lawson followed

[1:03:35] by rebecca debauer.

[1:03:36] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:03:39] I came today to talk about some

[1:03:40] of the lsses that we're going

[1:03:42] to suffer and the risks that

[1:03:43] we're going to face with this

[1:03:45] property because of this

[1:03:46] project.

[1:03:47] MS. Jaroch was kind enough to

[1:03:50] loan me her map.

[1:03:50] >> christine miller: please use

[1:03:51] the mic.

[1:03:53] >> as you can see in the corner

[1:03:54] here of the site, that's the tax

[1:03:55] collector's office that's going

[1:03:57] to be taken, that's going to be

[1:03:58] knocked down.

[1:03:59] That right there in the corner

[1:04:00] that top corner, that's the

[1:04:03] tracks -- tax collector's office

[1:04:04] that's going to be knocked down.

[1:04:07] That's where people get their

[1:04:07] driver's licenses.

[1:04:09] It's the most used tax

[1:04:11] collector's office in the county

[1:04:12] in an excellent location.

[1:04:13] That's going to be gone.

[1:04:14] Right there that's the juvenile

[1:04:15] justice facility.

[1:04:16] That's where they've been

[1:04:16] cleaning out.

[1:04:18] They've moved 50 kids out of

[1:04:18] that facility.

[1:04:20] These are kids that have not

[1:04:21] seen their day in court yet, and

[1:04:22] they're being detained there,

[1:04:24] and they're being moved to other

[1:04:27] counties as far away as brevard

[1:04:27] county.

[1:04:29] Right here that's hillsborough

[1:04:30] college, the plan is to demolish

[1:04:32] 8 buildings and auction off the

[1:04:33] contents.

[1:04:34] Students are currently taking

[1:04:36] classes in all kinds of fields

[1:04:38] there at that campus.

[1:04:40] T's our main campus.

[1:04:41] And it's the one campus that we

[1:04:43] have in the city of tampa with

[1:04:45] room to grow.

[1:04:46] Imagine if how hard that would

[1:04:48] be in ybor city where the other

[1:04:48] campus is.

[1:04:50] We know the land is very

[1:04:51] expensive there.

[1:04:54] This whole square was state

[1:04:54] land.

[1:04:55] The part of it that's the

[1:04:57] college was supposed to be a

[1:04:58] community college forever.

[1:05:00] The only reason that deed

[1:05:02] restriction isn't in place is

[1:05:03] because in order to do this

[1:05:06] plan, the governor canceled it.

[1:05:08] I want, if we have to do this

[1:05:10] plan, we need to find solutions

[1:05:11] for this, particularly for the

[1:05:12] juvenile justice.

[1:05:15] But I really hope that we don't

[1:05:17] demolish any buildings,

[1:05:18] especially if a lawsuit is

[1:05:19] brought.

[1:05:20] The problem is the stadium gets

[1:05:21] the first class stadium.

[1:05:23] for everyone else it's wait and

[1:05:23] see.

[1:05:25] The stadium, the rays get a

[1:05:26] smooth transition.

[1:05:27] Everyone else is suddenly

[1:05:28] displaced.

[1:05:30] The rays get guaranteed

[1:05:31] contracted funding.

[1:05:33] But there's nothing firm in

[1:05:35] place to replace these community

[1:05:35] assets.

[1:05:37] Thank you.

[1:05:38] >> can you state your name for

[1:05:38] the record.

[1:05:39] >> oh, I'm sorry.

[1:05:42] Laura lawson.

[1:05:43] >> christine miller: next up is

[1:05:45] rebecca debauer followed by jeff

[1:05:47] dow and elizabeth brayden,

[1:05:51] virtual.

[1:05:54] No rebecca debauer?

[1:06:01] Jeff dow, please.

[1:06:02] >> hello, commissioners.

[1:06:03] It's been awhile.

[1:06:05] Last time I was here, the board

[1:06:07] looked a little different, so

[1:06:08] thank you guys for doing what we

[1:06:10] hoped that you would do.

[1:06:13] I hope that continues on today.

[1:06:16] We believe we think could hasn't

[1:06:18] been agreed upon yet, if the

[1:06:19] state does pay.

[1:06:20] These are all things I heard

[1:06:21] earlier this morning.

[1:06:22] First off, I want to say I'm a

[1:06:23] huge rays fan.

[1:06:25] I'm a huge sports fan in

[1:06:25] general.

[1:06:27] I love tampa, I've been here 12

[1:06:27] years.

[1:06:28] I served 10 years in the

[1:06:28] military, and there's one thing

[1:06:29] that I learned.

[1:06:32] When I put on petty officer, I

[1:06:33] had to prove that I knew how to

[1:06:34] `balance a budget.

[1:06:36] I used -- nice to have, must

[1:06:37] have are two different

[1:06:38] categories.

[1:06:40] I live in an area in tampa near

[1:06:43] one of our primary commissioners

[1:06:45] down the street, and our roads

[1:06:46] are falling apart.

[1:06:47] My truck feels like I'm going to

[1:06:48] lose the bed before I make it to

[1:06:49] the end of the street.

[1:06:52] We have potholes throughout this

[1:06:52] county.

[1:06:54] We have people in south county

[1:06:55] that have water issues.

[1:06:56] We have people in north county

[1:06:58] that have potholes and terrible

[1:06:59] roads.

[1:07:00] I'm all for a stadium but

[1:07:02] thought at the expense of all of -- not at the expense of all

[1:07:02] of us.

[1:07:03] It doesn't make sense.

[1:07:04] I own a business.

[1:07:05] If you guys saw years back a

[1:07:09] little two-seater meata towing a

[1:07:11] trailer, that was me starting my

[1:07:12] business because I couldn't get

[1:07:13] funding anywhere.

[1:07:13] Boss

[1:07:15] because I couldn't show that I

[1:07:17] made enough profit even though I

[1:07:19] pulled 54,000 department of that

[1:07:20] irst -- $54,000 that first year

[1:07:21] and the second year, I couldn't

[1:07:22] even get a loan for

[1:07:23] $10,000 anywhere.

[1:07:25] Because I had five times more

[1:07:26] than I was making, I still

[1:07:27] wasn't given that loan.

[1:07:29] If we can't provide and cover

[1:07:31] the cost of something ahead of

[1:07:32] time, while taking care of the

[1:07:34] must haves, we shouldn't be

[1:07:35] doing this.

[1:07:37] As much as I love the sports in

[1:07:39] this city, I implore you to make

[1:07:40] the right decision.

[1:07:41] It's on record.

[1:07:43] You guys have heard your own

[1:07:43] words.

[1:07:44] You're hearing what those of us

[1:07:46] are saying today.

[1:07:47] Amendment 3's coming up.

[1:07:50] How can you make a decision

[1:07:53] today on record with unknowns

[1:07:55] still ahead of you?

[1:07:56] Y implore you to do the right

[1:07:57] thing, and we're all paying

[1:07:59] attention a lot more than you

[1:07:59] think that we are.

[1:08:00] I didn't use a script.

[1:08:02] I don't have bullet notes.

[1:08:03] >> christine miller: thank you

[1:08:03] for your comments.

[1:08:05] Next up is elizabeth brayden,

[1:08:06] irtual.

[1:08:07] Followed by michelle dyson in

[1:08:11] person.

[1:08:15] Did elizabeth check in?

[1:08:16] >> elizabeth, are you there?

[1:08:18] >> yes.

[1:08:19] Hi.

[1:08:22] Are you ready?

[1:08:23] ?L go

[1:08:25] >> christine miller: go ahead.

[1:08:27] >> high, my name is elizabeth

[1:08:28] brayden I'm a south tampa

[1:08:30] resident and I'm urging you to

[1:08:31] vote no.

[1:08:32] My daughter was at new college

[1:08:33] during the hostile takeover

[1:08:34] three years ago.

[1:08:36] The takeover was to destroy

[1:08:39] wokeness and to establish school

[1:08:39] sports.

[1:08:40] Desantis put his cronies in.

[1:08:42] 30% of the faculty left,

[1:08:43] hundreds of students transferred

[1:08:46] out including my daughter, and

[1:08:48] schools rankings plummeted and

[1:08:49] the state's cost per student is

[1:08:50] the highest in the state.

[1:08:52] Three times higher than the

[1:08:53] university of florida.

[1:08:56] My daughter never finished her

[1:08:56] degree.

[1:08:57] The next it

[1:09:00] desantis hostile

[1:09:03] takeover was at usf manatee.

[1:09:04] New college took over and 900

[1:09:05] students lost the college and

[1:09:09] now hillsborough college is

[1:09:11] the -- snash and grab mafia bust

[1:09:13] out.

[1:09:14] Desabts' campaign donor who were

[1:09:16] uf trustees after the donation

[1:09:18] they gave are now owners of the

[1:09:20] rays and they will now destroy

[1:09:22] hillsborough college of 27,000

[1:09:23] students while screwing over the

[1:09:24] taxpayers of hillsborough county

[1:09:26] and most of our elected

[1:09:27] officials unfortunately will

[1:09:28] vote for this.

[1:09:30] As hillsborough college board

[1:09:32] meeting the other day the cfo

[1:09:33] said they need $215 million to

[1:09:36] rebuild the campus.

[1:09:37] Atwater the PRESIDENT Telling

[1:09:40] everybody they only need

[1:09:41] $150 million, who do you

[1:09:41] believe?

[1:09:42] We know atwater has to go with

[1:09:43] the flow.

[1:09:44] They only receive $50 million

[1:09:45] from the state.

[1:09:47] They will have to beg from the

[1:09:48] state to get the additional

[1:09:50] funds competing with charter

[1:09:50] schools.

[1:09:52] They can't even fix their

[1:09:52] elevator.

[1:09:54] The school will be a shell of

[1:09:55] itself.

[1:09:58] All in the name of baseball.

[1:09:59] Students -- school is being

[1:10:00] renovated.

[1:10:00] Faculty is told to be positive

[1:10:02] about the project.

[1:10:05] Students will be in trailers

[1:10:07] while construction goes on.

[1:10:09] Many students will drop out like

[1:10:10] my daughter.

[1:10:12] They can't drive to ybor or

[1:10:12] brandon.

[1:10:13] Yesterday at the meeting, two

[1:10:15] councilmembers said they weren't

[1:10:18] the ht -- lucky -- didn't sell

[1:10:19] their campus out to

[1:10:20] billionaires.

[1:10:20] At the meeting yesterday the

[1:10:22] city's lawyer stated no one has

[1:10:24] even see the rays' financials.

[1:10:26] I wonder if the owners are broke

[1:10:28] as the shady subprime lenders

[1:10:30] used to say, back in the --

[1:10:33] >> christine miller: thank you I

[1:10:34] for your comments.

[1:10:36] Next up is michelle dyson

[1:10:42] followed by cynthia shellberger

[1:10:42] and rocky rockford.

[1:10:44] >> hi, my name is michelle

[1:10:47] dyson, I'm a bartender at

[1:10:47] tropicana field.

[1:10:48] I'm not here with polished

[1:10:49] talking points, and I definitely

[1:10:52] am not a politician or big

[1:10:53] economics person.

[1:10:55] But even as a high school

[1:10:56] graduate, I would say that this

[1:10:58] is a pretty good deal.

[1:11:00] If we're being honest, the

[1:11:01] stadium itself we know is not

[1:11:02] the money maker.

[1:11:04] We know it's the restaurants.

[1:11:05] We know it's the money that

[1:11:07] comes from there.

[1:11:08] I love this deal.

[1:11:13] I think it's a pretty damn good

[1:11:14] deal.

[1:11:16] I couldn't -- sat and listening

[1:11:18] to a lot of these and we hand

[1:11:20] out lot of money to a lat of

[1:11:21] people who aren't vetted.

[1:11:23] You hand out millions but yet

[1:11:26] hese businessmen come in

[1:11:27] established showing what they

[1:11:28] have done other places, and we

[1:11:33] hold their feet to the fire and

[1:11:34] I'm not really sure why.

[1:11:36] The gentleman earlier talked

[1:11:37] about enknowns.

[1:11:38] We can't govern.

[1:11:40] We live in hurricane country.

[1:11:41] We always will have unknown.

[1:11:42] We don't know whether that

[1:11:43] amendment will pass or not.

[1:11:44] But we can't do this based on

[1:11:45] that.

[1:11:46] We have to take care of the

[1:11:47] people who work there.

[1:11:49] The community, I trust that you

[1:11:52] know how to spend the money

[1:11:55] wisely, and protect us as

[1:11:56] citizens of this community.

[1:11:58] the only problem I have with

[1:12:02] everything is the name champions

[1:12:02] corridor.

[1:12:03] I don't feel like that that

[1:12:05] expressed the home of st. Pete,

[1:12:06] I mean of tampa, and I made this

[1:12:09] shirt to say that the sol is the

[1:12:10] name that I picked.

[1:12:13] I think it suggests the warmth

[1:12:14] of the soul of our city and the

[1:12:17] tip to our latin culture.

[1:12:18] I put at drew park because we

[1:12:20] shouldn't forget the people, the

[1:12:21] hard working people there, and I

[1:12:24] just hope that this passes, this

[1:12:26] should be my final time speaking

[1:12:28] I hope on any of this, so I

[1:12:30] appreciate everything, and good

[1:12:30] luck to you all.

[1:12:32] I pray for each of you that you

[1:12:33] make the correct decision today.

[1:12:34] So thank you.

[1:12:35] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:12:36] MS. Dyson.

[1:12:39] Cynthia shellabarger followed by

[1:12:42] robert rockford and then brian

[1:12:42] lambert.

[1:12:43] Good morning.

[1:12:45] >> hello, my name is cynthia

[1:12:46] shellabarger.

[1:12:47] Good morning, commissioners.

[1:12:48] Today you are being asked to

[1:12:52] cast a historic vote on 134-page

[1:12:53] stadium agreement.

[1:12:55] While this board has worked

[1:12:58] hard, there are two distinct

[1:12:59] unresolved issued in this

[1:13:01] contract that require you to

[1:13:02] vote no today until they are

[1:13:02] fixed.

[1:13:04] This stadium deal requires the

[1:13:06] demolition of eight vital

[1:13:08] hillsborough college buildings.

[1:13:10] Yet the state funding to replace

[1:13:13] these classrooms is not legally

[1:13:14] secure.

[1:13:16] When it came to suburban

[1:13:19] asphalt, you negotiated

[1:13:19] brilliantly.

[1:13:22] You inserted a protective,

[1:13:23] quote, escape valve, unquote,

[1:13:26] for lithia pinecrest road

[1:13:27] declaring that if the state

[1:13:30] fails to deliver its

[1:13:32] $100 million promise, the county

[1:13:33] will deduct the exact shortfall

[1:13:35] from the stadium fund.

[1:13:37] Why aren't you using this exact

[1:13:39] same technique to protect our

[1:13:41] college students?

[1:13:44] It's if a clawback provision is

[1:13:45] good enough for tarmac, it must

[1:13:48] be good enough for higher

[1:13:48] education.

[1:13:50] Use your leverage.

[1:13:52] Demand the exact same clawback

[1:13:54] protection for hillsborough

[1:13:54] college.

[1:13:58] Yesterday the tampa city council

[1:14:00] realizessed ty at the last

[1:14:00] second that the community

[1:14:01] benefits agreement does not

[1:14:03] contain a single dollar amount.

[1:14:06] It is completely blank.

[1:14:09] COUNCILWOMAN Lynn hurtak rightly

[1:14:10] demanded a baseline o at least

[1:14:10] 75 department of million to

[1:14:12] protect local res -- $75 million

[1:14:14] to protect local residents but

[1:14:15] instead of fixing it the city

[1:14:16] left it to this board.

[1:14:17] In business you never sign a

[1:14:19] contract first and negotiate a

[1:14:20] price later.

[1:14:22] The rays framework states that

[1:14:24] 65% of these community benefits

[1:14:26] must go directly to hillsborough

[1:14:27] college.

[1:14:28] By signing a blank check today

[1:14:30] you surrender 100% of your

[1:14:31] leverage and leave the county

[1:14:33] housing and job training

[1:14:34] programs expose.

[1:14:36] Vote no today.

[1:14:38] Tell negotiators to secure the

[1:14:40] hillsborough college clawback

[1:14:43] and lock a minimum of

[1:14:44] $75 million into the community

[1:14:45] benefits agreement.

[1:14:47] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[1:14:48] robert rockford?

[1:14:49] Followed by brian lambert and

[1:14:51] then john michael elms.

[1:14:53] Good morning.

[1:14:54] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:14:56] My name is rocky rockford and

[1:14:58] I'm a retired U.S. Navy captain

[1:14:59] with thirty three years of

[1:15:01] service and I've been

[1:15:02] hillsborough county called home

[1:15:03] since 1989.

[1:15:04] I'm speaking to you today as a

[1:15:05] taxpayer.

[1:15:06] I'm here because you have a

[1:15:09] fiduciary agreement to the

[1:15:09] `1.5 million people of this

[1:15:12] county, and this agreement as

[1:15:13] written doesn't live up to that

[1:15:14] duty.

[1:15:15] Let's talk the numbers.

[1:15:18] When you factor in property tax

[1:15:20] breaks, value of the land, and

[1:15:22] lists have put the true cost of

[1:15:23] this deal at north of

[1:15:24] $2 billion.

[1:15:25] And that's for a franchise that

[1:15:28] sold last year for $1.7 billion.

[1:15:30] There's a better deal out there.

[1:15:31] You just didn't ask for it.

[1:15:35] The cit you're tapping for

[1:15:36] $360 million was approved by

[1:15:38] voters in 2024.

[1:15:40] Your own colleague commissioner

[1:15:41] wostal said it plainly.

[1:15:43] It's not if we get sued on this.

[1:15:44] It's when.

[1:15:46] And he is right.

[1:15:47] Community benefits.

[1:15:50] When you read the actual cba,

[1:15:51] there is no specific dollar

[1:15:52] amounts.

[1:15:54] No enforceable commitments.

[1:15:56] No building, binding targets.

[1:15:57] No independent oversight.

[1:15:59] That's not a cba.

[1:16:01] That's a pres release.

[1:16:03] Let's compare our cba to what

[1:16:04] other comunities have actually

[1:16:05] negotiated.

[1:16:07] The buffalo bills, $3 million

[1:16:09] for 30 years, and oversight

[1:16:12] committee, 30% mwbe hiring

[1:16:14] goals, L.A. Clippers, $100 mill

[1:16:16] tbrn forrian for local programs.

[1:16:18] The falcons, over $106 million

[1:16:19] and then there are the owners

[1:16:20] who didn't ask for a single

[1:16:21] public dollar.

[1:16:23] Golden state warriors built the

[1:16:25] $1 billion chase center.

[1:16:29] Stan crawngy built soify stadium

[1:16:30] for $5.5 billion.

[1:16:31] , no public subsidies.

[1:16:33] What did you negotiate,

[1:16:34] $4 million a year in rent.

[1:16:39] On an $876 million tab that's a

[1:16:41] 0.46% annual return.

[1:16:43] A simple savings account pays 10

[1:16:44] times that.

[1:16:46] I'm asking you to do only one

[1:16:46] thing.

[1:16:48] Delay the vote for 90 days.

[1:16:51] Negotiate a real cba with

[1:16:52] enforceable dollar commitments.

[1:16:55] Demand a 25year homestead

[1:16:57] extension clause -- thank you

[1:16:58] very much I appreciate it.

[1:16:58] I.

[1:16:58] >> ken hagan: yes, sir,

[1:16:59] appreciate the comments.

[1:17:01] Brian lambert.

[1:17:02] Followed by john michael elms

[1:17:05] and then chris parodies who's

[1:17:06] virtual.

[1:17:08] >> good

[1:17:09] commissioners, thank you for

[1:17:10] the opportunity to speak this

[1:17:11] morning.

[1:17:12] My name is brian lambert I'm

[1:17:15] here as a taxpayer, a

[1:17:16] candidate -- and someone who

[1:17:16] generally wants our region to

[1:17:17] thrive.

[1:17:18] I want to be clear from the

[1:17:19] start.

[1:17:20] I love baseball.

[1:17:21] I want the rays to remain part

[1:17:25] of our community, but requiring

[1:17:26] $360 million of taxpayer funds

[1:17:28] from the cit fund subsidized a

[1:17:30] billion dollar degree is not the

[1:17:31] answer.

[1:17:32] -- industry is not the answer.

[1:17:36] Cit was designed -- public

[1:17:37] safety and community centers.

[1:17:38] These are things every resident

[1:17:39] needs and uses.

[1:17:41] A stadium by contrast is

[1:17:42] ntertainment.

[1:17:44] Something not every resident

[1:17:44] needs.

[1:17:45] It's meaningful entertainment

[1:17:47] `and prideful to many fans.

[1:17:49] But it is still entertainment.

[1:17:50] And when only a small percentage

[1:17:52] of the county regularly attend

[1:17:55] games it's not fair to ask the

[1:17:56] entire population of the county

[1:17:58] to carry the cost.

[1:18:00] The proposal asks for more than

[1:18:01] 1 million people to fund a

[1:18:04] private sports club worth more

[1:18:05] than $1.7 billion owned by

[1:18:07] governing agency worth more than

[1:18:08] $79 billion.

[1:18:09] That is difficult to justify

[1:18:13] `when families are dealing with

[1:18:15] struggles at home,

[1:18:16] transportation, basic

[1:18:17] infrastructure, the money is

[1:18:19] limited -- with the money is

[1:18:20] limited, public priorities

[1:18:20] should be first.

[1:18:22] We often criticize the federal

[1:18:24] government for spending beyond

[1:18:26] its means.

[1:18:27] E oint to the debt and say

[1:18:30] this is pattern is unastainable.

[1:18:32] The state has shown fiscal

[1:18:33] discipline to break the cycle.

[1:18:34] The county government should do

[1:18:34] the same.

[1:18:35] We should not start a new cycle

[1:18:37] by shifting private business

[1:18:40] costs onto taxpayers.

[1:18:42] Supporters MAY argue investment

[1:18:43] create economic benefits.

[1:18:44] That's not the question.

[1:18:46] The question is whether is this

[1:18:49] the best and fairest use of

[1:18:50] taxpaydlers designated

[1:18:51] designated for

[1:18:51] infrastructure.

[1:18:52] The project is truly strock and

[1:18:54] the team and league -- strong

[1:18:56] and and the team and the league

[1:18:56] believe in the market then

[1:18:57] baseball should pay for

[1:18:58] baseball.

[1:18:59] I ask you to protect the purpose

[1:19:00] of the cit fund, use

[1:19:02] infrastructure dollars for

[1:19:03] infrastructure, use taxpayer

[1:19:04] dollars for needs that serve the

[1:19:05] broad public, and keep the rays

[1:19:07] if we can, but do not do it by

[1:19:08] asking the residents to pay for

[1:19:09] it.

[1:19:09] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:19:10] MR. Lambert.

[1:19:11] Appreciate it.

[1:19:12] John michael elms.

[1:19:13] MR. Elms here?

[1:19:13] No?

[1:19:18] We got chris paradies who's

[1:19:24] virtual followed by sandra

[1:19:25] macaw.

[1:19:26] >> chris has not checked in.

[1:19:29] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[1:19:30] Sandra moreska.

[1:19:33] Sandra here?

[1:19:33] Come on down.

[1:19:35] And then following sandra will

[1:19:37] be abraham desta who's virtual.

[1:19:46] And then frank moneymaker.

[1:19:46] Morning.

[1:19:47] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:19:50] My name is sandra moreska and

[1:19:52] I'm here today as a hillsborough

[1:19:53] county taxpayer to ask you to

[1:19:55] vote no on the proposed rays

[1:19:57] stadium agreement.

[1:20:00] This isn't about whether I like

[1:20:00] baseball.

[1:20:02] It isn't about whether I want

[1:20:05] the rays to remain in tampa bay.

[1:20:08] It's about whether this is an

[1:20:10] appropriate use of public money

[1:20:12] and whether the taxpayers of

[1:20:13] hillsborough county are being

[1:20:17] asked to take on too much risk.

[1:20:21] We are talking about a

[1:20:22] $2.3 billion project with

[1:20:24] hundreds of millions of dollars

[1:20:25] in public funding.

[1:20:28] This county's proposed

[1:20:31] contribution is approximately

[1:20:33] $796 million, including money

[1:20:35] connected to the community

[1:20:37] investment tax and tourism

[1:20:39] related revenues.

[1:20:40] Before taxpayers commit this

[1:20:44] kind of money, I believe we

[1:20:45] should have complete

[1:20:47] transparency about the costs,

[1:20:50] the assumptions behind the

[1:20:52] financing, the risks, and

[1:20:54] exactly what the taxpayers

[1:20:55] receive in return.

[1:20:58] Commissioner wostal has

[1:21:00] constantly raised those

[1:21:01] questions.

[1:21:03] He opposed the earlier mou in

[1:21:05] part because he believed

[1:21:06] commissioners did not have

[1:21:08] enough financial information to

[1:21:11] make an informed decision.

[1:21:12] I appreciate that the he is

[1:21:14] willing to ask difficult

[1:21:16] questions rather than simply

[1:21:18] accept that this is a once in a

[1:21:19] lifetime opportunity that we

[1:21:22] have to approve immediately.

[1:21:24] If this project is truly such a

[1:21:26] tremendous investment for

[1:21:27] hillsborough county, it should

[1:21:31] be able to withstand rigorous

[1:21:31] scrutiny.

[1:21:32] Please don't ask taxpayers to

[1:21:34] take the risks simply because

[1:21:36] there is pressure to meet a

[1:21:37] construction timeline.

[1:21:39] I am asking you to put the

[1:21:41] interest of hillsborough county

[1:21:43] taxpayers first and specifically

[1:21:46] I want to thank commissioner

[1:21:48] wostal for continuing to demand,

[1:21:50] please vote no.

[1:21:50] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[1:21:51] Appreciate the comments.

[1:21:53] abraham desta who's virtual

[1:21:54] followed by frank moneymaker and

[1:21:55] catherine corman.

[1:21:57] Is abraham on the libe?

[1:21:59] Line?

[1:22:00] P>> abraham has not checked in.

[1:22:01] >> ken hagan: all right, thank

[1:22:01] you.

[1:22:06] Frank?

[1:22:08] No frank?

[1:22:08] Okay.

[1:22:10] Catherine corman?

[1:22:11] Is catherine here?

[1:22:13] Okay, followed by marian goodrum

[1:22:15] and then patrick bailey.

[1:22:20] Good morning.

[1:22:20] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:22:22] My name is catherine corman, I'm

[1:22:24] a florida native and resident of

[1:22:25] hillsborough county for over 30

[1:22:26] years.

[1:22:28] At a time when folks in our

[1:22:28] county are working with

[1:22:29] full-time and still struggling

[1:22:31] to find affordable housing,

[1:22:32] they're struggling to afford

[1:22:33] groceries, they're struggling to

[1:22:35] afford gas and car insurance, I

[1:22:37] mean, it's $4 a gallon for

[1:22:37] unleaded?

[1:22:38] Are we kidding?

[1:22:40] I'm really dismayed that our

[1:22:42] political leaders are

[1:22:43] considering diverting funds

[1:22:44] towards a stadium.

[1:22:46] The people need and more

[1:22:48] importantly they deserve

[1:22:49] solutions not breed

[1:22:52] bread and

[1:22:53] circumstanceses the currently

[1:22:55] counterto this is that a stadium

[1:22:56] and mixed use district will have

[1:22:57] jobs and tourist dollars brought

[1:22:58] in.

[1:22:59] At this point you're all aware

[1:23:00] of what the

[1:23:01] the data says, but I

[1:23:03] will emphasize that empirical

[1:23:05] studies have demonstrated time

[1:23:06] and again that the economic

[1:23:07] benefits provided by sports

[1:23:10] stadiums are overstated at best,

[1:23:12] and temporary at the worst.

[1:23:14] We're living in a time as well

[1:23:16] when young people are consuming

[1:23:17] less alcohol than ever, they're

[1:23:18] peding less time and money

[1:23:19] that they don't have, because a

[1:23:21] lot of them are underemployed,

[1:23:22] on leisure and sporting

[1:23:23] activities, all of this more

[1:23:24] than ever.

[1:23:26] This stadium is not for their

[1:23:27] future.

[1:23:28] And speaking of the future, this

[1:23:30] deal could set a dangerous

[1:23:31] precedent for florida's halls of

[1:23:32] public education.

[1:23:33] Today the rays are asking to

[1:23:34] displace the largest of

[1:23:35] hillsborough college's campuses,

[1:23:37] but what if tomorrow, if a

[1:23:39] billion dollar company like

[1:23:40] amazon lusts after cheap public

[1:23:42] land, what's to stop them from

[1:23:43] displacing any of the 28 state

[1:23:46] colleges and their 70 campuses?

[1:23:48] Folks in this county are already

[1:23:49] talking about how dale mabry is

[1:23:51] going to be closed to build the

[1:23:52] stadium, while we're all aware

[1:23:53] that that's not the case, and a

[1:23:55] tremendous amount of care has

[1:23:56] been devoted by hillsborough

[1:23:57] ollege's administration to

[1:23:59] mitigate the impact on

[1:24:00] operations perception is

[1:24:01] reality.

[1:24:02] It speaks to the current zite

[1:24:03] gries that people are more than

[1:24:05] `willing to believe that public

[1:24:06] education is being sold out for

[1:24:08] the private interest of

[1:24:09] billionaires.

[1:24:09] We're also looking at the

[1:24:11] possibility of amendment 3,

[1:24:13] which we would be devastating to

[1:24:15] the cdd, the city and county's

[1:24:16] budget, we look and we see there

[1:24:17] is bipartisan opposition to

[1:24:18] this.

[1:24:19] I implore the board, consider

[1:24:20] our people and vote no.

[1:24:21] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:24:22] MS. Corman.

[1:24:24] Marian goodrum.

[1:24:26] Followed by patrick bailey and

[1:24:28] then sharon almon who's virtual.

[1:24:28] >> good morning.

[1:24:30] My name is marian goodrum.

[1:24:34] I have lived iphillsborough in icfor more -- in

[1:24:35] hillsborough county for more

[1:24:35] than 40 years.

[1:24:36] It's good to esooyou again,

[1:24:38] commissioner wostal and

[1:24:38] commissioner myers.

[1:24:42] Glad to be at your town hall

[1:24:43] meetings.

[1:24:44] I'm -- for a very specific

[1:24:44] reason.

[1:24:46] I'm concerned about the property

[1:24:47] tax amendment and what will

[1:24:48] happen to our county service

[1:24:51] physical it 35szs which based on -- if it passes, which based

[1:24:54] on current polls, 75 to 65% are

[1:24:56] in favor thereof so it looks

[1:24:57] like it's going to pass.

[1:24:58] People are hurting financially

[1:24:59] and they're looking for relief,

[1:25:01] but now as leaders of

[1:25:02] hillsborough county, you must

[1:25:04] plan for the future, for what

[1:25:06] the future of hillsborough

[1:25:06] county will look like.

[1:25:08] Two quick anecdotes.

[1:25:10] I had an accident in 2020,

[1:25:11] bruised my spinal cord and broke

[1:25:12] a couple of bones.

[1:25:15] I was in pain and I could not

[1:25:16] move.

[1:25:19] Ems and a fire truck came within

[1:25:20] five minutes.

[1:25:21] The firemen picked me up, put me

[1:25:24] on a journey, ems took me to the

[1:25:25] hospital where I had surgery or

[1:25:26] I might not be standing here in

[1:25:29] front of you today.

[1:25:30] Second, we live in a pretty

[1:25:33] quiet residential neighborhood

[1:25:34] in riverview.

[1:25:35] about three years ago someone

[1:25:36] was yelling a couple of doors

[1:25:38] down, and my husband went to see

[1:25:40] if someone needed help.

[1:25:42] A man who does not live in our

[1:25:44] area who was high on who knows

[1:25:45] what was running through the

[1:25:47] yards yelling he tackled my

[1:25:49] husband and held him to the

[1:25:50] ground.

[1:25:52] Luckily the neighbors called

[1:25:52] 911.

[1:25:55] The deputies came quickly, one

[1:25:58] of which was one of our former

[1:25:59] neighbors, harrison bashner,

[1:26:00] sergeant with hillsborough

[1:26:01] county, and fortunately they

[1:26:03] rescued my husband and took this

[1:26:05] man off to get some help.

[1:26:08] That is what we need our county

[1:26:10] taxes to pay for.

[1:26:11] If this property tax aendment

[1:26:13] passes and you pass thefunding

[1:26:13] for

[1:26:15] thefunding -- the funding for

[1:26:16] the rays staid

[1:26:18] stadium, will there be

[1:26:19] cuts to police, ems, and

[1:26:20] fire-rescue, commissioners myers

[1:26:23] in your town hall meeting you

[1:26:24] said there would be cuts.

[1:26:25] You didn't say where, but you

[1:26:26] would there would have to be

[1:26:27] cuts.

[1:26:29] We needed ems and the police,

[1:26:31] and they came right away.

[1:26:31] Please vote no.

[1:26:32] Thank you.

[1:26:33] Appreciate the comments.

[1:26:34] Patrick bailey.

[1:26:35] Patrick here?

[1:26:37] Followed by sherry allman,

[1:26:41] jeffrey herman and then vera

[1:26:42] rudery all researchival.

[1:26:45] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:26:46] Patrick bailey.

[1:26:47] First of all I want to say as

[1:26:47] well.

[1:26:48] I love the rys.

[1:26:49] I love baseball.

[1:26:52] no matter how many times I try

[1:26:54] to duplicate the cooking of a

[1:26:55] hot dog or sausage at home, it's

[1:26:56] always best at the stadium.

[1:26:58] Just something about it but what

[1:27:00] I don't agree with and support

[1:27:01] is our tax dollars paying for

[1:27:01] it.

[1:27:02] There are people up here who

[1:27:04] lied and said that referenced

[1:27:05] the battery up in atlanta for

[1:27:06] example.

[1:27:08] That it was an economic boom.

[1:27:10] They're losing $5 million a

[1:27:12] year, it's almost 10 years

[1:27:12] later.

[1:27:14] Not, these are not going to be

[1:27:15] economic boom for tampa.

[1:27:18] There are many people saying

[1:27:19] that, that have studied the

[1:27:20] atlanta one that we should not

[1:27:21] be looking into doing this.

[1:27:23] The fact that we don't have all

[1:27:24] of the information, we don't

[1:27:26] have all of the facts, we get --

[1:27:28] you guys got the papers days ago

[1:27:29] that you had to look through

[1:27:31] over not enough time to prepare

[1:27:33] for it.

[1:27:35] The rays could afford to do this

[1:27:35] themselves.

[1:27:36] Why should we be putting our

[1:27:39] money that needs to go to our

[1:27:40] roads, to our infrastructure.

[1:27:41] Why should we be putting that

[1:27:42] money towards billionaires and

[1:27:45] not towards helping the guys and

[1:27:46] the people that got you guys

[1:27:47] elected?

[1:27:47] Vote no.

[1:27:49] Thank you.

[1:27:50] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:27:51] MR. Bailey.

[1:27:55] Sherry allman on the line?

[1:27:56] >> sherry naz thought checked --

[1:27:57] has not checked in.

[1:27:58] >> ken hagan: all right, thank

[1:28:02] you, how about jeffrey herman?

[1:28:03] >> yes, can you hear me?

[1:28:06] >> ken hagan: yes, sir.

[1:28:07] >> thank you.

[1:28:10] So starting off first of all, I

[1:28:13] don't know how to lead the rays

[1:28:14] are getting 139-year mixed lease

[1:28:16] on a mixed use property.

[1:28:20] When the agreement with the

[1:28:21] nonrelocation only expands

[1:28:22] around 35 years with extensions

[1:28:23] on their end.

[1:28:26] That seems like the value of

[1:28:28] that property when it's improved

[1:28:30] for them to be able to maintain

[1:28:33] exclusive control for that 139

[1:28:35] years, which stands past anybody

[1:28:37] who's alive today's lifetime.

[1:28:40] Is a little bit flabbergasting

[1:28:41] that they're being provided that

[1:28:46] and that's already on top of 40%

[1:28:47] taxpayer funding not including

[1:28:48] the money coming from the state

[1:28:49] which is also tax

[1:28:52] also taxpayer can be

[1:28:53] looked at that way.

[1:28:55] So in addition to the land that

[1:28:56] the county and city are having

[1:28:59] to pay around 40%, whereas the

[1:29:01] las vegas only had to pay around

[1:29:02] 19% for their city.

[1:29:04] Of that value.

[1:29:05] And I don't know that they got

[1:29:06] that sweetheart deal for that

[1:29:09] mixed use development.

[1:29:10] Also speaking to that, some

[1:29:12] other people have reported about

[1:29:13] how much sales tax money's going

[1:29:14] to come back.

[1:29:16] Well, that's actually

[1:29:17] actually incorrect

[1:29:18] because the sales tax money,

[1:29:19] most of the money go to the

[1:29:19] state.

[1:29:21] Yes a little bit of that might

[1:29:22] come back but most of that comes

[1:29:22] to the state.

[1:29:24] There is no salesx tax money on

[1:29:24] commercial rental.

[1:29:27] There is no sales tax money on

[1:29:29] the apartment complexes.

[1:29:31] So as far as the residential, as

[1:29:32] far as commercial rental, none

[1:29:33] of that lfs

[1:29:35] 's going to be subject to

[1:29:36] sales tax money.

[1:29:37] So when you're talking about

[1:29:38] $7 billion of sales tax money

[1:29:40] coming back, that's just not

[1:29:41] feasible that that's going to

[1:29:42] happen.

[1:29:44] In addition to all of that,

[1:29:47] there's a lot of other points as

[1:29:49] well and first of all why the is

[1:29:50] misunosseparated from the

[1:29:50] stadium?

[1:29:52] I feel like the stadium value,

[1:29:53] the support from the taxpayer

[1:29:55] money, could go down to match

[1:29:57] that 19%.

[1:29:59] Mlb wants tampa to have a team

[1:30:01] because it's the 11th largest

[1:30:03] television market in the

[1:30:04] country.

[1:30:06] The las vegas is number 40.

[1:30:07] So there's a vast difference,

[1:30:08] and I don't know --

[1:30:09] >> ken hagan: thank you, sir.

[1:30:10] >> -- I don't know how tampa is

[1:30:11] getting a worse deal.

[1:30:12] >> ken hagan: appreciate your

[1:30:13] comments, MR. Herman.

[1:30:19] Is vera rdy on the line?

[1:30:19] >> he is not on the line.

[1:30:20] >> ken hagan: all right, thank

[1:30:21] you.

[1:30:23] Got ashley herman followed by

[1:30:28] luca muloro and then james van

[1:30:28] herons.

[1:30:29] Is ashley here?

[1:30:31] No ashley.

[1:30:32] Okay, how about --

[1:30:32] >> ashley is here.

[1:30:34] >> I'm here.

[1:30:35] >> ken hagan: good morning.

[1:30:35] >> can you hear me?

[1:30:36] >> ken hagan: yes, ma'am.

[1:30:38] >> good morning.

[1:30:40] My name is ashley herman.

[1:30:43] I'm a first generation college

[1:30:43] graduate.

[1:30:44] Started at hillsborough

[1:30:47] community college and went on to

[1:30:47] earn a masters.

[1:30:49] I'm a mom of two girls, life

[1:30:51] long floridian, and candidate

[1:30:54] for state house district 69,

[1:30:55] which covers southeast

[1:30:56] hillsborough.

[1:30:58] I've set my career fighting for

[1:30:59] working families and I'm fed up

[1:31:01] watching as so many of our

[1:31:03] elected officials hand off

[1:31:05] everything beautiful in florida

[1:31:07] over to the wealthy and

[1:31:07] powerful.

[1:31:10] And now I see this stadium deal

[1:31:13] thrown together behind closed

[1:31:14] doors and rammed through and

[1:31:15] under a loop.

[1:31:15] There is has

[1:31:17] -- there has been a lot

[1:31:18] of promises made and no facts to

[1:31:19] back them up.

[1:31:21] Land given over from our

[1:31:23] community college should be a

[1:31:23] nonstarter.

[1:31:26] We the taxpayers are being asked

[1:31:27] to front millions.

[1:31:29] We MAY never get back.

[1:31:34] As regular people here are

[1:31:36] struggling to put the ac on

[1:31:38] and -- threatening to slash our

[1:31:40] county funding from property

[1:31:41] taxes.

[1:31:42] What's worse, we're not even

[1:31:44] getting a say.

[1:31:47] Of the -- at the city and county

[1:31:50] the luxury of freetime on a week

[1:31:51] day morning just to be heard is

[1:31:52] shameless.

[1:31:53] I wanted to be there in person

[1:31:55] but my 1-year-old daughter is

[1:31:55] sick today.

[1:31:56] I hope you can hear me though.

[1:31:58] This is undemocratic, it's

[1:32:00] unfair, and the people behind

[1:32:02] this deal should be ashamed.

[1:32:04] Vote no and let the voters

[1:32:05] decide on something that's going

[1:32:07] to affect us all here in tampa

[1:32:09] bay for literal decades to come.

[1:32:11] Thank you.

[1:32:14] >> thank you, MS. Herman.

[1:32:15] Luca mulora.

[1:32:18] Is luca on the line?

[1:32:20] >> lukey has not checked in --

[1:32:21] luca has not checked in.

[1:32:22] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[1:32:26] James vanherent followed by

[1:32:29] alejandro noriega and brendan

[1:32:29] megleosey.

[1:32:30] >> good morning, my name is

[1:32:32] gentleman van herons and it's a

[1:32:33] pleasure to be before you.

[1:32:34] I want to start off by saying

[1:32:35] thank you to all of you.

[1:32:37] To your staff, to the attorneys

[1:32:38] who spent countless times

[1:32:39] negotiating this deal.

[1:32:41] Lost many sleepness nights, and

[1:32:42] times of their family and

[1:32:44] friends, so I want to say thank

[1:32:45] you for fighting the good fight

[1:32:46] for the taxpayers.

[1:32:49] I also want to say that this

[1:32:50] project is in your hands but we

[1:32:51] have faith in you.

[1:32:53] We've elected you to do these

[1:32:54] jobs.

[1:32:55] I mean, we are a representative

[1:32:55] democracy.

[1:33:00] We're not a direct democracy.

[1:33:00] Every decision that we make

[1:33:02] can't be on a ballot, and this

[1:33:04] deal is way too complex to

[1:33:05] expect everyday working people

[1:33:07] to have to take the time out of

[1:33:09] the day to work through every

[1:33:09] detail.

[1:33:10] So we thank you for that, for

[1:33:11] that work.

[1:33:12] I spoke about this project in

[1:33:14] three different ways.

[1:33:15] Community, health, and

[1:33:15] education.

[1:33:16] When I talk about community, I

[1:33:18] talk about how baseball is not

[1:33:19] just a sport.

[1:33:20] It builds community.

[1:33:21] I have memories with my dad

[1:33:23] growing up going to baseball

[1:33:23] games.

[1:33:26] i was a cub scout and our very

[1:33:28] first camping trip was actually

[1:33:29] sleeping on the turf at

[1:33:30] tropicana field.

[1:33:32] And building that friendship or

[1:33:33] that community and love with

[1:33:35] each other and just growing that

[1:33:37] through the game of baseball.

[1:33:38] And kids growing up learning the

[1:33:41] game and following sports and

[1:33:42] learning sportsmanship and

[1:33:43] teamwork and all that through

[1:33:44] sports and the rays are a big

[1:33:46] help with that aspect.

[1:33:48] When I speak about health, I'm a

[1:33:49] gentleman who's losing his

[1:33:50] vision.

[1:33:51] I'm visually impaired, and

[1:33:52] baseball, people don't like to

[1:33:53] talk about, is a great mental

[1:33:53] health.

[1:33:55] It actually saved me money with

[1:33:55] therapy.

[1:33:56] I don't have to -- I don't have

[1:33:58] to speak to a psychiatrist every

[1:34:01] day because I watch baseball and

[1:34:02] I can look at that and take my

[1:34:04] mind off it a little bit and

[1:34:05] it's a big relief.

[1:34:06] So it's not just the -- I know

[1:34:07] we talk about the money that

[1:34:10] we're losing but we got to take

[1:34:11] about the money we save as well.

[1:34:13] And whether I talk about

[1:34:15] education talso stopped me from

[1:34:16] needing a tutor.

[1:34:17] I struggled with math growing up

[1:34:19] and I had a teacher who knew I

[1:34:22] loved baseball and the rays and

[1:34:24] explained math -- I never

[1:34:25] understood that.

[1:34:26] And he explained it through

[1:34:27] baseball, through stealing and

[1:34:29] how fast a pitcher has to

[1:34:30] deliver that ball.

[1:34:31] So please pass this deal.

[1:34:32] Thank you, sir.

[1:34:34] >> ken hagan: thank you, sir.

[1:34:37] Appreciate you coming down.

[1:34:37] Good morning.

[1:34:39] >> good morning, commissioners.

[1:34:41] I'm just going to simply say

[1:34:42] pass this deal.

[1:34:43] It's been 20 years since we've

[1:34:45] been going through this saga.

[1:34:47] We need to gets this deal done.

[1:34:48] I'm a true rays fan through and

[1:34:51] through as you see I rep them.

[1:34:52] I understand where everyone's

[1:34:53] coming from with their

[1:34:54] criticisms and skepticisms but

[1:34:56] we need to put money into big

[1:34:58] projects in order to build our

[1:34:59] city, and bill carlson actually

[1:35:00] made a good point yesterday at

[1:35:02] the city council that without

[1:35:04] vision and without spending big

[1:35:05] and doing big projects, we

[1:35:07] wouldn't have disney world, we

[1:35:09] wouldn't have major investments

[1:35:11] that bring money to our city.

[1:35:12] To all the people who say they

[1:35:14] are rays fans, I agree with you,

[1:35:16] but I don't see you driving 81

[1:35:17] games like I do.

[1:35:20] I go to every 81 home games to

[1:35:21] the trop, and to this new

[1:35:23] stadium once it's approved.

[1:35:24] People say that they don't want

[1:35:26] to spend public money on

[1:35:27] stadiums or use the cit tax.

[1:35:29] The cit tax was created for

[1:35:31] stadiums to begin with for

[1:35:33] raymond james stadium and

[1:35:34] everyone had pushback.

[1:35:36] We don't want taxpayer dollars

[1:35:38] to build stadium for the bucs.

[1:35:40] We build it and I don't see them

[1:35:41] complaining when we have super

[1:35:43] bowls or concerts everyone goes

[1:35:43] to every year.

[1:35:46] People said don't give money to

[1:35:48] water street, don't give money

[1:35:51] to the lightning and jeff vinik.

[1:35:52] We built and no one is

[1:35:54] complaining when we win two

[1:35:56] stanley cups back-to-back and --

[1:35:58] so to me it's a good deal

[1:35:59] because again just take the

[1:36:01] aspect of sports out of it.

[1:36:02] it helps build an area that was

[1:36:04] never there before, it's

[1:36:06] building the college that hasn't

[1:36:07] had updated buildings since it

[1:36:09] opened in the 1970s, and yeah

[1:36:10] tmight be closing it a little

[1:36:13] bit and reducing it to size, but

[1:36:14] if they want to do that, that's

[1:36:15] the college's decision.

[1:36:16] That's their decision.

[1:36:17] They chose that part of the

[1:36:18] deal, and if they want to do it,

[1:36:19] they can do it.

[1:36:20] It's building an area that

[1:36:22] people want to go to.

[1:36:23] I'm going to be honest, I go to

[1:36:24] the bucs all the tie.

[1:36:26] I go to steinbrenner field all

[1:36:26] the time.

[1:36:28] So I can get all three rays,

[1:36:30] steinbrenner, and the bucs at

[1:36:31] the same place, I'm going to go.

[1:36:32] And I'm going to support it

[1:36:33] through and through.

[1:36:34] And I want to say thank you for

[1:36:35] your time.

[1:36:37] Hopefully you vote yes on this

[1:36:39] historical day.

[1:36:40] >> ken hagan: please state name

[1:36:44] your for the record.

[1:36:46] >> alejandro noryegg

[1:36:48] noriega.

[1:36:48] >> good morning, commissioner.

[1:36:51] My fame

[1:36:53] name is brendan trace mag

[1:36:54] leosey and I'm convincing you

[1:36:56] all to vote no on this.

[1:36:57] Because the reason why I'm

[1:37:01] saying this, because what if the -- we don't have enough fans

[1:37:04] coming in to our, the new

[1:37:07] stadium being built on

[1:37:09] hillsborough college campus.

[1:37:11] And I don't want to hear them

[1:37:13] complaining at it being too loud

[1:37:14] because they're right across the

[1:37:16] street from the buccaneers

[1:37:16] stadium.

[1:37:19] When the canons start firing

[1:37:20] off.

[1:37:24] For touchdowns and first downs.

[1:37:26] and I'm kind of not happy I

[1:37:28] preferred the rays to stay in

[1:37:29] st. Pete.

[1:37:31] I have access to getting on

[1:37:35] buses, getting on 4, and I'm

[1:37:35] there.

[1:37:37] If it moves to tampa, it's going

[1:37:40] to be really hard.

[1:37:42] And I

[1:37:44] I yield back,

[1:37:45] MR. Commissioner.

[1:37:46] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[1:37:48] Tim gulliver.

[1:37:49] Tim here?

[1:37:52] Followed by roxy lackman who's

[1:37:56] virtual and mary beth england.

[1:37:56] Good morning.

[1:37:56] >> good morning.

[1:37:59] A great morning and I tell you

[1:38:02] the rays have a great spirit.

[1:38:08] You guys are awesome council.

[1:38:11] And I tell you what.

[1:38:16] Every person in this county, I'm

[1:38:21] so grateful every day.

[1:38:27] I was married 27 years.

[1:38:31] Loved the lady.

[1:38:34] She couldn't keep a budget.

[1:38:37] She's now -- I lost her, okay?

[1:38:39] No, it's all right, to a guy in

[1:38:39] texas.

[1:38:42] This happens.

[1:38:46] But I loved her a lot.

[1:38:57] Still do.

[1:38:59] But how you vote for the rays,

[1:39:05] this new stadium, for the

[1:39:06] taxpayers, and even considering

[1:39:13] the fans.

[1:39:18] I don't love you all that much.

[1:39:20] But I love you guys.

[1:39:21] That's a fact.

[1:39:22] She was close, but she couldn't

[1:39:23] hold a budget.

[1:39:30] I was broke for 27 years.

[1:39:32] Don't like living that way.

[1:39:35] Makes it hard on maintenance,

[1:39:38] makes it hard on every soul.

[1:39:41] We're in this together, guys.

[1:39:42] GOD bless.

[1:39:44] >> ken hagan: please state your

[1:39:45] name.

[1:39:49] >> tim gulliver.

[1:39:50] >> ken hagan: appreciate it sir.

[1:39:54] >> you got it.

[1:39:55] >> ken hagan: is roxy on the

[1:39:59] line?

[1:40:02] >> hi, good morning, I'm roxy

[1:40:02] lackman.

[1:40:06] I'm a proud fourth generation

[1:40:06] floridian.

[1:40:08] And I can take no pride in this

[1:40:09] deal.

[1:40:10] This proposal should at the very

[1:40:12] least be tabled until the

[1:40:14] florida state property tax code

[1:40:15] is complete.

[1:40:16] This is a nonpartisan amendment.

[1:40:17] Both sides of the aisle agree

[1:40:19] taxpayer are saying no on

[1:40:20] today's vote.

[1:40:21] I implore our commissioners to

[1:40:22] do the same.

[1:40:24] I too ran an ai search and I

[1:40:25] found when the numbers on

[1:40:26] taxpayer funded stadiums are

[1:40:27] broken down this will not be the

[1:40:29] economic boon you promised.

[1:40:31] For example, cincinnati's

[1:40:34] taxpayer built stadium built in

[1:40:36] 2000 for the bengals comprised

[1:40:38] 16.4% of cincinnati city budget

[1:40:39] by 2011.

[1:40:41] Covering stadium debt and

[1:40:42] maintenance bills.

[1:40:43] Hospital funding and county jobs

[1:40:46] were cut to handle the economic

[1:40:46] shortfall.

[1:40:48] You and another speaker noted

[1:40:51] atlanta's cobb county battery as

[1:40:53] a sucess story.

[1:40:54] Economists disagree with you.

[1:40:55] They say that revenue generated

[1:40:57] near a stadium is merely

[1:40:58] displaced profits from people

[1:41:00] who are spending money near a

[1:41:01] stadium that they would normally

[1:41:02] spend elsewhere.

[1:41:04] But let's say they're wrong and

[1:41:05] revenue, that the stadium is

[1:41:07] generating is paying back the

[1:41:08] initial $400 million cost of

[1:41:10] atlanta's battery, which is only

[1:41:12] about half of what our proposed

[1:41:13] outlay is.

[1:41:15] They are currently making

[1:41:17] $22 million a year and

[1:41:19] taxpayable revenue, so dollar

[1:41:20] for dollar that's about 20 years

[1:41:21] that it will take them to pay

[1:41:24] back that $400 million, which

[1:41:26] translates to 45 years for us to

[1:41:28] pay this money back.

[1:41:30] Never mind the two-plus decades

[1:41:31] lost in infrastructure projects

[1:41:33] that are not pursued because

[1:41:36] money is tied up in stadium.

[1:41:38] And finally, who can respect a

[1:41:39] municipality that so readily

[1:41:40] shuts down its only youth

[1:41:42] detention center to make way for

[1:41:43] a stadium?

[1:41:44] Scattering our local children

[1:41:47] across the state away from their

[1:41:50] families for rehabilitation is

[1:41:50] heartless.

[1:41:52] It's an appalling embarrassment

[1:41:53] that we're even considering the

[1:41:54] possibility of tearing down our

[1:41:57] only youth detention center for

[1:41:58] a stadium.

[1:41:59] Where are the plans to replace

[1:42:00] this facility?

[1:42:02] We must get our human rights

[1:42:03] house in order and --

[1:42:06] infrastructure in order

[1:42:06] before --

[1:42:07] >> ken hagan: appreciate your

[1:42:07] comments.

[1:42:09] Next three speakers, mary beth

[1:42:13] ang ln followed by math

[1:42:14] Mckeithan and amy josephson.

[1:42:15] Good morning.

[1:42:15] >> good morning, commissioners

[1:42:20] I'm mary beth ang ln, ceo and

[1:42:26] PRESIDENT Of the west chamber of

[1:42:26] commerce.

[1:42:27] We believe this is a once in a

[1:42:28] generation opportunity to keep

[1:42:32] the rays here in tampa bay while

[1:42:33] creating meaningful, lock-term

[1:42:34] investment in our community.

[1:42:35] this project can create

[1:42:37] thousands of jobs, track

[1:42:37] significant -- attract

[1:42:38] significant private investment,

[1:42:39] generate economic activity, and

[1:42:40] create new opportunities for

[1:42:41] residents.

[1:42:41] And businesses

[1:42:42] throughout our region.

[1:42:45] Do you park in west tampa are

[1:42:46] positioned to benefit from an

[1:42:47] investment of this magtitude.

[1:42:50] It can serve as a catalyst for

[1:42:51] continued revitalization,

[1:42:52] strengthen local businesses, and

[1:42:53] create opportunities for

[1:42:54] generations to come.

[1:42:56] We also strongly support

[1:42:57] hillsborough college being the

[1:43:00] central part of this investment.

[1:43:00] Educational workforce

[1:43:01] development must advance

[1:43:02] longicide economic development,

[1:43:04] so local residents are prepared

[1:43:05] to take advantage of these new

[1:43:06] `opportunities this deal will

[1:43:07] bring.

[1:43:08] On behalf of the west tampa

[1:43:10] chamber, we encourage the board

[1:43:12] of county commissioners to move

[1:43:13] forward with confidence and

[1:43:14] seize this historic opportunity.

[1:43:16] Thank you for your time.

[1:43:19] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:43:19] MS. Anglin.

[1:43:22] Matt Mckeithan followed by amy

[1:43:23] josephson and curt dorson.

[1:43:25] Good morning.

[1:43:27] >> hello, my name is matt

[1:43:28] Mckeithen and I'm against this

[1:43:29] proposal.

[1:43:32] I think that using taxpayer

[1:43:34] money should be used for roads

[1:43:37] and infrastructure and to

[1:43:40] improve our land and our roads.

[1:43:44] We don't need taxpayer money

[1:43:46] being used at a stadium.

[1:43:48] We need our taxpayer money being

[1:43:50] used for our roads to improve

[1:43:51] the roads.

[1:43:52] thank you.

[1:43:53] >> ken hagan: thank you, sir.

[1:43:56] Amy josephson?

[1:43:57] No amy?

[1:44:01] Curt thorsen curt here?

[1:44:06] Followed by douglas batista.

[1:44:07] Good morning.

[1:44:08] >> hi, my name is curt thorsen.

[1:44:13] I like to introduce you to lisa

[1:44:14] cupid right there.

[1:44:17] She is the cobb county, current

[1:44:19] cobb county council or

[1:44:20] commission chair back in 2013,

[1:44:26] she was the lone no vote on the

[1:44:27] battery public funding.

[1:44:29] Today 13 years later, it is her

[1:44:30] job as chair to supervise that

[1:44:32] property and that development.

[1:44:34] She has stated on the record

[1:44:36] publicly that it's doing quite

[1:44:38] well, it's an economic success

[1:44:40] in fact her words are it is an

[1:44:41] economic juggernaut.

[1:44:42] And that's by

[1:44:43] why this development

[1:44:44] is a model.

[1:44:45] Planox

[1:44:47] plano, texas, did this in a

[1:44:49] week, they're doing it in vegas,

[1:44:51] they're doing it in chicago and

[1:44:53] cleveland and several places in

[1:44:53] california.

[1:44:54] This project is supported by

[1:44:55] police, fire, so those saying

[1:44:57] that they're going to be fired.

[1:44:58] No.

[1:44:58] They are supporting it.

[1:44:59] They were there yesterday

[1:45:00] supporting it.

[1:45:02] The hotels and lodging

[1:45:03] associations which by the way

[1:45:05] mentioned the hockey arena here

[1:45:06] can no longer support the

[1:45:08] women's final four because it's

[1:45:09] not big enough now.

[1:45:10] This baseball stadium is

[1:45:12] certainly hosts a lot more than

[1:45:14] what the hockey arena can.

[1:45:15] Thus more events for the area,

[1:45:17] more income for the area.

[1:45:18] westshore alliance, west tampa

[1:45:20] chamber of commerce, tampa bay

[1:45:22] business chamber, hillsborough

[1:45:23] college and the lovely new york

[1:45:26] city yankees support this too

[1:45:27] and they're going to be right

[1:45:27] next door.

[1:45:29] Numerous CRAs support this,

[1:45:29] church organizations support

[1:45:33] this, earlier today on all the

[1:45:34] monitors there was a run down of

[1:45:35] the money going into each and

[1:45:39] every aspect, schools,

[1:45:40] infrastructure, potholes, those

[1:45:41] are going to get fixed and those

[1:45:42] don't go away.

[1:45:44] Oakland still has those.

[1:45:46] Montreal still has those too.

[1:45:47] Did they automatically just get

[1:45:48] fixed when their teams left?

[1:45:49] They did not.

[1:45:51] But a lot of places such as cobb

[1:45:52] county, las vegas, they're

[1:45:54] seeing improvements like they

[1:45:55] never seen before because they

[1:45:56] have cash flow like they've

[1:45:57] never seen before.

[1:45:59] All these people saying that

[1:46:02] it's not a proven model.

[1:46:02] The numbers are there.

[1:46:06] The numbers are there and the

[1:46:09] county chair lisa cube

[1:46:11] cupid is on

[1:46:16] the record saying it's amazing.

[1:46:17] >> ken hagan: thank you.

[1:46:18] >> douglas batista, thank you,

[1:46:19] commissioners.

[1:46:21] Again my name is doug batista

[1:46:24] for my career I'm a chief hr

[1:46:25] officer with extensive

[1:46:27] experience in labor force

[1:46:28] dynamickics.

[1:46:29] In the U.S. We're losing 16,000

[1:46:30] net jiewbz

[1:46:33] jobs pe month, due to ai

[1:46:34] displacement.

[1:46:35] That includes jobs that are

[1:46:38] being created out of ai.

[1:46:41] And that's, it's as a fact by a

[1:46:42] recent study by goldman sachs.

[1:46:43] the jobs that are being

[1:46:45] displaced are those with

[1:46:46] routine, repet tfn,

[1:46:48] administrative tasks such as

[1:46:49] accountants, computer

[1:46:50] programmers, testers, customer

[1:46:54] service, and entry level roles.

[1:46:56] I'm experiencing this same

[1:46:57] dynamic with my chief employer

[1:47:00] as a chief technology ourself

[1:47:01] for a globing

[1:47:03] global technology company.

[1:47:05] The ai impact is only expected

[1:47:07] to accelerate into the tens of

[1:47:10] millions according to the

[1:47:11] Mckinsey global institute.

[1:47:12] If you don't believe that there

[1:47:13] is another warning sign.

[1:47:16] The U.S. Bureau of labor

[1:47:17] statistics -- voluntary turnover

[1:47:19] has collapsed to 13% down from

[1:47:20] 25% three years ago.

[1:47:22] This isn't because workers are

[1:47:23] suddenly more satisfied with

[1:47:24] their jobs.

[1:47:26] Rather employees are staying as

[1:47:28] a direct consequence of fewer

[1:47:29] job opportunities and again I'm

[1:47:31] seeing these same dynamic of

[1:47:32] lower turnover in my current

[1:47:33] employer.

[1:47:34] And if you don't believe that,

[1:47:36] maybe you can believe bill

[1:47:36] gates.

[1:47:37] On wednesday he published an

[1:47:39] article on ai disruption.

[1:47:40] It was pinged up in the wall

[1:47:41] stree -- picked up in the wall

[1:47:43] street journal and "new york

[1:47:44] times."

[1:47:45] quote from bill gates we have to

[1:47:47] think now about how to reduce

[1:47:50] job losses so everyone can share

[1:47:52] in the prosperity ai creates.

[1:47:54] -- the rys stadium and mixed

[1:47:56] use development project

[1:47:57] represents job opportunities for

[1:47:59] tampa bay workforce in a time of

[1:48:01] ai displacement.

[1:48:02] Jobs that provide financial

[1:48:03] stabilities for working

[1:48:04] families, working families that

[1:48:05] can generate consumer spenning

[1:48:06] to our local businesses, and

[1:48:09] spending that generates tax

[1:48:10] dollars for our region.

[1:48:12] So I ask the commission here

[1:48:13] today to vote yes, yes for the

[1:48:15] rays project, and yes for job

[1:48:17] generation in our region.

[1:48:19] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:48:19] MR. Batista.

[1:48:20] Christopher cunningham.

[1:48:23] Followed by J.P. Peterson and

[1:48:24] then bishop michelle patty.

[1:48:25] Good morning.

[1:48:26] >> hey, good morning,

[1:48:26] commissioners.

[1:48:28] My name is christopher

[1:48:29] cunningham.

[1:48:30] I'm a tampa resident, local

[1:48:35] business owner.

[1:48:37] -- part of gwen myers' district.

[1:48:41] I'm here to support the rays

[1:48:41] deal.

[1:48:44] I think this is a, a wonderful

[1:48:45] opportunity.

[1:48:46] I think you guys as hillsborough

[1:48:47] county commissioners have an

[1:48:48] opportunity to do something

[1:48:49] great for hillsborough county

[1:48:51] and for the future.

[1:48:54] A as small businesses represent

[1:48:57] 43.5% of america's gdp, so one

[1:48:58] thing I do hope you guys

[1:49:01] advocate for is small business

[1:49:02] participation.

[1:49:05] I have had an opportunity to,

[1:49:06] when services and products for

[1:49:07] hillsborough county and it's

[1:49:09] helped by business tremendously.

[1:49:12] I want to thank PRESIDENT

[1:49:14] Atwater and then also PRESIDENT

[1:49:16] Kim babby for coming out and

[1:49:18] speaking to the community and

[1:49:20] not overlooking small businesses

[1:49:21] and small groups.

[1:49:22] So I thank you and I appreciate

[1:49:23] the time.

[1:49:24] Thank you.

[1:49:25] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:49:25] MR. Cunningham.

[1:49:27] J.P. Peterson.

[1:49:28] Followed by bishop michelle

[1:49:29] patty and bob morrison.

[1:49:31] Good morning.

[1:49:32] >> first of all, I like to thank

[1:49:33] all of the commissioners here

[1:49:35] and especially MR. Hagan for

[1:49:36] your leadership on this.

[1:49:37] I know this is a very tough

[1:49:40] issue, it is a lot of money, but

[1:49:42] I feel it's a worthy investment

[1:49:42] in our community.

[1:49:43] I'm not an economist but I was

[1:49:45] in atlanta when the whole

[1:49:46] battery deal went down.

[1:49:48] I've heard a lot of fudgy

[1:49:49] numbers today about the deal.

[1:49:49] I know this.

[1:49:51] They went net positive in 10

[1:49:52] years and they're binging in

[1:49:53] almost double what their debt

[1:49:53] service is.

[1:49:55] It's a fantastic deal and it's a

[1:49:56] model that we should really

[1:49:57] follow.

[1:49:59] Not only for the economists, the

[1:50:02] economic benefits, but also for

[1:50:02] baseball.

[1:50:04] The braves used that money to

[1:50:06] pure it into their payroll --

[1:50:07] pour it into their payroll which

[1:50:09] is exactly what the rays are

[1:50:09] planning to do.

[1:50:11] That means we can keep our great

[1:50:11] players.

[1:50:12] We don't v to watch them walk

[1:50:17] out the door anymore.

[1:50:18] That means we can be big boys

[1:50:21] when it whichs to payroll and

[1:50:22] win a world series which

[1:50:24] hopefully we will do in the very

[1:50:25] near future.

[1:50:26] And that's what baseball means

[1:50:27] to our community.

[1:50:28] I was able to take my kids to a

[1:50:29] world series game in 2008.

[1:50:30] I will never forget that

[1:50:31] that.

[1:50:33] i hear countless stories from

[1:50:34] fans that call into our show and

[1:50:36] are part of our show all the

[1:50:37] time that talk about what

[1:50:38] baseball means to them and

[1:50:40] bringing a community together.

[1:50:42] This area will bring us

[1:50:43] together.

[1:50:44] We are so isolated.

[1:50:46] This will bring the community

[1:50:46] together.

[1:50:47] It's desperately needed for

[1:50:48] that.

[1:50:49] And finally I want to talk about

[1:50:50] this ownership group.

[1:50:52] From the very beginning of this

[1:50:54] process, they have done uand you

[1:50:55] guys know this, they have

[1:50:56] listened to you and you guys

[1:50:59] have done a great job holding

[1:51:00] their feet to the fire and they

[1:51:00] have given and they have given.

[1:51:03] They're going to put in

[1:51:04] $1.4 billion of private

[1:51:05] investment just for the

[1:51:05] community.

[1:51:06] That doesn't go to them.

[1:51:08] That goes to construction folks,

[1:51:09] that goes to hard working people

[1:51:11] here who are hurting, who are

[1:51:14] going to benefit by this.

[1:51:16] So I ask you to be bold.

[1:51:17] Fortune favors the bold.

[1:51:18] Do something that is going to

[1:51:20] leave a legacy for your kids, my

[1:51:22] kids, and the city of tampa for

[1:51:23] generations to come.

[1:51:25] And if you don't do it, the rays

[1:51:26] are going down the road to

[1:51:26] orlando.

[1:51:28] Don't be the vote that sends

[1:51:31] their money and this incredible

[1:51:33] investment down the road to

[1:51:34] orlando and our beloved

[1:51:35] baseball.

[1:51:36] >> ken hagan: state your name

[1:51:36] for the record.

[1:51:38] >> J.P. Peterson.

[1:51:38] >> ken hagan: thanks.

[1:51:41] Bishop michelle patty.

[1:51:41] she here?

[1:51:45] Followed by bob morrison and

[1:51:46] steven gearheart who is virtual.

[1:51:48] >> good morning, my name is

[1:51:49] bishop michelle b. Patty.

[1:51:51] I was born here in the city of

[1:51:53] tampa 73 years ago.

[1:51:55] I'm a homeowner and a taxpayer.

[1:51:58] I live in brandon, florida.

[1:52:00] On yesterday there was three

[1:52:02] young men that committed a

[1:52:05] heinous crime by attacking a

[1:52:08] homeless man, beat him near to

[1:52:09] death out of boredom.

[1:52:10] They said they were bored.

[1:52:12] Now just think that if they had

[1:52:14] a part of apprenticeship

[1:52:15] program, we're talking about the

[1:52:18] rays bringing jobs.

[1:52:19] Apprenticeship programs will

[1:52:21] `actually help these same young

[1:52:23] men become entrepreneurs.

[1:52:24] How many more jobs they would be

[1:52:25] able to create?

[1:52:27] But right now their future

[1:52:29] because they're talking about

[1:52:31] adjudicating them as adults so

[1:52:32] their lives are over.

[1:52:34] As a mother, as a grandmother

[1:52:35] who's staying here who know the

[1:52:39] fact about how my children was

[1:52:40] killed, so I'm looking at it

[1:52:42] what price do we put on our

[1:52:43] children.

[1:52:46] What price do we put on children

[1:52:48] having a future?

[1:52:50] So I'm definitely in support of

[1:52:50] the rays.

[1:52:53] It's a whole lot more than

[1:52:55] selling pop corns or people

[1:52:56] talking about minimum wage.

[1:52:58] Well, I rather for a person to

[1:52:59] receive minimum wae than to be

[1:53:01] out here and selling fentanyl.

[1:53:03] I rather for a person to receive

[1:53:05] minimum wage than to be out here

[1:53:07] gang banging or killing.

[1:53:09] Are you all in touch with what's

[1:53:10] going on today?

[1:53:12] In this county?

[1:53:14] ith uroyoung people?

[1:53:15] They're bored to death because

[1:53:18] nobody is reaching out to help

[1:53:19] them, to support them.

[1:53:21] We're up here bickering about

[1:53:21] dollars.

[1:53:23] I'm standing here asking that we

[1:53:25] save lives, and with the rays

[1:53:26] trntion might seem simple -- it

[1:53:28] might see simple but it's not.

[1:53:30] In baseball there is a lot of

[1:53:32] layers to being a stadium.

[1:53:33] You're talking about

[1:53:35] construction, you're talking

[1:53:36] about even with the field,

[1:53:38] people that's are in the field,

[1:53:40] they can become coaches.

[1:53:42] There is just so many things.

[1:53:43] To work in the front office.

[1:53:47] There are so many jobs that

[1:53:48] that this

[1:53:49] would bring to the community.

[1:53:50] >> ken hagan: thank you, bishop

[1:53:50] patty.

[1:53:51] Appreciate the comments.

[1:53:53] Bob morrison followed by steven

[1:53:54] geregard, which is virtual and

[1:53:55] then last speaker is james

[1:53:55] ransom.

[1:53:57] Good morning.

[1:53:58] >> good morning, chair, and

[1:53:59] members of the commission.

[1:54:01] My name is bob morrison.

[1:54:04] I'm here on behalf of the

[1:54:04] hillsborough county hotel and

[1:54:06] logic association.

[1:54:11] First of all, my members

[1:54:14] represent about 92% of all hotel

[1:54:15] revenue generated in

[1:54:17] hillsborough county.

[1:54:19] So as a result, my standing here

[1:54:21] on their behalf is for three

[1:54:23] purposes.

[1:54:27] Number 1, we have, we were the

[1:54:30] entity that said to you go

[1:54:33] forward and adopt the 6% on the

[1:54:35] tourist tax.

[1:54:37] Those hotel owners took that 1%

[1:54:40] that could have been part of

[1:54:44] their profit line to invest in

[1:54:46] this community, and what the

[1:54:47] tourist development tax could

[1:54:48] deliver.

[1:54:51] Number 2, as I mentioned to city

[1:54:53] council yesterday, one of the

[1:54:54] things that we've done is

[1:54:56] because we have skin in the

[1:54:58] game, because your formula

[1:55:01] suggests a significant check

[1:55:03] written from the tourist

[1:55:05] development tax, we did our own

[1:55:06] investigation.

[1:55:07] One of the things that we were

[1:55:10] concerned about was not to

[1:55:13] bastardize or in any replicate

[1:55:15] facilities we already have.

[1:55:17] The announcement I shared

[1:55:19] yesterday with the city council

[1:55:21] that we no longer are eligible

[1:55:24] for women's final four because

[1:55:25] benchmark is not large enough to

[1:55:28] meet their seating requirements.

[1:55:30] Speaks to this particular

[1:55:32] development being unique and

[1:55:34] being positioned to fill the

[1:55:37] void that we have in our

[1:55:37] community.

[1:55:39] Ultimately our message, message

[1:55:43] to you is we are concerned about

[1:55:45] how visit tampa bay might fare

[1:55:46] and all of this.

[1:55:48] But we believe that working with

[1:55:50] county staff and the rays, we

[1:55:52] can make sure we fund the

[1:55:54] economic engine to make sure

[1:55:56] that we are telling the story of

[1:55:58] this destination and bringing

[1:56:01] those destination dollars to our

[1:56:01] community.

[1:56:02] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:56:02] MR. Morrison.

[1:56:04] Appreciate it.

[1:56:09] Steven gerrard on the line?

[1:56:11] >> commissioners, my name is

[1:56:12] steven gearheard.

[1:56:13] I am a resident of hillsborough

[1:56:14] county.

[1:56:15] Today I'm here to object to the

[1:56:17] use of public funds for a for

[1:56:18] profit sports team.

[1:56:20] in the nearly definitive

[1:56:21] document, there are no

[1:56:23] guarantees that require the rays

[1:56:25] to develop any minimum taxable

[1:56:27] use and no provisions to enforce

[1:56:28] it.

[1:56:29] Full stop, I ask all of the

[1:56:31] commissioners to hear that.

[1:56:33] There are construction

[1:56:35] guarantees, there are guarantees

[1:56:38] on cost overruns, but they do

[1:56:40] nas have any requirements to

[1:56:41] produce any taxable lnd

[1:56:41] improvements.

[1:56:44] Today hcc pays zero dollars in

[1:56:44] taxes.

[1:56:45] Tomorrow the hcc tamps will

[1:56:48] continue to pay zero dollars.

[1:56:50] Without taxable development, the

[1:56:51] tax income remains the status

[1:56:52] quo.

[1:56:53] Without written guarantees, the

[1:56:55] burden to service the debts on

[1:56:57] the bonds truly lies with the

[1:56:59] citizens of hillsborough county.

[1:57:01] In this surrounding development,

[1:57:02] I'm sorry, if the surrounding

[1:57:03] development is developed, the

[1:57:06] cdd will take a disproportionate

[1:57:06] amount of shares of the

[1:57:07] revenues.

[1:57:08] Under the proposed third tier

[1:57:09] and this is really, really

[1:57:10] important, I ask the

[1:57:11] commissioners to hear this.

[1:57:13] The district would receive 85%

[1:57:15] of the revenues.

[1:57:17] Under florida law, community

[1:57:18] development districts are

[1:57:20] controlled by the landowner.

[1:57:21] That's hillsborough college.

[1:57:23] And their benefactor development

[1:57:24] partner tenant is the rays.

[1:57:28] After six years, the rays deal

[1:57:29] take control of the cdd board

[1:57:32] smed this is not government

[1:57:33] oversight as it has been

[1:57:34] presented.

[1:57:35] Sunshine laws require

[1:57:38] transparency but not control.

[1:57:39] this creates additional revenue

[1:57:41] stream or cost offset programs

[1:57:42] for the rays.

[1:57:46] Let's come back to the tiers.

[1:57:46] $650 million of assessed value

[1:57:48] is the top tier.

[1:57:51] The rays have communicated

[1:57:52] nearly $7.05 mill billion in

[1:57:54] revenue of -- of assessed value.

[1:57:58] That means that $6.85 billion,

[1:58:01] 85% of that taxed income would

[1:58:02] go into the district.

[1:58:03] A district that will be

[1:58:06] controlled by the rays in six

[1:58:06] years.

[1:58:09] While the county takes home less

[1:58:10] than $100 million of projected

[1:58:12] total lifetime value from the

[1:58:12] property taxes.

[1:58:14] Why is there no cap?

[1:58:16] Why is this concept

[1:58:16] introduced --

[1:58:17] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[1:58:17] appreciate your comments.

[1:58:18] James ransom.

[1:58:22] Last speaker.

[1:58:24] >> good morning, sir.

[1:58:27] >> good morning, MR. Chair and

[1:58:27] commissioners.

[1:58:30] I've never been last at any

[1:58:31] anything before, but today is my

[1:58:32] first time being last.

[1:58:34] First, on behalf of the tampa

[1:58:36] organization of black affairs, I

[1:58:37] chair the economic development

[1:58:37] committee.

[1:58:38] You've been receiving letters

[1:58:41] from us for many months giving

[1:58:43] you the conditions that our

[1:58:45] organization would support the

[1:58:47] rays ballpark development along

[1:58:50] with the mixed development and

[1:58:51] the hillsborough college

[1:58:52] development.

[1:58:54] So let me just say right up

[1:58:55] front that the tampa

[1:58:57] organization of black affairs,

[1:59:00] 100% supports the rays ballpark

[1:59:01] project, and we wanted to thank

[1:59:03] also I see will weatherford here

[1:59:05] who is the chair of the trustee

[1:59:06] board at usf.

[1:59:07] They got the message when we

[1:59:08] talk about trying to have

[1:59:10] inclusion of black owned

[1:59:11] companies and including the

[1:59:12] black community on building a

[1:59:13] new usf stadium.

[1:59:15] It wouldn't have happened

[1:59:18] without will weatherford and

[1:59:20] rhea law and jay strowman and

[1:59:22] folks out at usf and we

[1:59:23] appreciate that because the top

[1:59:24] down bottom up deal at that

[1:59:25] stadium includes businesses from

[1:59:27] our community that are

[1:59:28] qualified, ready, willing and

[1:59:29] able to help build that

[1:59:30] university stadium.

[1:59:31] With the rays project, we've

[1:59:34] talked with MR. Babby many times

[1:59:36] about the same ideas and we know

[1:59:38] that we're hearing that from

[1:59:39] you, from commissioner myers and

[1:59:43] many others from nia and the

[1:59:44] city councilmembers from

[1:59:45] yesterday, they hear us and

[1:59:46] understand what's important to

[1:59:47] our community.

[1:59:51] We want to share the prosperity

[1:59:55] we want to share in a

[1:59:56] transformative project in so

[1:59:57] many ways.

[1:59:59] So while you are contemplating

[2:00:00] the public's concern about

[2:00:01] public trust and public funding

[2:00:05] which is very important, not to

[2:00:07] unfill fill comimentsz to those

[2:00:08] things made important to the

[2:00:09] taxpayers other than for the

[2:00:10] baseball park, but we want to

[2:00:12] leave you with the idea that the

[2:00:13] staff has done a great job, city

[2:00:15] and county, board of county

[2:00:17] commissioners, and the city

[2:00:19] councilmembers,.

[2:00:20] We appreciate the audience and

[2:00:21] you making the right decision to

[2:00:23] support this today.

[2:00:23] Thank you.

[2:00:24] >> ken hagan: thank you,

[2:00:24] MR. Ransom.

[2:00:25] Okay, that closes public

[2:00:26] comment.

[2:00:29] We'll go into board discussion.

[2:00:30] Board members, I worked on this

[2:00:32] for a few years, so I'm going to

[2:00:33] think ahead and jump in here.

[2:00:34] -- to go ahead and jump in here.

[2:00:36] Before I make my remarks though,

[2:00:39] I do want to thank bonnie, greg,

[2:00:43] julia, tom, sam, and eric hart

[2:00:45] for all of their hard work on

[2:00:47] getting us here today.

[2:00:49] This has truly been a team

[2:00:51] effort, and we're fortunate to

[2:00:54] have the a team on our side.

[2:00:56] They worked around the clock

[2:00:58] night and day to get us here.

[2:01:00] I particularly want to thank

[2:01:02] bonnie and yulia.

[2:01:03] I know it's been both mentally

[2:01:06] and physically extremely

[2:01:07] challenging, and exhausting for

[2:01:10] them the last couple of months.

[2:01:12] There have been so many

[2:01:14] complexuouses with this a --

[2:01:15] complex issues with this

[2:01:17] agreement, and many of them were

[2:01:18] contentious.

[2:01:19] However, throughout this

[2:01:22] process, they remain steadfast,

[2:01:24] meticulous, and unwavering in

[2:01:26] representing the county and

[2:01:28] protecting the taxpayers.

[2:01:29] So I can't thank them enough for

[2:01:31] all of your efforts.

[2:01:33] I also want to thank city

[2:01:37] council chair alan clendenin.

[2:01:41] Councilmember louis vierra,

[2:01:43] COUNCILMAN Carlson and nia young

[2:01:46] or keeping an open mind and

[2:01:47] challenging the status quo

[2:01:48] throughout this process and for

[2:01:50] recognizing what an enormous

[2:01:50] opportunity we have in front of

[2:01:52] us.

[2:01:56] Thank you for your leadership.

[2:01:57] I also want to personally thank

[2:01:58] our board members here who've

[2:01:59] kept an open mind and respected

[2:02:01] the process.

[2:02:02] As we know, there have been so

[2:02:03] many issues and moving parts

[2:02:12] over the last couple of months.

[2:02:14] Bonnie referred to it as a

[2:02:16] collaboration and it has but

[2:02:18] it's also a balancing act

[2:02:20] between county, city, rays, and

[2:02:21] hillsborough college's interest,

[2:02:24] and it hasn't necessarily been

[2:02:25] easy.

[2:02:26] Having five elections since I

[2:02:27] first began championing this

[2:02:30] issue back in 2010, I know what

[2:02:33] some board members have gone

[2:02:34] through and experienced

[2:02:35] throughout the process.

[2:02:45] It has been difficult.

[2:08:08] It will create the density that

[2:08:10] supports real transit options.

[2:08:13] I think we all or at least most

[2:08:14] of us recognize we live in one

[2:08:14] of the best cities and

[2:08:16] communities in the country.

[2:08:19] But without question, this mixed

[2:08:20] use development will

[2:08:21] differentiate our community from

[2:08:23] our competitors and solidify our

[2:08:27] position as a world-class city?

[2:08:28] The second question I asked

[2:08:30] myself is what side of history

[2:08:31] do you want to be on.

[2:08:32] Three, five, ten years from now,

[2:08:36] do you want to be responsible

[2:08:38] for not only the rays' forever

[2:08:39] home but the generational

[2:08:41] project that's in front of us,

[2:08:42] the largest and most

[2:08:42] transformative development in

[2:08:46] hillsborough county history.

[2:08:48] Or do you want to be able to

[2:08:50] say, see that area by

[2:08:50] hillsborough college?

[2:08:55] I had a chance to be a part of

[2:08:55] something special.

[2:08:57] But chose to think small and

[2:09:03] major in the minors?

[2:09:04] I know what side of history I

[2:09:05] want to be on.

[2:09:08] either way, make no mistake,

[2:09:10] there is a cost of doing

[2:09:11] nothing.

[2:09:13] For those who criticize our

[2:09:15] up-front investment, the cost of

[2:09:16] our investment will pale in

[2:09:18] comparison to the enormous cost

[2:09:20] of losing this extraordinary

[2:09:21] development.

[2:09:23] What is the cost of doing

[2:09:23] nothing?

[2:09:25] For starters, losing a baseball

[2:09:26] team.

[2:09:28] In a perfect world, ball parks

[2:09:30] and stadiums would be 100%

[2:09:31] previouslily financed.

[2:09:34] I couldn't agree more.

[2:09:35] Here's the news flash: we don't

[2:09:37] live in a perfect world or

[2:09:38] static environment.

[2:09:40] It doesn't matter if we're

[2:09:45] talking mlb, nfl, nhl or the

[2:09:46] nfl.

[2:09:48] Cities and communities always

[2:09:50] have and always will roll out

[2:09:52] the red carpet to poach a team.

[2:09:54] The rays are no different.

[2:09:55] Many communities covet the rays

[2:09:57] and are chomping at the bit to

[2:09:59] have the opportunity to

[2:10:00] negotiate with the team.

[2:10:03] Most recently, the oakland a's

[2:10:05] in baseball and the arizona

[2:10:08] coyotes in the nhl relocated.

[2:10:09] Currently, chicago bears and

[2:10:11] kansas city chiefs are all but

[2:10:13] gone and leaving their

[2:10:15] respective states.

[2:10:16] Well, guess what?

[2:10:19] A disagreement fails, the rays

[2:10:19] are next.

[2:10:21] Up until now, commissioner

[2:10:24] manfred hs prevented the team

[2:10:27] from exploring leaving our

[2:10:27] market.

[2:10:29] If we deny this agreement,

[2:10:31] commissioner manfred will allow

[2:10:33] the team to begin negotiations

[2:10:35] with other cities.

[2:10:37] This isn't hyperbole or

[2:10:37] -

[2:10:38] exaggeration.

[2:10:40] Commissioner manfred has said

[2:10:42] so.

[2:10:45] Everywhere I go, nearly eery

[2:10:50] day whether it's publix, the y,

[2:10:55] abbey's, iavarone's, o'brien's,

[2:10:58] yeungling, the golf course, the

[2:10:59] fourth of JULY parade, recently

[2:11:00] as yesterday, hat tricks, folks

[2:11:02] come up to me and the message is

[2:11:06] the exact same: get it done,

[2:11:08] bring the rays to tampa.

[2:11:11] Again, the cost of doing

[2:11:11] nothing?

[2:11:12] We lose a generational

[2:11:13] opportunity, that includes $8

[2:11:14] billion to $10 million in

[2:11:15] private sector investment in the

[2:11:15] district.

[2:11:18] To put that into perspective,

[2:11:21] this is larger than water street

[2:11:23] and midtown combined.

[2:11:24] Think about that.

[2:11:26] Drew park remains an eyesore.

[2:11:28] I was on this board when we

[2:11:32] created the cra back in '05-'06.

[2:11:34] That area was blighted then.

[2:11:37] 20 years later, it remains

[2:11:38] blighted and there's no doubt

[2:11:40] that its condition will not

[2:11:41] improve in the foreseeable

[2:11:44] future if this project does not

[2:11:44] move forward.

[2:11:49] We'll also lose the additional

[2:11:49] state-funded transportation

[2:11:50] improvements in or around the

[2:11:50] area.

[2:11:53] We'll lose a brand-new

[2:11:53] hillsborough college campus and

[2:11:55] the educational and career

[2:11:56] opportunities for the students

[2:11:57] in the district.

[2:11:59] The quality of life for rays

[2:12:01] fans is negatively impacted.

[2:12:03] There's an enormous loss of

[2:12:04] economic impact.

[2:12:06] I know when you start to talk

[2:12:06] numbers, there's always

[2:12:08] different studies, always a

[2:12:09] broad range.

[2:12:12] I've heard anywhere when you

[2:12:13] include the direct and indirect

[2:12:14] impact anywhere from $45 billion

[2:12:16] to $75 billion.

[2:12:17] I don't know where the actual

[2:12:19] number lands, but it's a big

[2:12:19] number.

[2:12:20] Loss of jobs.

[2:12:21] Again, a range.

[2:12:25] I've heard anywhere from 7,000

[2:12:26] to 12,000 jobs.

[2:12:28] Loss of sales tax revenue,

[2:12:31] tourist tax revenue, property

[2:12:33] tax ref ju and rent payments

[2:12:36] aenlo, between $140 million and

[2:12:38] $200 million.

[2:12:39] Another important point that

[2:12:41] needs to be underscored not drew

[2:12:42] park but the ball park district

[2:12:46] itself is currently producing

[2:12:46] zero dollars.

[2:12:47] Ask yourself why.

[2:12:50] We can deny this plan and

[2:12:52] continue producing absolutely

[2:12:55] nothing or we can generate

[2:12:56] several revenue streams.

[2:12:59] We'll lose a robust community

[2:13:01] benefits agreement that will be

[2:13:03] used to address needed

[2:13:05] infrastructure, improve our

[2:13:06] residents' quality of life such

[2:13:09] as fire, rescue needs, parks,

[2:13:14] african-american museum, among

[2:13:15] others.

[2:13:18] Also something in my friend J.P.

[2:13:19] Peterson mentioned this earlier,

[2:13:21] something that's driven me

[2:13:22] throughout the 17 years I've

[2:13:24] been on this quest, I want this

[2:13:26] generation and future generation

[2:13:29] of kids and families to create

[2:13:31] memories of the ball park, just

[2:13:33] like I was able to do with my

[2:13:36] dad and I've been able to do

[2:13:39] with my kids, jake and

[2:13:40] elizabeth, just like thousands

[2:13:42] of other kids and families I've

[2:13:43] been able to do in tampa.

[2:13:45] If you do not have those

[2:13:47] memories, it's hard to explain

[2:13:49] what it means, but it's

[2:13:49] priceless.

[2:13:53] And I want to pay that forward.

[2:13:55] Board members, you have an

[2:13:56] incredibly rre opportunity in

[2:13:57] front of us.

[2:13:58] I know one that I haven't faced

[2:14:02] in my time on this board.

[2:14:03] In closing, is this deal

[2:14:04] perfect?

[2:14:05] No.

[2:14:05] No deal is.

[2:14:08] And I think it's fair to say

[2:14:09] both sides wish the deal were a

[2:14:12] little bit better.

[2:14:14] But that's always going to be

[2:14:15] the case.

[2:14:17] One thing is clear, however.

[2:14:18] The team has significantly

[2:14:23] compromised on several deal

[2:14:24] points.

[2:14:27] Notably increasing their

[2:14:28] investment 50/50 split where the

[2:14:31] team is covering 62% of the ball

[2:14:32] park construction plus all cost

[2:14:33] overruns.

[2:14:35] Again, I ask myself, you know,

[2:14:36] what side of history do I want

[2:14:37] to be on?

[2:14:38] And I just ask board members,

[2:14:41] when you cast your vote to be

[2:14:43] courageous, bold and think big.

[2:14:45] Before I make a motion, I do

[2:14:47] want to ask julia a couple of

[2:14:51] questions, because it came up

[2:14:54] during public comment.

[2:14:56] Regarding board members'

[2:14:58] comments in the past on the

[2:15:02] ability to utilize cit dollars

[2:15:05] for stadium financing, two

[2:15:06] questions.

[2:15:11] I know in the past there was

[2:15:13] discussion about preventing a

[2:15:17] cit from being able to be used

[2:15:17] toward the ball park.

[2:15:19] Was there a prohibition either

[2:15:22] in the ordinance or in the

[2:15:24] ballot language that prevents

[2:15:26] cit stadium financing?

[2:15:27] >> thank you.

[2:15:29] I know this question was asked

[2:15:31] previous in these conversations

[2:15:32] and as a result of that

[2:15:35] question, I obtained two

[2:15:36] separate outside counsel

[2:15:38] opinions on that particular

[2:15:39] issue, as well as reviewed many

[2:15:41] of the items myself as I was not

[2:15:44] here at the time.

[2:15:45] Based on the two legal opinions

[2:15:48] and my review, there was no

[2:15:50] prohibition specifically set for

[2:15:55] in the ordinance, which adopted

[2:15:55] the cit that went to referendum

[2:15:57] on the use of the cit funds for

[2:15:59] a professional sports, a new

[2:16:01] professional sports facility.

[2:16:02] I know that that conversation

[2:16:05] was discussed, but it was never

[2:16:07] implemented into that ordinance.

[2:16:09] Therefore, it is my opinion

[2:16:09] based upon all of the other

[2:16:11] opinions that I've received that

[2:16:12] we can proceed forward with this

[2:16:15] deal under the auspices of using

[2:16:17] cit for a new professional

[2:16:17] sport.

[2:16:19] >> and from time to time we hear

[2:16:21] the term "voter intent."

[2:16:22] did they look at that, too?

[2:16:24] >> yes, the second opinion that

[2:16:28] we received was from an election

[2:16:29] law expert from carlton field

[2:16:32] and indicated that the concept

[2:16:34] of voter intent did not create

[2:16:37] an issue as it related to the

[2:16:41] use of funds.

[2:16:42] >> ken hagan: the other issue

[2:16:44] was my comments back in 2024 on

[2:16:45] the cit.

[2:16:47] For those of you that recall at

[2:16:49] that time, the previous

[2:16:51] ownership group had selected st.

[2:16:53] Pete for their forever home.

[2:16:55] So at that time, we all felt and

[2:16:56] believed there would never be

[2:16:58] another new stadium or bll park

[2:16:59] in hillsborough county.

[2:17:01] So that's the reason why I had

[2:17:02] absolutely no problem saying

[2:17:03] yeah, I don't have any issue

[2:17:06] with prohibiting cit dollars

[2:17:09] going toward a new ball park or

[2:17:09] stadium.

[2:17:11] Right or wrong, as we just heard

[2:17:13] from the county attorney, that

[2:17:16] provision was never included in

[2:17:17] the ordinance or ballot language

[2:17:18] and circumstances changed.

[2:17:20] I wanted to address that.

[2:17:24] I'll pass the gavel to the vice

[2:17:24] chair and I want to make a

[2:17:26] motion to approve the

[2:17:28] development and funding

[2:17:31] agreement, the guaranty and the

[2:17:33] team non-relocation agreement in

[2:17:34] substantial forms presented and

[2:17:36] allow the county attorney to

[2:17:37] conform all the documents,

[2:17:39] including the city of tampa

[2:17:43] approved documents and any --

[2:17:45] and correct any scribner's

[2:17:45] error.

[2:17:48] I know currently regarding the

[2:17:49] community benefits agreement

[2:17:52] that it's I guess left blank,

[2:17:54] there's been discussion I know

[2:17:57] amongst staff, I know it's my

[2:17:57] understanding that I believe

[2:17:59] correct me if I'm wrong but over

[2:18:03] in st. Pete that cba was $50

[2:18:04] million in that timeframe.

[2:18:06] I'll include in the motion that

[2:18:09] the community benefits agreement

[2:18:14] is $50 million and I guess it's

[2:18:16] already included 65%, 65/35

[2:18:18] split with the county getting

[2:18:19] 65, the city getting 35; is that

[2:18:20] correct?

[2:18:22] >> that is correct.

[2:18:24] In fact, the city council

[2:18:24] yesterday when they took their

[2:18:27] action, part of their action was

[2:18:31] to have county commission be the

[2:18:32] final place within the body of

[2:18:38] the document, the final number,

[2:18:42] the final number for the

[2:18:42] community benefits agreement

[2:18:43] with that split being in place.

[2:18:45] so that was left up to the

[2:18:48] county commission to determine.

[2:18:50] >> ken hagan: I know the actual

[2:18:53] cba will come back to us very

[2:18:55] soon, but I just want to include

[2:18:58] that along with the motion that

[2:19:02] there is an expectation of a

[2:19:05] timing mechanism where

[2:19:07] investments in meaningful

[2:19:08] community benefits began

[2:19:11] immediately and are not

[2:19:11] back-loaded.

[2:19:13] So that's my motion.

[2:19:15] >> second.

[2:19:18] >> ken hagan: pass the gavel to

[2:19:19] the vice chair.

[2:19:20] >> christine miller: thank you.

[2:19:25] Commissioner cohen, you're

[2:19:30] recognized.

[2:19:31] >> harry cohen: thank you,

[2:19:31] chair.

[2:19:32] You managed to cover a lot of

[2:19:33] very important points.

[2:19:35] I've been relatively quiet about

[2:19:38] this actually, and not spoken a

[2:19:40] whole lot in public, because I

[2:19:43] really have wanted to allow this

[2:19:45] process to take its course, and

[2:19:47] I really wanted to give the

[2:19:50] county administrator and the

[2:19:53] county attorney the maximum

[2:19:55] leverage possible to negotiate

[2:19:57] the best possible deal that they

[2:19:59] could for the public and for the

[2:19:59] taxpayers.

[2:20:03] And when I voted for the

[2:20:05] original mou, it was my hope,

[2:20:07] and I've told this to them

[2:20:08] privately and I've said this to

[2:20:10] anyone that's asked me, it's

[2:20:13] been my hope that they could

[2:20:16] negotiate, knowing that at least

[2:20:19] in my case, I didn't view this

[2:20:20] as simply a question of whether

[2:20:23] or not I wanted the rays to

[2:20:24] stay.

[2:20:26] I believed my responsibility has

[2:20:28] been to determine whether

[2:20:29] hillsborough county could

[2:20:31] negotiate an agreement that

[2:20:33] protected taxpayers and created

[2:20:36] enough long-term public value to

[2:20:37] justify the investment.

[2:20:39] I made it very clear at the time

[2:20:43] I voted for the mou and

[2:20:45] privately with our negotiators

[2:20:46] that I was not prepared to

[2:20:49] support a deal at any price, but

[2:20:51] that I would like to support a

[2:20:53] deal if we could come to the

[2:20:55] right conclusions.

[2:20:57] I believe that the deal that has

[2:20:59] been negotiated is markedly

[2:21:01] better than the mou that we

[2:21:04] voted on in MAY, and I want to

[2:21:06] just say a couple of things in

[2:21:07] particular that I think should

[2:21:10] be reiterated and pointed out

[2:21:11] again.

[2:21:13] The first is the issue related

[2:21:14] to the rent.

[2:21:16] The rent was not a part of the

[2:21:17] original discussion.

[2:21:21] It is now targeted at $4 million

[2:21:24] a year plus cpi increases, and

[2:21:26] our staff is estimated over the

[2:21:29] course of the 35 years $200

[2:21:32] million coming back to the

[2:21:33] county as a result of those rent

[2:21:34] payments.

[2:21:38] That is a substantial return on

[2:21:39] our original investment.

[2:21:42] The second piece of it that

[2:21:43] commissioner hagan mentioned, of

[2:21:46] course, is that the rays'

[2:21:47] contribution has gone from 50%

[2:21:51] of the project to 62% of the

[2:21:52] project, a marked increase.

[2:21:54] And then of course, the third

[2:21:55] major change that ha occurred

[2:21:59] in the deal, and much of this is

[2:22:01] due to the work of commissioner

[2:22:03] miller, is the $100 million that

[2:22:08] the state D.O.T. Has targeted

[2:22:10] for the lithia pinecrest

[2:22:10] project.

[2:22:13] The reason that's important is

[2:22:14] because that project was

[2:22:16] guaranteed to come out of the

[2:22:17] cit dollars.

[2:22:22] and our negotiators very deftly

[2:22:24] have included in the contract a

[2:22:26] provision that, if somehow the

[2:22:27] state does not provide that

[2:22:29] money, we are not obligated to

[2:22:32] make the final payment of the

[2:22:33] cit dollars to the rays.

[2:22:36] So that is a net savings of $100

[2:22:41] million right off the top.

[2:22:42] Between the rent and that, yu

[2:22:44] have a $300 million difference

[2:22:46] between what we're voting on

[2:22:48] today and what we discussed with

[2:22:54] the mou back in MAY.

[2:22:58] There are a lot of things about

[2:23:00] this agreement that are good.

[2:23:02] There are some that are going to

[2:23:04] be challenging.

[2:23:06] It is a public/private

[2:23:06] partnership.

[2:23:08] For those that say that they

[2:23:09] don't want government doing

[2:23:10] everything, that they want to

[2:23:12] see us working together, this is

[2:23:14] a great example of what can

[2:23:18] happen when the public and the

[2:23:19] private and an educational

[2:23:20] institution come together.

[2:23:22] I was on the tampa city council

[2:23:24] when we did water street, and

[2:23:25] even though water street is a

[2:23:27] little smaller, there are a lot

[2:23:29] of similarities between the two

[2:23:29] projects.

[2:23:31] The biggest being that it

[2:23:34] involved a professional sports

[2:23:37] team, an educational institution

[2:23:38] and a vision of a work, live and

[2:23:41] play environment anchored by

[2:23:42] hotels and restaurants and

[2:23:44] office buildings and

[2:23:45] residential.

[2:23:47] What we have seen develop in the

[2:23:49] water street district is proof

[2:23:51] positive that this community is

[2:23:53] very enthusiastic about

[2:23:54] embracing these types of

[2:23:55] developments.

[2:23:56] The last time I checked, you

[2:23:59] can't get a dinner reservation

[2:24:00] down there on a saturday night,

[2:24:02] and midtown has been just as

[2:24:03] successful.

[2:24:05] So there's no reason to believe,

[2:24:06] with the tremendous population

[2:24:08] growth that we see in this

[2:24:10] region, and the ability of so

[2:24:13] many people to meet the

[2:24:13] centralized location that we

[2:24:17] can't hit a home run here as

[2:24:19] well, provided that we all work

[2:24:21] together to make it happen.

[2:24:23] The community benefits agreement

[2:24:25] is a really, really big,

[2:24:26] important part of that.

[2:24:30] If it's $50 million and the

[2:24:33] county gets 65% of that, that

[2:24:35] money can be put directly back

[2:24:38] into some of the neighborhoods

[2:24:40] surrounding the stadium district

[2:24:41] for improvements that have been

[2:24:42] needed for a long time.

[2:24:45] And for people that are

[2:24:45] skeptical about whether or not

[2:24:49] we should be using cit, I can

[2:24:51] understand why there is a need

[2:24:54] and a desire to spend every

[2:24:56] available dollar on roads and

[2:24:57] fire stations and other

[2:24:58] immediate needs.

[2:25:00] These are very important

[2:25:01] priorities and they're

[2:25:02] priorities that I share.

[2:25:04] The question before us, however,

[2:25:07] is whether making a finite

[2:25:09] investment today can

[2:25:11] substantially expand the

[2:25:13] county's economic and tax base

[2:25:15] for decades to come without

[2:25:17] compromising those essential

[2:25:17] responsibilities.

[2:25:19] The only way that we can fulfill

[2:25:21] our responsibilities is to keep

[2:25:26] our tax base up, and

[2:25:27] commissioner bowls in our

[2:25:30] previous meetings was able to

[2:25:32] establish that the nine fire

[2:25:34] stations that are currently

[2:25:35] programmed to be paid for out of

[2:25:40] the cit will not be affected by

[2:25:41] this deal.

[2:25:44] Privately, the thing that has

[2:25:48] given me the most agita is the

[2:25:50] prospect of the property tax

[2:25:51] referendum passing in NOVEMBER.

[2:25:55] When that originally came out

[2:25:57] after we entered into the

[2:26:00] non-binding mou, I sat here and

[2:26:05] was very blunt about the fact

[2:26:06] that the uncertainty about that

[2:26:07] gave me a lot of pause.

[2:26:09] I have been trying to work

[2:26:10] through that issue for the last

[2:26:11] couple of months.

[2:26:12] People, if they have talked to

[2:26:14] me privately, have definitely

[2:26:16] found out that that's a huge

[2:26:19] area of concern for me.

[2:26:19] -

[2:26:22] but here is the fact of the

[2:26:24] property tax referendum.

[2:26:28] If it passes, it is going to

[2:26:30] force this community to look for

[2:26:32] deals exactly like this one in

[2:26:35] order to preserve our tax base.

[2:26:38] The property tax referendum more

[2:26:39] than anything else, it does have

[2:26:42] a small effect on commercial,

[2:26:43] but its major effect is going to

[2:26:47] be on residentially homesteaded

[2:26:47] properties.

[2:26:49] This is exactly the kind of

[2:26:51] project that we need in order to

[2:26:53] mitigate that, and this project

[2:26:56] has been specifically designed

[2:26:59] so that, as you saw, almost

[2:27:02] everything in it falls outside

[2:27:04] of what is going to be affected

[2:27:06] by that referendum.

[2:27:07] There will be a small reduction

[2:27:11] in what some of the commercial

[2:27:13] tenants might way in taxes, but

[2:27:18] the vast majority of this is

[2:27:21] exactly the type of ad valorem

[2:27:22] tax we need in order to keep our

[2:27:23] tax base up.

[2:27:27] It's a very, very critical point

[2:27:27] about this.

[2:27:29] There are also a lot of

[2:27:31] ancillary benefits that aren't

[2:27:32] even being taken into account.

[2:27:34] We talked a little bit about

[2:27:36] sales tax that will go both to

[2:27:37] us locally and to the state.

[2:27:40] We didn't really talk about the

[2:27:40] additional bed taxes that will

[2:27:43] be created by the hotels, but

[2:27:45] there's also the rental car fees

[2:27:47] that are going to be needed by

[2:27:52] the airport to pay for the air

[2:27:53] side d construction, which is

[2:27:56] bonded based on rental car fees

[2:27:57] and airline user fees.

[2:28:00] So the proximity of this

[2:28:01] development to the airport will

[2:28:03] make a real difference on the

[2:28:05] airport's bottom line, and the

[2:28:07] airport does not get any

[2:28:13] property taxes in order to

[2:28:13] subsidize.

[2:28:18] I want to finally talk for just

[2:28:21] a moment about transit, because

[2:28:23] commissioner hagan mentioned it,

[2:28:25] but I think it's really

[2:28:26] important to put something into

[2:28:29] some perspective here.

[2:28:32] We have had a lot of stops and

[2:28:34] starts on transit proposals in

[2:28:35] the last ten years in this

[2:28:37] community, and people are very,

[2:28:43] very tired and exhausted by the

[2:28:45] roller coaster we have been on.

[2:28:45] We offered transportation that

[2:28:49] was thrown out by the supreme

[2:28:49] court.

[2:28:50] We had go hillsborough that

[2:28:51] almost passed.

[2:28:53] Last high speed rail in 2010.

[2:28:54] At every point where we feel

[2:28:56] like we're starting to get ahead

[2:28:58] to address our congestion

[2:29:00] issues, we have found ourselves

[2:29:00] stymied.

[2:29:03] I want to say to the transit

[2:29:05] activists in this community,

[2:29:07] this is the moment to restart

[2:29:08] the conversation.

[2:29:10] This isn't the end of the

[2:29:10] conversation.

[2:29:13] This is the beginning of the

[2:29:14] conversation.

[2:29:16] This development is right by the

[2:29:16] airport.

[2:29:18] The airport has built out a

[2:29:20] people mover that is capable of

[2:29:24] being extended.

[2:29:25] Fdot owns property on cypress

[2:29:28] that is

[2:29:31] I-275 and the right-of-way and

[2:29:33] it includes the newly

[2:29:34] constructed howard frank lip

[2:29:35] bridge that has a transit

[2:29:37] envelope that is both provided

[2:29:39] and strong enough to actually

[2:29:42] handle whether it be rail or

[2:29:46] direct buses or, look, we're a

[2:29:47] point on the verge of

[2:29:48] self-driving cars and the

[2:29:50] airport's already looking at ev

[2:29:51] toll technology.

[2:29:53] The sky is literally the limit

[2:29:53] on this.

[2:29:55] But this development is going to

[2:29:59] be the catalyst for the

[2:29:59] discussion.

[2:30:01] It is strategically placed in

[2:30:04] such an area that it cannot help

[2:30:06] but be the final piece that

[2:30:09] unites the west shore district,

[2:30:13] midtown, downtown, ebore city

[2:30:13] and where brightline ultimately

[2:30:14] come in.

[2:30:17] It's a very, very exciting

[2:30:17] prospect for the future.

[2:30:20] It is my belief that, if this

[2:30:22] proposal is voted down, you will

[2:30:25] not see any sort of momentum

[2:30:27] toward a transit solution in

[2:30:29] this community any time soon.

[2:30:32] If it's voted up, the

[2:30:33] conversations start tomorrow.

[2:30:35] The community benefit agreement

[2:30:38] gives us an opportunity to talk

[2:30:39] about drew park and west tampa

[2:30:41] in a whole new way and put

[2:30:42] resources into those

[2:30:43] neighborhoods, and one of the

[2:30:45] things I plan on doing is going

[2:30:47] into the next mpo meeting and

[2:30:49] making some motions to get some

[2:30:52] of the planning started so that

[2:30:54] we can actually look at what is

[2:30:55] the best practice for dealing

[2:30:57] with the area around the

[2:30:57] stadium.

[2:30:59] And I look forward, it's in my

[2:31:02] district, of dealing with the

[2:31:02] neighborhood and commercial

[2:31:04] interests in the area to make

[2:31:07] sure that we plan this in a

[2:31:12] thoughtful, methodical and well

[2:31:13] thought out way.

[2:31:15] I want to end by talking about

[2:31:19] some of the intangibles related

[2:31:19] to this project.

[2:31:21] Right now, the tampa bay rays

[2:31:22] have the best record in baseball

[2:31:24] or at least I know they do in

[2:31:26] the american league.

[2:31:29] We are 30 days or 30 games away,

[2:31:33] I think from the playoffs.

[2:31:35] Maybe, maybe we'll even go

[2:31:36] beyond the playoffs.

[2:31:38] Whether it happens this year or

[2:31:41] it happens next year, I'm very

[2:31:42] confident it will happen one

[2:31:42] day.

[2:31:45] We've shown that we can win

[2:31:46] championships in this community,

[2:31:50] and when we do, and the network

[2:31:52] television cameras pan over

[2:31:53] hillsborough county and they

[2:31:55] look out over the sun setting

[2:31:58] over the bay, and a worldwide

[2:32:01] television audience sees this

[2:32:06] community, you know what they'rethemselves?

[2:32:07] That's the place I want to live.

[2:32:08] That's the place I want to

[2:32:09] visit.

[2:32:10] That's the place I want to open

[2:32:11] my business.

[2:32:14] That's the place I want to raise

[2:32:15] my family.

[2:32:17] To commissioner hagan's earlier

[2:32:18] point, this is our moment to

[2:32:19] decide what kind of community we

[2:32:19] want to be.

[2:32:21] I want to be a number one

[2:32:21] community.

[2:32:23] I want to be a leading

[2:32:24] community.

[2:32:26] I want this to be a community

[2:32:28] that has three professional

[2:32:30] sports, because we are able to

[2:32:32] exist in the top tier of cities

[2:32:36] and counties in this country.

[2:32:39] I finally want to just say a

[2:32:41] word about a good friend of

[2:32:44] mine, pat frank, who is a former

[2:32:46] county commissioner, former

[2:32:47] clerk of the court, former state

[2:32:48] senator.

[2:32:49] She's 96 years old.

[2:32:51] She fell and she's in the

[2:32:53] hospital and she's recovering,

[2:32:55] and I haven't had a chance to

[2:32:56] talk to her about this

[2:32:58] particular issue, but she

[2:32:59] follows things very avidly.

[2:33:01] I've been reminded in getting

[2:33:02] ready for these remarks about

[2:33:03] something that she once said to

[2:33:06] me, and I wanted to share it.

[2:33:07] When she was on the board of

[2:33:08] county commissioners, and I

[2:33:10] believe she served with

[2:33:12] commissioner hagan, she would

[2:33:14] get annoyed sometimes because

[2:33:17] people would confuse her with

[2:33:19] commissioner jan platt, and she

[2:33:21] didn't get annoyed because she

[2:33:24] didn't like jan platt.

[2:33:25] She got annoyed because jan

[2:33:27] platt's nickname was

[2:33:29] "commissioner no."

[2:33:31] and pat told me she didn't like

[2:33:32] being confused with someone that

[2:33:35] was "commissioner no."

[2:33:37] because sometimes, most of the

[2:33:40] time the courageous vote is the

[2:33:41] "yes" vote.

[2:33:43] And today, I believe that the

[2:33:45] courageous vote is the "yes"

[2:33:46] vote but I also think it's the

[2:33:47] right vote.

[2:33:50] Because I think it's the vote

[2:33:52] that believes in the future of

[2:33:53] this community, in the future of

[2:33:56] this region, in the future of

[2:33:58] this county, and in all of our

[2:33:58] collective future.

[2:34:01] So that's where I am on the

[2:34:02] issue.

[2:34:03] Thank you.

[2:34:04] >> christine miller: thank you,

[2:34:04] sir.

[2:34:10] Next in the queue is

[2:34:12] commissioner cameron cepeda,

[2:34:13] you're recognized.

[2:34:15] There it is.

[2:34:16] >> donna cameron cepeda: thank

[2:34:16] you.

[2:34:18] So I'm a county-wide

[2:34:20] commissioner and I've been all

[2:34:21] over this county.

[2:34:23] We are one of the largest

[2:34:24] counties in the nation.

[2:34:26] We're actually about the size of

[2:34:29] 11 states I believe, and the

[2:34:30] super majority of the people

[2:34:33] that I have talked to have said,

[2:34:35] yes, they love baseball, but

[2:34:37] they just do not want to pay for

[2:34:40] a stadium, and that is really

[2:34:42] what I have heard all over this

[2:34:45] county, and again, I said super

[2:34:46] majority.

[2:34:48] There are a few but super

[2:34:50] majority actually do not want to

[2:34:53] pay for this stadium.

[2:34:56] And also, there was mention of

[2:34:59] the cit tax renewal in 2024.

[2:35:02] There was no mention of the

[2:35:02] community stadium.

[2:35:05] So I believe when the taxpayers

[2:35:09] went, when they voted for that,

[2:35:11] because there was no mention of

[2:35:13] it, it wasn't there.

[2:35:14] I don't believe they really

[2:35:17] believed they were going to be

[2:35:21] using those funds to build a

[2:35:21] stadium.

[2:35:25] And also, so that cit money,

[2:35:26] there are so many projects that

[2:35:29] we need done right now that

[2:35:32] there's a long list of that I

[2:35:33] know from my office and being

[2:35:36] all over this county that we're

[2:35:38] working very hard to get those

[2:35:41] roads fixed, get our

[2:35:42] infrastructure, roads paved, not

[2:35:44] only just potholes but getting

[2:35:47] roads paved and so many other

[2:35:48] things in our infrastructure.

[2:35:52] And to use this cit money for

[2:35:55] this I believe is wrong.

[2:35:56] I don't believe the taxpayers

[2:35:58] meant when they voted for it to

[2:36:00] be used for this, and alo this

[2:36:03] would mean that many of these

[2:36:05] hard-working families would have

[2:36:07] to, they're going through so

[2:36:09] many things right now so for

[2:36:12] example, their streets are

[2:36:14] flooding, and to use this money

[2:36:18] for a stadium would mean these

[2:36:21] projects would be moved down the

[2:36:24] list and then to have to tell

[2:36:25] the families waiting and asking

[2:36:26] where are they on the list to

[2:36:28] get these roads fixed, the

[2:36:34] project trains to stop the are

[2:36:44] flooding anding will reserves,

[2:36:48] $10. 3 million, is extremely

[2:36:50] irresponsible and the fact we're

[2:36:52] using disaster recovery money,

[2:36:53] we know that we live in a

[2:36:55] hurricane zone and we're talking

[2:37:01] about using our reserves to

[2:37:04] build a stadium an entertainment

[2:37:08] business is just unbelievable,

[2:37:09] that this, we're even discussing

[2:37:11] this to use our reserves for

[2:37:11] this.

[2:37:13] When we know we live in a

[2:37:15] hurricane zone and GOD forbid,

[2:37:16] we had more than one emergency

[2:37:20] come up at one time, and we know

[2:37:23] what it took before, you know,

[2:37:26] to take care of the disaster

[2:37:27] that happened here before during

[2:37:30] the hurricane, and so you know,

[2:37:32] there's such a long list of

[2:37:35] things I could keep going on

[2:37:37] about, also for example,

[2:37:39] borrowing money to build, also

[2:37:40] is a irresponsible.

[2:37:44] I know we're talking about the

[2:37:46] bond rating a lot and making

[2:37:48] sure we keep a good rating for

[2:37:48] that.

[2:37:50] So there's just so many

[2:37:50] different things.

[2:37:53] You know, I could keep going on

[2:37:55] about, but this money is not

[2:37:57] just about taking from a

[2:38:00] department or this department or

[2:38:01] a budget and just numbers.

[2:38:03] This is about the people of

[2:38:04] hillsborough county and their

[2:38:05] money.

[2:38:10] It's their hard-earned taxpayer

[2:38:12] dollars that is being used here.

[2:38:15] And so I believe this would be

[2:38:17] very irresponsible to vote yes

[2:38:21] on this, to approve this project

[2:38:23] and again, everybody, most

[2:38:26] people love baseball, but they

[2:38:29] just do not want to spend their

[2:38:31] hard-earned taxpayer dollars on

[2:38:35] building a stadium.

[2:38:36] Thank you.

[2:38:36] >> christine miller:

[2:38:38] commissioner myers, you're

[2:38:40] recognized.

[2:38:41] >> gwen myers: thank you, MADAM

[2:38:41] Chair.

[2:38:44] Today is about closing the deal.

[2:38:46] In baseball, the seventh inning,

[2:38:49] the manager brings in the

[2:38:50] closer.

[2:38:54] And our closer is bonnie wise

[2:38:56] and julia mandel, but in

[2:38:58] baseball, it's only one, that's

[2:38:59] to save the game.

[2:39:05] And you all have saved this

[2:39:06] county by allowing yourselves

[2:39:08] and to give up your time to

[2:39:09] negotiate, seriously to

[2:39:13] negotiate, to bring us a deal.

[2:39:16] And to you, MR. Chair, I'll talk

[2:39:19] to you end up saying from the

[2:39:21] late great sam cook, a change is

[2:39:22] going to come.

[2:39:23] So you worry about what you were

[2:39:24] going to say, but that would

[2:39:26] have been the most appropriate

[2:39:27] to say.

[2:39:31] You still can say that at the

[2:39:31] end.

[2:39:36] but I want us to be clear, that

[2:39:39] our county administrator and our

[2:39:40] county attorney, they gather

[2:39:42] themselves around a team, and

[2:39:44] they sent everyone out to the

[2:39:46] bases, and into the infield to

[2:39:49] make this deal work for us.

[2:39:51] I'm honored and pleased, and

[2:39:53] bonnie, I've told you and julia

[2:39:56] both, I thank you all for what

[2:39:57] you all have done, the

[2:39:59] sacrifices you all have made to

[2:40:02] get us to this point.

[2:40:05] We compromised.

[2:40:07] Ken I know you walked back in

[2:40:08] the room, you didn't get

[2:40:09] everything you wanted, and you

[2:40:12] can smile, but you got to move

[2:40:14] forward when we vote today.

[2:40:18] You can take a seat now.

[2:40:19] [Laughter]

[2:40:23] Okay, but this is what

[2:40:24] collaboration is all about.

[2:40:29] I'm born, raised in west tampa,

[2:40:32] ride through drew park.

[2:40:35] I remember when 8cc was first

[2:40:36] built on the campus.

[2:40:39] DR. Atwater, stand, come to the

[2:40:40] mic.

[2:40:41] You've been giving your three

[2:40:43] closing statements all over the

[2:40:44] news and the city, city hall

[2:40:44] yesterday.

[2:40:47] I want you to share with our

[2:40:51] constituents what you shared

[2:40:52] with them yesterday the three

[2:40:53] main points much why you're on

[2:40:53] board with this.

[2:40:56] >> first of all, ken atwater,

[2:40:57] PRESIDENT Of hillsborough

[2:40:57] college.

[2:40:58] I've said this before.

[2:41:00] It is a generational opportunity

[2:41:01] for the college.

[2:41:03] I talked about three buckets

[2:41:06] that really are important to us.

[2:41:08] First and foremost, facility

[2:41:10] improvement is off the chart.

[2:41:12] I don't know how to describe it.

[2:41:13] Even while I was talking

[2:41:16] yesterday, we got a report from

[2:41:24] our PRESIDENT At del maybry our

[2:41:25] elevator wasn't working again.

[2:41:28] We just spent $400,000 to fix

[2:41:28] it.

[2:41:30] The next thing we focused on was

[2:41:32] workforce development, the

[2:41:34] opportunity for enhancement of

[2:41:35] improving our workforce

[2:41:36] development effort is going to

[2:41:38] be tremendous with this

[2:41:40] partnership, and the last bucket

[2:41:40] is partnership.

[2:41:42] We focus on community.

[2:41:44] We had community in our name so

[2:41:47] long, and we just recently

[2:41:47] changed.

[2:41:49] The rays have really, really

[2:41:52] shown to us that they are

[2:41:53] investing in this community.

[2:41:56] And I said that we are a

[2:41:57] community focused and being

[2:41:59] community focused with a

[2:42:00] community investment, what

[2:42:01] greater partnership could you

[2:42:01] ask for?

[2:42:06] Those are the three buckets I

[2:42:06] talked about.

[2:42:06] Thank you.

[2:42:07] >> gwen myers: thank you.

[2:42:08] I'll ask my friend bob, will you

[2:42:10] come back to the mic?

[2:42:12] You got to speed up, bob.

[2:42:17] You're walking slow.

[2:42:19] I don't want the chair to be

[2:42:19] looking at me.

[2:42:22] Come on, bob.

[2:42:23] Speed up.

[2:42:27] Could you repeat to us again of

[2:42:28] your concerns regarding visit

[2:42:29] tampa bay?

[2:42:29] Thank you.

[2:42:32] >> bob morrison, representing

[2:42:34] hillsborough county hotel and

[2:42:35] lodging association.

[2:42:37] Our concern is that visit tampa

[2:42:40] bay is the engine that drives

[2:42:43] the revenue, that allows us to

[2:42:46] be able to have a tourist

[2:42:48] development tax fund.

[2:42:50] our belief is that, working with

[2:42:52] staff and with the rays, we

[2:42:54] believe we're going to be able

[2:42:56] to ensure that visit tampa bay

[2:42:59] is positioned to be able to do

[2:43:01] the job it needs to be able to

[2:43:03] deliver the resources and the

[2:43:07] dollars that needed to tell the

[2:43:08] story of this destination.

[2:43:09] >> gwen myers: thank you so

[2:43:09] much.

[2:43:11] Did we all get that, bonnie,

[2:43:11] julia?

[2:43:13] Did you get that, bonnie?

[2:43:13] We have it.

[2:43:16] And the reason I wanted bob to

[2:43:18] come back up is because visit

[2:43:21] tampa bay does so much here in

[2:43:22] marketing, in bringing so much

[2:43:25] here to our county, in our

[2:43:27] tourist development tax that

[2:43:29] every time we have something, I

[2:43:33] mean the last two years it's

[2:43:35] been overflowing with so many

[2:43:37] visitors here and great part of

[2:43:37] what visit tampa bay does.

[2:43:39] I want to make sure as a

[2:43:41] commissioner that we take care

[2:43:42] of them to make sure there are

[2:43:44] no layoffs, et cetera, with

[2:43:45] visit tampa bay.

[2:43:46] Did you get that?

[2:43:48] I saw you nodding yur head.

[2:43:50] You got it and I know ken heard

[2:43:50] it.

[2:43:53] But when we think of the

[2:43:56] economic impact that the rays

[2:43:58] will bring here, we won't see it

[2:43:58] tomorrow.

[2:44:01] We won't see it in the next five

[2:44:04] years, but ten and beyond, we

[2:44:06] will be so ever grateful of

[2:44:09] having the rays' baseball team

[2:44:11] here in tampa.

[2:44:14] And just yesterday, my mother

[2:44:17] turned 101 years old.

[2:44:18] Thank you all.

[2:44:21] But the point I was telling her,

[2:44:24] "mom, I have a 9:00 -- " she

[2:44:26] said, "are you off tomorrow?"

[2:44:28] i said no, the chair called a

[2:44:29] special meeting friday.

[2:44:32] I'm going to talk about the

[2:44:32] rays.

[2:44:33] We have to talk about the rays.

[2:44:35] And she said to me, "you know I

[2:44:36] watch them every time they come

[2:44:40] on, so I hope you all be talking

[2:44:42] about me still watching them."

[2:44:43] I don't know wht that meant to

[2:44:46] her, but I got what she was

[2:44:46] saying.

[2:44:49] And so with that being said,

[2:44:54] this is the opportunity for this

[2:44:56] community, this community when

[2:44:58] we think of the community

[2:45:01] benefits that the rays would

[2:45:03] bring, and I talked to ken

[2:45:06] babby, and we went out to the

[2:45:08] community and held two community

[2:45:10] meetings, and we made some

[2:45:11] promises, and some promises we

[2:45:14] were not able to keep, when it

[2:45:16] comes to affordable housing, but

[2:45:18] he shared with me, commissioner,

[2:45:20] we're going to build affordable

[2:45:22] housing throughout the city and

[2:45:23] the county.

[2:45:27] And we look at 60% to 80% of the

[2:45:28] ami, area median income.

[2:45:33] That is going to help so many

[2:45:35] people who wants the same

[2:45:40] opportunities that I have today,

[2:45:42] is to own american dream, the

[2:45:44] largest asset you can own, to

[2:45:45] become a homeowner.

[2:45:47] Then we talked about all these

[2:45:47] jobs.

[2:45:49] And as I tell the people in

[2:45:50] district three, you're always

[2:45:52] talking about jobs and

[2:45:53] affordable housing.

[2:45:56] This is the opportunity to make

[2:45:57] it happen is with the rays.

[2:46:03] We're not going to get another

[2:46:04] opportunity of what the rays are

[2:46:06] offering us, but today it's a

[2:46:07] "yes" opportunity.

[2:46:12] And I'm thankful that the rays

[2:46:14] stopped here and decided to come

[2:46:18] across the bay, here in tampa.

[2:46:20] Even to consider coming across

[2:46:21] the bay.

[2:46:24] So the city voted yesterday, and

[2:46:26] I know they all are tuning in to

[2:46:28] see how we're going to vote and

[2:46:30] I'm ready to vote and I end my

[2:46:31] comments.

[2:46:31] Thank you.

[2:46:32] >> christine miller: thank you

[2:46:32] for your comments.

[2:46:39] Next in the queue is

[2:46:40] commissioner wostal.

[2:46:41] >> joshua wostal: thank you, I

[2:46:42] had a question about a few of

[2:46:46] the financials I wanted you to

[2:46:46] confirm.

[2:46:48] If hct have, to pull up the

[2:46:49] image I provided them.

[2:46:54] The $360 million of cit funds

[2:46:57] can be used for general new

[2:47:00] infrastructure improvements,

[2:47:00] correct?

[2:47:01] >> yes.

[2:47:03] >> joshua wostal: attention to

[2:47:05] the screen, an image provided on

[2:47:06] the public record multiple times

[2:47:08] as early as AUGUST the 2nd, from

[2:47:13] a constituent in her 70s or 80s,

[2:47:15] I believe, that has had requests

[2:47:18] in for their community for 15

[2:47:20] years to repair their sidewalks

[2:47:22] from the county, and because of

[2:47:23] our dereliction of duty to

[2:47:23] -

[2:47:25] accomplish that, she has maimed

[2:47:27] her face on more than one time.

[2:47:29] This was the pinnacle of one of

[2:47:30] other neighbors that provided

[2:47:31] this to us.

[2:47:36] Could that $360 million there

[2:47:37] still delay until possibly next

[2:47:38] fiscal year to repair, could

[2:47:41] this money have gone to help fix

[2:47:43] this community's roads that also

[2:47:45] need to resurface, much less

[2:47:46] their sidewalks?

[2:47:49] >> commissioner, out of the

[2:47:50] project list that the board

[2:47:52] approved, about half of that

[2:47:54] project list was really to do

[2:47:55] transportation improvements

[2:47:57] which would include sidewalks,

[2:47:58] roads, bridges.

[2:47:59] >> joshua wostal: thank you very

[2:47:59] much.

[2:48:00] This is one of many harms.

[2:48:02] As you know, you sit on the

[2:48:03] board that decides the

[2:48:05] settlements for the trip and

[2:48:05] fall claims.

[2:48:07] I brought an item a couple of

[2:48:09] years ago, where staff made

[2:48:10] clear that just over a

[2:48:12] couple-year period, we had paid

[2:48:15] out a couple million dollars of

[2:48:17] property taxes for these same

[2:48:20] trip-and-fall claims to avoid

[2:48:21] lawsuits, and I'd like to make

[2:48:23] it very clear to the community,

[2:48:26] that's just one of many harms

[2:48:28] and maiming that we could have

[2:48:31] prevented with this money, due

[2:48:33] to the fact that we still have

[2:48:36] about a decade backlog, despite

[2:48:36] our record-breaking investment

[2:48:37] over the past four years.

[2:48:38] This is money that was dedicated

[2:48:41] and promised and marketed to the

[2:48:45] community in 2024 that we would

[2:48:46] prioritize their needs over

[2:48:48] other people's wants.

[2:48:54] And any "yes" vote on that going

[2:48:59] towards anything but that is a

[2:49:01] dereliction of duty.

[2:49:03] Vaguely it is said "county

[2:49:04] funds," that's our general funds

[2:49:08] and most of it is property

[2:49:08] taxes.

[2:49:09] Is that correct?

[2:49:11] >> most of those dollars would

[2:49:13] likely come from general funds.

[2:49:14] There are multiple sources we

[2:49:17] would take a look at to be able

[2:49:19] to come up wth most appropriate

[2:49:19] sources.

[2:49:22] Most of those would be funded by

[2:49:24] general funds, general funds

[2:49:26] about 80% of the revenue that

[2:49:29] goes into the general funds is

[2:49:29] property taxes.

[2:49:31] >> so about we'll say $88

[2:49:33] million of property taxes.

[2:49:37] This same body of government

[2:49:40] also put forward a presentation

[2:49:43] to us that amendment three if

[2:49:45] voted through would just be, oh

[2:49:46] my gosh, devastating to the

[2:49:47] county.

[2:49:48] Actually possibly from your own

[2:49:51] office, I might have put that

[2:49:51] together.

[2:49:54] So the same body of government

[2:49:55] saying amendment three if

[2:49:57] passes, oh my GOD, we won't be

[2:49:59] able to fund critical resources,

[2:50:01] but here we are randomly finding

[2:50:04] almost $100 million of those

[2:50:05] same property taxes to subsidize

[2:50:07] the rich and the powerful.

[2:50:10] And that to me is just another

[2:50:13] testament of why you must vote

[2:50:15] yes on amendment three in

[2:50:15] NOVEMBER.

[2:50:17] Now over and over, we have said

[2:50:19] that the total burden from the

[2:50:21] county is going to be $796

[2:50:23] million, but I would like to

[2:50:25] bring everyone's attention to

[2:50:29] exhibit "I" of the agreement.

[2:50:30] Exhibit "I" is the bond payments

[2:50:32] we have to pay back, most of the

[2:50:33] general public does not

[2:50:34] understand what that means.

[2:50:36] There's a table on the back of

[2:50:39] it, but that total of exhibit

[2:50:41] "I" over the 35 years of bonding

[2:50:43] to the tourist development tax,

[2:50:45] and I will be clear, all seven

[2:50:48] of us unanimously voted in

[2:50:49] JANUARY to support this deal,

[2:50:51] and I continue to support this

[2:50:53] deal on the user fees that the

[2:50:55] team promised they would be

[2:50:57] going after, and the alleged

[2:51:00] excess of cit that I warned them

[2:51:02] multiple times did not exist and

[2:51:04] now we are at that reality

[2:51:04] today.

[2:51:07] None of the $360 million of the

[2:51:09] "yes" vote in JANUARY that they

[2:51:12] claimed would be from alleged

[2:51:13] excess cit is excess cit.

[2:51:14] I'll get to that in a minute and

[2:51:19] how that impacts us.

[2:51:24] That total amount of exhibit "I"

[2:51:27] is $569 million.

[2:51:31] That $569 million is of interest

[2:51:32] that has not been clearly

[2:51:34] disclosed on the total amount.

[2:51:36] Is that correct, that the

[2:51:38] taxpayers are accountable for,

[2:51:40] $569 million over a 35-year

[2:51:40] period?

[2:51:45] >> that would be debt service,

[2:51:46] that would be principle and

[2:51:46] interest, yes.

[2:51:47] >> joshua wostal: okay, I'd like

[2:51:48] to make it clear to the media

[2:51:50] reporting the total burden of

[2:51:51] the hilsborough county

[2:51:54] taxpayers side of the deal is

[2:51:58] $796 million is grossly

[2:52:01] inaccurate.

[2:52:02] Exhibit "I" if you'd like to

[2:52:03] reference that.

[2:52:08] Of the $360 million, when we put

[2:52:10] the 2024 cit forward, I

[2:52:12] championed that alongside

[2:52:12] commissioner owen.

[2:52:14] It might have been commissioner

[2:52:16] myers and hagan that voted no on

[2:52:16] that, I can't recall, but I

[2:52:18] believe that's right on the

[2:52:21] final vote, we bucketed $596

[2:52:27] million for public facilities.

[2:52:27] Correct?

[2:52:30] >> that's correct, I believe,

[2:52:33] commissioner, $597.

[2:52:38] >> 597, I was off by $1 million,

[2:52:38] I apologize.

[2:52:41] We clearly put in there and

[2:52:42] marketed to the community the

[2:52:44] list of projects that would be

[2:52:46] eligible for that bucket of

[2:52:50] money and more importantly,

[2:52:52] about the 2024 cit renewal that

[2:52:53] another cause that commissioner

[2:52:55] owen and I put in there, we

[2:52:57] continue to claim we have a

[2:52:59] 20-year backlog on public safety

[2:53:00] improvements, including the

[2:53:00] sidewalk that unfortunately

[2:53:02] injured the member of farmington

[2:53:07] hoa that we saw on the screen

[2:53:08] earlier and unnecessarily maimed

[2:53:08] her.

[2:53:11] There is a list of projects and

[2:53:11] a list of money.

[2:53:14] We accounted for all 15 years of

[2:53:18] money that's available.

[2:53:21] That total amount is $ 00

[2:53:22] million but out of that bucket

[2:53:24] of money we'll award $360

[2:53:28] million for an unaccounted for

[2:53:28] expenditure

[2:53:33] expenditure, over 50% in a

[2:53:34] four-year period accounting for

[2:53:35] a 15-year total take.

[2:53:39] Which means a couple of things.

[2:53:42] One is that we're having to

[2:53:44] steal from the future or steal

[2:53:45] from the other buckets of money

[2:53:49] over the first four years to

[2:53:50] make this money available.

[2:53:53] And it also means that since

[2:53:56] this $360 million to the rays,

[2:54:02] which again I voted "yes" on in

[2:54:03] JANUARY and proposed giving them

[2:54:05] the development tax which is

[2:54:08] $737 million, confirmed by you

[2:54:12] at a previous meeting, on a 3%

[2:54:17] compound and growth, isn't it

[2:54:18] not true that one or more of

[2:54:21] these items must be impacted,

[2:54:22] delayed or potentially canceled

[2:54:25] outright, snce we only budgeted

[2:54:26] 597 but we're already expending

[2:54:30] 360 on an unknown source?

[2:54:32] >> commissioner, if we were to

[2:54:35] look at the cit as a whole, the

[2:54:36] entire -- there were certain

[2:54:37] buckets that were set up, the

[2:54:38] board could, through a public

[2:54:40] hearing process, go back and

[2:54:41] move things around and realign

[2:54:47] things, but out of the total,

[2:54:48] there was I guess $100 million

[2:54:49] that we know that's in the deal

[2:54:53] right now the lithia pinecrest.

[2:54:56] that would offset the 360.

[2:54:58] We have $60 million in

[2:54:59] contingency that was built in as

[2:55:00] one of the items.

[2:55:03] So that would take us down from

[2:55:05] say 260 down to $200 million.

[2:55:06] >> joshua wostal: okay.

[2:55:09] >> from that point, I guess

[2:55:11] there probably are a number of

[2:55:12] different things and different

[2:55:15] ways that that could be made up.

[2:55:16] I went over some of those today,

[2:55:18] there would be revenues

[2:55:20] generated by the new ball park

[2:55:20] district.

[2:55:22] There would be eventually

[2:55:23] property taxes that would come

[2:55:25] out of that, that would come

[2:55:26] back to us.

[2:55:27] There would be sales tax that

[2:55:28] would be generated.

[2:55:30] We could look for alternate

[2:55:31] funding sources for some of the

[2:55:33] projects that are currently in

[2:55:36] the approved cit that might be

[2:55:37] impact fees, that could be

[2:55:39] grants and things of that

[2:55:40] nature.

[2:55:41] So I would say it's kind of

[2:55:42] fluid.

[2:55:43] We haven't really gotten into

[2:55:45] the new cit yet, but we would

[2:55:47] look at other ways to make up

[2:55:48] for the amount that would be

[2:55:50] committed to the rays.

[2:55:51] >> joshua wostal: so out of

[2:55:52] those projects, just so

[2:55:54] everybody understands what's

[2:55:55] listed in there as community

[2:55:57] facilities is the raymond james

[2:55:59] stadium, capital maintenance and

[2:56:03] repair, the amelie arena,

[2:56:07] capital mate nance and repair,

[2:56:10] now benchmark international, and

[2:56:12] the other structure added and

[2:56:14] pet resources shelter in dire

[2:56:15] need of expansion.

[2:56:17] Those are the line items that

[2:56:19] are likely going to be impacted

[2:56:20] in one way or another.

[2:56:24] now, you mentioned that we could

[2:56:25] potentially generate prperty

[2:56:26] tax growth, but you have a chart

[2:56:28] up there where the county is

[2:56:32] only going to generate $87

[2:56:34] million total over the 35-year

[2:56:34] period.

[2:56:34] Is that correct?

[2:56:36] >> right, that was something

[2:56:38] that was a tougher part of the

[2:56:40] negotiation with the team.

[2:56:42] Ultimately, what we resolved

[2:56:44] last week was the team was

[2:56:45] willing to increase the rent

[2:56:47] that they were going to be

[2:56:48] paying us over the 35-year

[2:56:49] period, which we thought was a

[2:56:52] good compromise, because the

[2:56:54] additional rent that they came

[2:56:56] up with offset the amount that

[2:56:59] we were trying to get out of the

[2:57:00] property tax deal.

[2:57:02] So with the additional rent and

[2:57:05] the cpi, we were able to make up

[2:57:06] that difference.

[2:57:09] >> joshua wostal: but we're

[2:57:10] giving them $103 million

[2:57:13] million, 88 we'll call it of

[2:57:14] property taxes today, and we're

[2:57:18] only going to get over a 35-year

[2:57:22] period 87 total back.

[2:57:23] If you just looked at those

[2:57:25] numbers and started calculating

[2:57:28] net present value, the taxpayers

[2:57:31] are at a significant delta.

[2:57:36] I mean, the total of 463

[2:57:38] million, the 103 of local

[2:57:40] general funds and property taxes

[2:57:44] plus the 360 cit, if you

[2:57:45] calculated that out today with

[2:57:49] let's call a very low 4% future

[2:57:51] value of growth year over year

[2:57:53] for 35 years, that money is

[2:57:58] worth $1.83 billion, and that's

[2:58:02] a very low conservative

[2:58:02] calculation.

[2:58:05] None of these financial metrics

[2:58:08] make up for these massive losses

[2:58:10] and disparities between the two

[2:58:12] numbers of how much the value of

[2:58:13] the money is today.

[2:58:14] Yes, it sounds nice to say we're

[2:58:17] going to get a couple hundred

[2:58:21] million dollars back in lease,

[2:58:22] but none of it accounts for how

[2:58:26] much money that is worth 35

[2:58:27] years from now.

[2:58:29] Now, I want to move on to, it

[2:58:31] was said that fire -- this is

[2:58:32] going to generate fire rescue

[2:58:35] needs, but this is going to be

[2:58:39] county-wide property tax

[2:58:42] generation, a very de minimus

[2:58:43] $87 million over 35 years.

[2:58:46] The county-wide property taxes

[2:58:49] can't be used to fund

[2:58:50] hillsborough county fire rescue.

[2:58:51] >> that's correct.

[2:58:53] They can fund emergency

[2:58:54] management but typically it's

[2:58:56] the unincorporated area of

[2:58:57] revenue that goes toward fire

[2:58:58] rescue operations.

[2:59:00] >> joshua wostal: I wanted to

[2:59:01] make that clear.

[2:59:03] It was also said that we

[2:59:05] guaranteed protections for fire

[2:59:05] rescue.

[2:59:10] How can you guarantee that, from

[2:59:11] a future board?

[2:59:13] They could change the cit list

[2:59:14] at any time.

[2:59:16] So what was the hardened

[2:59:16] protection?

[2:59:20] I didn't see that in there.

[2:59:21] >> I don't know that we had any

[2:59:22] specific --

[2:59:23] >> joshua wostal: no specific,

[2:59:24] okay, because it was said and

[2:59:27] that's a big one, and fire

[2:59:29] rescue, unfortunately, they're

[2:59:34] an emotional heartstring like

[2:59:35] teachers, their name leaks

[2:59:35] ikes to

[2:59:36] get used.

[2:59:38] When is the public hearing, it's

[2:59:39] in the documents, MISS Machine

[2:59:40] dale, thank you so much, a legal

[2:59:41] requirement.

[2:59:42] How much time are we going to

[2:59:43] give and notice the general

[2:59:46] public instead of a secret

[2:59:48] fly-by-night special meeting,

[2:59:49] I've not had a special meeting

[2:59:51] in four years since I've been

[2:59:53] here, so when is -- even when we

[2:59:54] had hurricanes we didn't have

[2:59:55] special meetings.

[2:59:58] When is, how much time are we

[3:00:00] going to have to advertise to

[3:00:00] the legally-required public

[3:00:04] hearing to amend the inner local

[3:00:04] agreement?

[3:00:06] >> let me make sure I understand

[3:00:07] your question.

[3:00:10] Amending an interlocal

[3:00:11] agreement, you mean in terms of

[3:00:12] holding the cit public hearing?

[3:00:15] That will have to be noticed, my

[3:00:16] understanding and sam can

[3:00:18] correct me if I'm wrong, that

[3:00:19] that public hearing will have to

[3:00:21] be noticed in the newspaper.

[3:00:24] That's the legal obligation, and

[3:00:26] so that period of time that it

[3:00:29] takes to get it noticed.

[3:00:31] I don't think there was a

[3:00:32] specific period of time that is

[3:00:33] required for when that notice

[3:00:36] goes in, but we will have to put

[3:00:38] it in the newspaper prior to

[3:00:39] what that schedule is.

[3:00:41] You will need to set that public

[3:00:42] hearing, so we will have a

[3:00:44] request from you to set the

[3:00:44] public hearing.

[3:00:46] Then we'll go ahead and get that

[3:00:47] scheduled in the newspaper.

[3:00:49] So that would be the timeframe

[3:00:52] of how that would go, and again,

[3:00:53] if sam thinks I'm incorrect in

[3:00:58] what I just said, I'd love him

[3:00:58] to say so.

[3:00:59] >> joshua wostal: sam, are you

[3:01:04] good?

[3:01:07] >> sam hamilton, county

[3:01:08] attorney's office, yes.

[3:01:10] There is a local ordinance

[3:01:10] requirement for a public hearing

[3:01:12] to amend the cit projects list.

[3:01:13] it's not the interlocal.

[3:01:14] It's the projects list.

[3:01:15] >> joshua wostal: yes, the

[3:01:16] project list.

[3:01:16] >> right.

[3:01:17] >> joshua wostal: will how much

[3:01:20] time of notice is what I'm

[3:01:20] asking.

[3:01:22] Is there a requirement or do we

[3:01:22] typically get --

[3:01:24] >> no, it's typically five to

[3:01:26] seven days, the ad's in the

[3:01:27] paper and the hearing is five to

[3:01:28] seven days after.

[3:01:29] It's not a state law

[3:01:30] requirement.

[3:01:31] It's the local cit ordinance.

[3:01:32] >> joshua wostal: commissioner

[3:01:35] cohen, you had promised that you

[3:01:36] wanted several public hearings

[3:01:37] at the last conversation, and I

[3:01:39] think that we should have ample

[3:01:41] time of promoting that to the

[3:01:43] community and it should be one

[3:01:45] at 6:00 P.M., not at 9:00 A.M.,

[3:01:47] when people struggle to get out

[3:01:48] of work.

[3:01:50] At a minimum, I'm perfectly

[3:01:52] fine, I'm fine with us giving

[3:01:55] the rays -- what's the life of

[3:01:57] the stadium, 50 years probably

[3:02:00] is a fair -- okay.

[3:02:02] I'm fine giving them the entire

[3:02:04] 50 years, which would probably

[3:02:06] get them north of $1 billion.

[3:02:10] I didn't scale it down past

[3:02:12] 2061, to make it more amenable

[3:02:12] to them.

[3:02:15] If they need our local tax

[3:02:16] dollars, at some point, somebody

[3:02:18] should introduce some type of

[3:02:21] royalty recruitment, because in

[3:02:23] the documents, the rays are

[3:02:27] still demanding 100% revenue of

[3:02:31] all ticket sales for games and

[3:02:33] concerts, right?

[3:02:33] >> the proposal they sent to

[3:02:35] this, and this is not on the

[3:02:36] agreement in front of you, on

[3:02:37] the use agreement was to keep

[3:02:39] 100% of those revenues.

[3:02:41] >> joshua wostal: 100% revenues

[3:02:43] of concessions, of parking.

[3:02:45] Why in the world would you guys

[3:02:49] sacrifice the naming rights of

[3:02:49] our building?

[3:02:52] All of these things should be

[3:02:55] made very clear and in some way,

[3:02:58] some royalty program from

[3:03:01] concessions, parking, you could

[3:03:02] get huge royalties from, one of

[3:03:05] the most lucrative are all ways

[3:03:07] you should introduce a

[3:03:10] recoupment of the $360 million

[3:03:13] so at a minimum te tacks pairs

[3:03:14] don't feel absolutely betrayed,

[3:03:15] because commissioner hagan,

[3:03:18] while I do agree with many of

[3:03:19] your points and I do believe the

[3:03:20] rays should choose to come here

[3:03:23] if they don't want to stay in

[3:03:26] st. Petersburg, and they should

[3:03:29] choose to do it in the mapper in

[3:03:30] which they originally proched us

[3:03:33] in a user fee agreement and

[3:03:35] avoiding our local taxes, which

[3:03:37] we talked about several times,

[3:03:41] MR. Babby, and I warned you guys

[3:03:43] there was no such thing as an

[3:03:43] excess.

[3:03:44] I told you to stop tiding it, it

[3:03:46] was not a reality, you should

[3:03:49] introduce a royalty fee program

[3:03:52] to recoup this money in a short

[3:03:53] amount of time.

[3:03:56] What have we decided is the

[3:03:56] predictable break-even from this

[3:03:58] project from the taxpayers that

[3:03:58] we talked about yesterday in our

[3:04:02] briefing?

[3:04:04] 20 years.

[3:04:05] >> oh, as far as the timeframe,

[3:04:05] commissioner?

[3:04:07] >> joshua wostal: yes, I know.

[3:04:08] >> I had not calculated that.

[3:04:11] I wouldn't try to calculate that

[3:04:15] because it would be very

[3:04:16] speculative.

[3:04:16] >> joshua wostal: very

[3:04:18] speculative like the ae com

[3:04:19] report we said because they were

[3:04:22] unable to "obtain many of the

[3:04:23] necessary documents" such as

[3:04:25] detailed site plans for them to

[3:04:27] make accurate decisions so that

[3:04:29] everything in their document was

[3:04:34] also "purely speculative."

[3:04:35] this agreement, of course the

[3:04:37] city of tampa voted yes, because

[3:04:40] almost all of the burden is

[3:04:44] shifted onto the unincorporated

[3:04:44] taxpayers of hillsborough

[3:04:45] county.

[3:04:48] When we apportion the revenue

[3:04:50] structure for how we get our

[3:04:54] percentage of cit, we base that

[3:04:55] off of population.

[3:04:58] That is how we get our money

[3:04:58] from the cit.

[3:05:02] And the unincorporated

[3:05:02] hillsborough represents the

[3:05:06] super majority 70% of the

[3:05:07] population, and they see to get

[3:05:09] a lowest amount of benefit from

[3:05:09] this.

[3:05:14] The rays are right now averaging

[3:05:17] about 17,100 members per home

[3:05:17] game.

[3:05:18] I'm happen.

[3:05:20] Y to be corrected on

[3:05:22] that number but that's all the

[3:05:24] reported data I could find.

[3:05:27] That is 1% of hillsborough

[3:05:31] county's population and a far

[3:05:32] cry from how many hillsborough

[3:05:33] county residents are the people

[3:05:34] attending the games.

[3:05:38] Even ae com's less speculative

[3:05:39] part of their study said that,

[3:05:40] even after the rays get a bump

[3:05:44] of a new stadium and a

[3:05:45] semirelocation, they will still,

[3:05:47] unfortunately, I'm not happy

[3:05:48] about this, this was their

[3:05:51] report, be in the bottom third

[3:05:54] of the mlb, averaging 20,500,

[3:05:56] slightly over 1% of the entire

[3:05:57] county's population.

[3:06:02] And it still won't be 100% of

[3:06:03] hills blow

[3:06:04] hillsborough residents

[3:06:04] attending.

[3:06:06] This is an albatross, one-sided

[3:06:07] to the unincorporateded

[3:06:08] residents of hillsborough

[3:06:10] county, and when we get sued, I

[3:06:12] won't litigate it here, we will

[3:06:13] be sued.

[3:06:15] That is just a simple reality.

[3:06:17] It doesn't matter the legal

[3:06:20] advice that we received in 2018

[3:06:21] from the private citizen group

[3:06:22] is that they would be sued.

[3:06:25] They felt fine, they got sued

[3:06:28] and lost.

[3:06:30] 2022, the attorney's office felt

[3:06:31] good about the tax at the

[3:06:32] county's level, got sued and

[3:06:33] they lost.

[3:06:38] When the term "express

[3:06:39] [Language other than english]

[3:06:41] Gets introduced we'll have a

[3:06:44] very real conversation, yes,

[3:06:46] about the legal precedence that

[3:06:47] longstanding exist in the state

[3:06:48] of florida.

[3:06:51] This could be a good deal and

[3:06:53] the tif agreement, MR. Chair, is

[3:06:55] good for the county, but the

[3:06:57] remainder of the local taxes,

[3:06:59] you cannot protect fire rescue.

[3:06:59] That's a myth.

[3:07:01] It shouldn't have ever been

[3:07:01] said.

[3:07:04] It can't be made a reality, and

[3:07:06] the fact that we would use

[3:07:08] property taxes is just the

[3:07:09] greatest offense.

[3:07:11] Thank you very much for your

[3:07:12] time, for your consideration.

[3:07:14] I do wish the team luck.

[3:07:16] I actually happen to like very

[3:07:17] much the owners.

[3:07:19] I'm saddened that a little bit

[3:07:21] of dishonesty was introduced to

[3:07:23] me, the transparency for the

[3:07:25] financial agreements promise

[3:07:27] should have been kept, and much

[3:07:28] of this storm could have been

[3:07:30] avoided and we would probably

[3:07:33] not have so much public outcry.

[3:07:34] Thank you.

[3:07:34] >> christine miller: thank you

[3:07:35] for your comments.

[3:07:38] Not seeing anyone else in the

[3:07:40] queue, I can move on to my

[3:07:40] comments before calling the

[3:07:41] vote.

[3:07:42] Are we good?

[3:07:42] Okay.

[3:07:45] I first would like to say

[3:07:47] powerful opening remarks, chair

[3:07:47] hagan.

[3:07:50] I'm not -- not that I'm not

[3:07:52] surprised, it just was so well

[3:07:53] summarized and you go through

[3:07:55] your own remarks that you have

[3:07:57] prepared, you really just did a

[3:07:59] fantastic job of sort of

[3:08:01] bringing it all together.

[3:08:04] Harry, your excitement and

[3:08:06] energy and just vigor for this

[3:08:10] deal and what it means for the

[3:08:10] people you respect in your

[3:08:11] district is so heartwarming.

[3:08:14] I really appreciated it.

[3:08:15] It is an honor to serve

[3:08:16] alongside of you all.

[3:08:18] I think I'm only junior to

[3:08:20] chris, who came in a few months

[3:08:22] after me and really your

[3:08:25] experience of you all serving on

[3:08:27] this board shows and I

[3:08:28] appreciate it.

[3:08:32] I'd like to also thank MISS Wise

[3:08:34] and mandel who met with me

[3:08:36] countless times over the last

[3:08:36] several months.

[3:08:39] They're meeting with me and with

[3:08:40] all of our colleagues.

[3:08:43] It is -- they and their staff

[3:08:44] have gone so far above and

[3:08:46] beyond in this very important

[3:08:46] negotiation, often taking

[3:08:48] meetings from vacations, late in

[3:08:50] the evening, from their cars

[3:08:51] early in the morning.

[3:08:53] I think I've met with them at

[3:08:53] all times.

[3:08:56] I hear them making dinner while

[3:08:56] answering my questions.

[3:08:58] It's really been remarkable,

[3:09:01] their level of commitment.

[3:09:03] I also want everyone that's on

[3:09:05] their teams to know that they

[3:09:05] always gave credit.

[3:09:07] Because it isn't about the two

[3:09:09] of them that you see sitting

[3:09:09] here.

[3:09:11] Every time I met with them, they

[3:09:12] would give credit to who was

[3:09:14] working on a particular item on

[3:09:15] their team, and made sure that

[3:09:18] we understood how diligently

[3:09:18] they were working as well behind

[3:09:19] the scenes.

[3:09:21] The dedication you showed to

[3:09:22] this board and the people of

[3:09:23] hillsborough county has not gone

[3:09:26] unnoticed and I want to

[3:09:27] personally say thank you.

[3:09:31] I'd also like today to thank ken

[3:09:34] baby and his entire rays

[3:09:36] contract working on this deal

[3:09:38] also heard they duked it out

[3:09:40] behind closed doors and managed

[3:09:41] to stay and they were committed

[3:09:44] to working through these tough

[3:09:45] conversations and also took

[3:09:46] calls at all hours.

[3:09:48] I'm grateful to be here today,

[3:09:51] finally in this moment.

[3:09:53] As was mentioned earlier, in

[3:09:55] JANUARY, this board approved a

[3:09:56] renovation of benchmark arena

[3:09:58] and I said at that time that the

[3:10:00] contract set the bar for what we

[3:10:02] should expect from any future

[3:10:03] partner.

[3:10:05] I meant it and I've held this

[3:10:07] deal against that standard, a

[3:10:08] standard that all seven of us

[3:10:12] agreed to and voted to support.

[3:10:13] That deal provided that private

[3:10:17] contribution of just 25%.

[3:10:18] Previous boards required

[3:10:20] nothing, not a red cent from a

[3:10:22] private entity and as a result,

[3:10:23] we still became tampa bay.

[3:10:26] The rays are offering to fund

[3:10:29] 66% of a new public facility, a

[3:10:33] stadium that the county will

[3:10:35] own, and because a 25%

[3:10:36] contribution was enough for the

[3:10:38] lightning, 62% has to be more

[3:10:40] than enough for the rays.

[3:10:44] The team is putting in more than

[3:10:46] $1.3 million, close to

[3:10:47] two-thirds of the cost and

[3:10:50] covering every dollar of

[3:10:50] overrun.

[3:10:53] The county shares capped at $796

[3:10:55] million, $100 million less than

[3:10:57] what was on the table in MAY.

[3:10:58] Hillsborough county will own the

[3:11:00] ball park, collect the rent and

[3:11:03] hold the 35-year agreement that

[3:11:04] keeps the team here.

[3:11:06] I come from plant city, where

[3:11:07] you don't buy the first

[3:11:09] strawberry in the row, and

[3:11:11] district four did not buy the

[3:11:13] first stadium deal either.

[3:11:15] We held out and now tallahassee

[3:11:18] is subsidizing a long-awaited

[3:11:19] road project.

[3:11:20] The deal that was handed in MAY

[3:11:23] is not the deal in front of me

[3:11:23] today.

[3:11:26] It's better in every way.

[3:11:28] The only named project in this

[3:11:31] agreement is livia pinecrest.

[3:11:33] If tallahassee doesn't deliver

[3:11:35] the $900 million fought hard

[3:11:38] for, the county pulls that same

[3:11:39] amount out of the ball park.

[3:11:40] That protection exists because

[3:11:41] we negotiated it.

[3:11:44] That protection is for the

[3:11:45] county taxpayers.

[3:11:46] Before a single public dollar

[3:11:48] moves, the rays have to prove

[3:11:50] their financing is in place.

[3:11:52] If they don't, the money stays

[3:11:53] where it is.

[3:11:55] PRESIDENT Reagan gave us three

[3:11:57] words for exactly this moment,

[3:11:59] and they've held up for 40

[3:12:02] years, "trust but verify."

[3:12:04] I'll be voting yes today because

[3:12:07] i trust the terms are right and

[3:12:09] because 115 acres that currently

[3:12:11] pays us nothing will finally

[3:12:12] start paying fort things we need

[3:12:13] and enjoy across this entire

[3:12:18] county.

[3:12:20] I see commissioner boles has

[3:12:22] gotten in the queue.

[3:12:27] I will wait to call the vote at

[3:12:27] this time.

[3:12:29] >> chris boles: sorry, I was

[3:12:30] writing and thought I pushed the

[3:12:32] button and apparently it didn't

[3:12:32] hold.

[3:12:34] I appreciate all of my fellow

[3:12:34] commissioners' comments.

[3:12:39] I think there's been a number of

[3:12:40] great points made by everyone

[3:12:43] here, and I think tht, you

[3:12:45] know, over the last several

[3:12:50] months, I've been very

[3:12:51] consistent about how I was with

[3:12:53] my position that I wanted to

[3:12:55] look at this and keep an open

[3:12:57] mind about it, and we've to that

[3:12:58] point I think I've done that.

[3:13:00] I do have a couple -- excuse me,

[3:13:06] I do have a couple questions for

[3:13:14] these two nice ladies beside me.

[3:13:16] First, in laura lawson, I don't

[3:13:18] know if she's still here or not.

[3:13:19] She walked out.

[3:13:24] She brought up, MISS Mandel,

[3:13:26] that the tax collector's office

[3:13:27] is going to be demolished and

[3:13:30] destroyed.L,

[3:13:30] that the tax collector's office

[3:13:31] is going to be demolished and

[3:13:31] destroyed.

[3:13:34] Because we rebuilt it ten years

[3:13:34] ago.

[3:13:34] I believe if we recall last

[3:13:36] night, you made a statement to

[3:13:36] that.

[3:13:37] Could we make that statement

[3:13:38] again, to know there's a

[3:13:40] protection there for that of

[3:13:40] sorts?

[3:13:41] >> yes.

[3:13:43] Right now, the tax collector's

[3:13:45] office is under a very long-term

[3:13:45] shes.

[3:13:49] I think the end date is 2063, as

[3:13:54] the end date, and I know they

[3:13:55] have also working with the

[3:13:57] college as it relates to that

[3:13:58] lease, who took that over.

[3:14:00] Right now, I am under no

[3:14:02] understanding and I've had this,

[3:14:03] also this conversation with the

[3:14:04] attorney that's representing the

[3:14:06] tax collector through this

[3:14:09] process that there is any plans

[3:14:10] to demolish that building, that

[3:14:11] that lease will be honored by

[3:14:12] the college.

[3:14:14] Now, certainly, there MAY be

[3:14:15] conversations in the future

[3:14:17] about what could potentially

[3:14:19] happen, but that will be a

[3:14:20] robust discussion that will have

[3:14:23] to include the tax collectors,

[3:14:25] and her staff, so that they can

[3:14:26] feel comfortable with whatever

[3:14:27] decision is made.

[3:14:29] But I also understand that there

[3:14:32] is no plans to even start to

[3:14:34] develop, that's in a phase two

[3:14:35] or phase three those properties

[3:14:37] as of today.

[3:14:39] So that's where that is at this

[3:14:39] moment.

[3:14:41] But they do have that long-term

[3:14:44] lease that will grant them the

[3:14:46] protections moving forward.

[3:14:47] >> chris boles: thank you.

[3:14:49] And of course we can't, we don't

[3:14:51] know -- again, we've all talked

[3:14:53] about speculation, what happens

[3:14:53] in the future.

[3:14:55] We don't know, new governor, new

[3:14:57] legislature, anything could

[3:14:58] happen before that.

[3:14:59] To the same extent, there's

[3:15:00] this, there's been some articles

[3:15:04] in the papers and that have been

[3:15:05] circulating around about the

[3:15:08] department of juvenile justice

[3:15:08] facility as well.

[3:15:10] You claimed last night to have

[3:15:11] some knowledge on that as well?

[3:15:12] >> yes.

[3:15:13] >> chris boles: and as I

[3:15:15] understand, this is something

[3:15:16] that's been in the works, and in

[3:15:19] fact, it even extends over to

[3:15:21] the center that's off of

[3:15:22] columbus avenue as well, that

[3:15:24] even though we broke ground

[3:15:25] there, that they determined I

[3:15:27] think that there's some issues

[3:15:29] with that as well.

[3:15:30] >> yes.

[3:15:32] The site, there's been

[3:15:33] conversations that have been

[3:15:35] ongoing from what I've been told

[3:15:36] through our staff.

[3:15:40] John muller and the department

[3:15:41] of real estate, the

[3:15:45] conversations have been ongoing

[3:15:48] to relocate djj since at least

[3:15:49] 2023 and probably before then.

[3:15:51] There was a site from what I

[3:15:52] understand that was identified

[3:15:54] that even I heard broke ground,

[3:15:55] but the problem was there was

[3:15:57] some issues with that site.

[3:15:59] So that has been continuing.

[3:16:01] From what I do also understand

[3:16:02] is, the announcement to move

[3:16:05] them was not something we were

[3:16:05] aware of.

[3:16:07] That just came from the state,

[3:16:09] but we're working with them to

[3:16:12] create both a transition plan

[3:16:14] and find appropriate places for

[3:16:16] them to at some point relocate.

[3:16:21] So we've been working through

[3:16:22] those issues through our staff.

[3:16:23] >> chris boles: it is possible

[3:16:23] this is a coincidence of sorts?

[3:16:27] >> it is my understanding, this

[3:16:28] is what happened.

[3:16:28] >> chris boles: smeone not

[3:16:30] necessarily related to the

[3:16:32] other, thank you.

[3:16:36] Excuse me, very much.

[3:16:38] We're talking about tdt and the

[3:16:42] money that comes from that, and

[3:16:44] certainly commissioner wostal

[3:16:47] pointed out earlier that there's

[3:16:48] going to be bonds that are

[3:16:49] associated with that.

[3:16:51] We don't know what those bond

[3:16:54] ratings are.

[3:16:57] Roughly, MISS Wise, because we

[3:16:58] know this is your area of

[3:16:59] expertise, if we were to pull

[3:17:01] one today, what is the bond

[3:17:01] market for us?

[3:17:03] What is the kind of percentages

[3:17:04] we'd be getting?

[3:17:07] I heard you yesterday, it was

[3:17:08] the worst in possible history

[3:17:11] that we could possibly get was

[3:17:14] today, during the city meeting.

[3:17:15] Is that true?

[3:17:17] Is this the worst time in

[3:17:17] history?

[3:17:20] >> the worst time in restory?

[3:17:20] >> chris boles: yes.

[3:17:22] >> not to my knowledge, no, and

[3:17:25] you know, I think just as an

[3:17:27] aside, because I am so proud of

[3:17:30] our bond ratings, we just,

[3:17:30] thomas just sent you a memo that

[3:17:33] we just had our water and sewer

[3:17:36] bonds upgraded to triple "a"

[3:17:36] rating.

[3:17:38] So the rating on our bonds is

[3:17:39] really paramount to us.

[3:17:43] It is all part of the whole cash

[3:17:46] management that we do for alt

[3:17:47] projects.

[3:17:49] >> chris boles: so but with the

[3:17:54] tdt money, which is also

[3:17:55] referred to kind of uf minimum

[3:17:58] of "bed tax," right?

[3:18:00] We talk about heads in beds.

[3:18:04] Heads in beds is what comes from

[3:18:04] visitors.

[3:18:06] I thought I heard and maybe I

[3:18:09] misunderstood but earlier

[3:18:10] someone say that we were bonding

[3:18:11] the cit.

[3:18:12] That's not the cas.

[3:18:13] We're not bonded.

[3:18:14] That's a pay as we go and that's

[3:18:17] the $90 million per year as we

[3:18:18] are going forward for another

[3:18:19] four years.

[3:18:21] >> right, and if we were ever to

[3:18:23] do something like that, we have

[3:18:25] so many options we would never

[3:18:27] bond on a long-term basis for

[3:18:28] that purpose.

[3:18:30] We have our commercial paper

[3:18:32] program for any kind of

[3:18:34] short-term needs we have which

[3:18:38] we ute slides at the county from

[3:18:38] time to time.

[3:18:40] >> chris boles: you can leave

[3:18:41] that on.

[3:18:44] I'll ask another question.

[3:18:46] We've bonded one water plant.

[3:18:50] It's not ad valorem dollars.

[3:18:51] It's an enterprise fund but this

[3:18:53] is a common practice we do and

[3:18:54] governments do quite often.

[3:18:57] >> it is, because you want to

[3:18:58] ensure if you're going to bond,

[3:19:00] you don't want to bond longer

[3:19:03] than the useful life of your

[3:19:03] asset.

[3:19:04] So it's something that we're

[3:19:11] always looking at.

[3:19:13] Right, before you asked the

[3:19:16] question, we were planning to

[3:19:19] bond about 30, 35 years, which

[3:19:21] would not exceed the life of the

[3:19:22] asset.

[3:19:22] Yes.

[3:19:26] >> chris boles: we earlier

[3:19:28] determined that to be 50 years?

[3:19:30] >> yes, hoping.

[3:19:31] >> chris boles: okay, talked

[3:19:35] about ILAs.

[3:19:37] Is it possible -- what kind of

[3:19:39] information -- I want to go back

[3:19:41] to MISS Mandell, maybe one of

[3:19:43] the guys over there.

[3:19:45] What kind of -- can different

[3:19:47] elements be added to the ila

[3:19:48] that enhance the developer

[3:19:51] agreement in a way?

[3:19:52] >> well, let me just mae sure I

[3:19:55] understand which ila you'd be

[3:19:55] talking about.

[3:19:56] >> chris boles: any.

[3:19:59] >> any ila allows you pursuant

[3:20:01] to statute to put in provisions

[3:20:01] to manage whatever it is the

[3:20:05] deal you're trying to structure.

[3:20:08] >> chris boles: we could make an

[3:20:10] ila agreement, I'll use the word

[3:20:12] enhance but not necessarily drop

[3:20:13] below what this developer

[3:20:16] agreement has, is that correct?

[3:20:17] If there's a standard in the

[3:20:18] developer agreement --

[3:20:19] >> there's opportunities to have

[3:20:20] the conversations but we have to

[3:20:21] keep in mind they have to relate

[3:20:23] to this agreement, which has

[3:20:25] provisions on millage, those

[3:20:27] can't change, but anything that

[3:20:28] is something that we could look

[3:20:30] at different ratios and how we

[3:20:31] manage ratios, I think those are

[3:20:36] something we can discuss.

[3:20:37] >> chris boles: what constitutes

[3:20:39] a construction savings?

[3:20:43] We've talked about that earlier.

[3:20:46] We talked about MR. Horadel

[3:20:47] talked about enhanced savings

[3:20:49] and value engineering.

[3:20:51] We hear these terms quite often

[3:20:52] but where do those come from?

[3:20:54] How can we get those, and who

[3:20:56] gets first dibs on the savings?

[3:20:57] Does that come to the taxpayers

[3:21:03] or does that come to the team?

[3:21:06] Or team co, whichever co is the

[3:21:07] one who would get that?

[3:21:09] >> yes, commissioner.

[3:21:10] Good question.

[3:21:13] We have had extensive

[3:21:14] discussions about how those

[3:21:16] funds might be apportioned on a

[3:21:19] savings basis.

[3:21:21] We believe that there's a value

[3:21:24] in having the public areas come

[3:21:25] back to the public entities that

[3:21:27] are funding.

[3:21:28] So it would really be an

[3:21:31] analysis of what the stadium

[3:21:34] construction proportional share

[3:21:34] might look like.

[3:21:36] If for example, just to use a

[3:21:37] broad example if there's a roof

[3:21:43] that we say could save $300

[3:21:47] million, then we would suggest

[3:21:49] that the savings apportioned to

[3:21:51] the public side on a percentage

[3:21:53] basis come back to the public

[3:21:54] entities and on the private

[3:21:55] side, they could realize some of

[3:21:57] the benefit of that as well.

[3:21:59] So those are some of the points

[3:22:01] that we continue to have

[3:22:04] discussions about, and as we go

[3:22:09] through the process of approving

[3:22:11] the design and looking at

[3:22:13] construction documents, those

[3:22:14] are questions we'll make sure

[3:22:16] get answered.

[3:22:20] Our position is the public

[3:22:21] entities need to have savings

[3:22:23] accrue to them based upon the

[3:22:25] public percentage of the

[3:22:26] project.

[3:22:26] >> chris boles: maybe part of

[3:22:28] the construction trust agreement

[3:22:29] or is that part of something

[3:22:30] that we don't have in font of

[3:22:31] us today?

[3:22:32] That's why I'm asking this

[3:22:32] question.

[3:22:34] It hasn't been addressed.

[3:22:37] >> correct.

[3:22:39] >> the way it is structured we

[3:22:41] have our monies separated, city

[3:22:44] money, county money, stad co

[3:22:47] money into separate accounts and

[3:22:50] that will be spent and refunded

[3:22:53] pursuant to tat construction

[3:22:54] trust agreement.

[3:22:57] The term parapursue, I learned a

[3:23:00] lot about parapursue, it means

[3:23:02] each comes in and then the

[3:23:05] proportionality is sent out both

[3:23:08] going towards this project and

[3:23:09] coming back if there's savings.

[3:23:12] >> chris boles: I had a question

[3:23:14] about that over the weekend you

[3:23:15] addressed.

[3:23:16] >> yes.

[3:23:17] >> chris boles: alright, and I

[3:23:20] had a lot of little scribbles

[3:23:21] over here.

[3:23:23] and the one thing, where is tom

[3:23:23] at?

[3:23:29] MAY you come to the podium, tom,

[3:23:32] MR. Fessler.

[3:23:33] Again, there was a reference to

[3:23:38] how the team represented some

[3:23:43] growth of the cit and we were

[3:23:45] going to nibble into that so we

[3:23:47] wouldn't get into expectations.

[3:23:51] I think we have aseen economic

[3:23:59] shrinkage, going below sub zero,

[3:24:00] the lines, so it's not happening

[3:24:02] as quickly as we thought it

[3:24:02] will.

[3:24:03] Those are things that are out of

[3:24:04] our control.

[3:24:08] Those are national, gdp,

[3:24:08] interest rates, mortgage and all

[3:24:10] of those kind of things.

[3:24:12] Is there any expected growth at

[3:24:14] all that we see that even gets

[3:24:17] close or even over zero on this?

[3:24:20] I mean, there's got to be some

[3:24:23] expectation of some type of

[3:24:23] growth.

[3:24:27] Have we baked that into any

[3:24:27] cake?

[3:24:29] >> you're talking about?

[3:24:30] >> chris boles: cit dollars.

[3:24:33] >> as part of economic growth?

[3:24:34] >> chris boles: it all kind of

[3:24:34] folds in together.

[3:24:36] People if they don't spend

[3:24:40] money, we don't get cit dollars

[3:24:42] because it all comes from tax

[3:24:43] dollars.

[3:24:44] The point being is that we've

[3:24:47] all talked about that, at some

[3:24:49] point, that we can't expect some

[3:24:52] type of moderate growth or

[3:24:54] something, and there was this

[3:24:55] little slush on top that it

[3:25:00] seems that's going to be

[3:25:01] evaporating or is that still

[3:25:02] going to be there?

[3:25:04] >> if I'm understanding your

[3:25:06] question, commissioner, the

[3:25:07] sales tax.

[3:25:08] >> chris boles: repredict the

[3:25:09] future a couple years out.

[3:25:10] >> right, when we built the cit,

[3:25:14] we built it on a 3% growth rate.

[3:25:16] And we did that to be

[3:25:17] conservative, because on the

[3:25:18] current cit that we're in the

[3:25:19] middle of right now, that is

[3:25:21] going to be ending at the end of

[3:25:24] the next couple of months, over

[3:25:26] the life of that, over the

[3:25:29] 30-year life of that, the

[3:25:30] average growth has been about

[3:25:31] 4.3% a year.

[3:25:33] So we built the current one on

[3:25:34] 3% growth.

[3:25:36] So we would hope that as we move

[3:25:39] forward, based on that

[3:25:40] conservative estimate, that we

[3:25:42] would have some additional

[3:25:43] dollars that would show up,

[3:25:44] because the growth would be,

[3:25:45] average growth would be somewhat

[3:25:49] greater than the 3%.

[3:25:52] Right now we're in a downcycle

[3:25:55] but with sales tax is goes up

[3:25:58] and down, typically more

[3:26:00] volatility than something say

[3:26:02] like property taxes.

[3:26:04] >> chris boles: right, and this

[3:26:04] is only for 15 years.

[3:26:06] I think you answered the

[3:26:08] question, unless greg, are you

[3:26:10] referencing something, greg?

[3:26:12] >> yes, we do expect there to be

[3:26:15] additional dollars generated for

[3:26:17] cit as a result of this project.

[3:26:20] So again, there are other, as

[3:26:22] you raised it, little bits that

[3:26:24] will come in.

[3:26:26] We cannot tell you with

[3:26:26] certainty exactly what those are

[3:26:28] going to be over the 15 years,

[3:26:31] but we have an estimate.

[3:26:33] There will be an increase over

[3:26:35] what we would ordinarily see.

[3:26:37] >> chris boles: yes, and no one

[3:26:38] can prognosticate what's going

[3:26:39] to happen, right?

[3:26:44] We'd all be millionaires if we

[3:26:44] could.

[3:26:46] That being the case, that's all

[3:26:46] i have for you all.

[3:26:47] Thank you.

[3:26:49] I appreciate it, and you, too,

[3:26:49] as well.

[3:26:53] Thank you very much.

[3:26:56] You know, come friday, we got a

[3:26:56] document dump.

[3:26:58] We're on a timeline that we had

[3:27:00] no control over.

[3:27:02] I would say, or we actually did

[3:27:05] have control over it but we

[3:27:10] chose to acquiesce and we

[3:27:11] decided to let things happen as

[3:27:12] they were.

[3:27:14] And we are pushed with these

[3:27:15] documents and on friday, when I

[3:27:16] went through and I looked at

[3:27:19] them and then kind of was a

[3:27:21] little upset that I think as

[3:27:23] many people were not just here

[3:27:24] at this board but the city of

[3:27:26] tampa and whether you're for or

[3:27:27] against it, it was a lot.

[3:27:28] It was a lot to go through.

[3:27:30] I think you all admit that.

[3:27:33] If you didn't read it, I think

[3:27:36] that's, you know, that's

[3:27:37] derelict, but I would assume

[3:27:39] that we all read it.

[3:27:41] And what I did is I spent my

[3:27:43] entire weekend, which you know,

[3:27:45] I was elected to do and I don't

[3:27:47] work hours 8:00 to 5:00.

[3:27:49] I work as I need to do so, and

[3:27:53] part of that was coming up with

[3:27:56] a number of questions on things

[3:27:57] that I had sticking points on.

[3:28:00] Each one of those questions I

[3:28:04] sent to bonnie and to julia, and

[3:28:06] I kind of went through each one

[3:28:09] of these things and I apologize

[3:28:11] for mucking up your weekend, but

[3:28:13] I think some of those questions

[3:28:16] is what ended up delaying the

[3:28:18] document coming out even later,

[3:28:20] because a lot of those were very

[3:28:25] detailed and I think that

[3:28:26] between -- they were spread out

[3:28:28] from saturday even to monday

[3:28:29] that you were still in

[3:28:31] negotiations with both the rays

[3:28:33] and both with the city on how

[3:28:36] these would all be integrated

[3:28:38] and could be, make these

[3:28:38] changes.

[3:28:42] What came out tuesday,

[3:28:44] substantially changed those, the

[3:28:44] -

[3:28:48] agreement and I think that we

[3:28:50] talked about ai earlier,

[3:28:51] apparently ken uses it to look

[3:28:55] at stats, but I used it as a

[3:28:56] data tool to look at the

[3:28:57] questions I had versus the

[3:28:58] document.

[3:29:00] Stuck the two together and about

[3:29:01] 90% of the things that I asked

[3:29:03] for were integrated in there.

[3:29:07] I want to thank both of you for

[3:29:08] doing that.

[3:29:09] It really speaks to you

[3:29:11] listening to what I had.

[3:29:15] Part of this whole process for

[3:29:17] anyone that is listening is that

[3:29:18] my previous experience in the

[3:29:19] fire services taught me that

[3:29:21] sound decisions begin with a

[3:29:25] comprehensive assessment of any

[3:29:25] situation.

[3:29:27] And then that assessment is then

[3:29:30] followed up by a reassessment as

[3:29:31] conditions change, and

[3:29:34] certainly, we've seen these

[3:29:35] conditions change from JANUARY,

[3:29:37] FEBRUARY, MARCH, all the way to

[3:29:37] today.

[3:29:39] And in the fire service we call

[3:29:42] that a 360-degree size up.

[3:29:45] That's how I have evaluated this

[3:29:47] argument, agreement, excused me,

[3:29:48] and kind of fashioned my

[3:29:49] arguments on this.

[3:29:51] For months, I wanted to know the

[3:29:53] details and the economics, the

[3:29:55] protections and the returns and

[3:29:56] those that were placed in the

[3:29:57] documents.

[3:29:59] We got those friday.

[3:30:02] I was not very happy, but we got

[3:30:02] them.

[3:30:06] it took some time to look over

[3:30:06] those.

[3:30:08] It didn't meet my standard and I

[3:30:11] publicly said I was a no.

[3:30:15] Come tuesday I'm thinking, is it

[3:30:15] tuesday, I can't remember it's

[3:30:17] been a whirlwind but come

[3:30:19] earlier this week, we have

[3:30:22] gotten new documents and I was

[3:30:22] able to read those.

[3:30:23] Last week, that was about

[3:30:24] political theater.

[3:30:26] It wasn't a negotiation tactic,

[3:30:28] because I'm not negotiating with

[3:30:29] them.

[3:30:29] You are.

[3:30:30] It was my honest assessment of

[3:30:33] the proposal as it existed at

[3:30:33] the time.

[3:30:35] The county was being asked to

[3:30:37] assume too much risk without

[3:30:37] sufficient certainty about

[3:30:39] private financing, surrounding

[3:30:41] development, future obligations

[3:30:44] and the return to county

[3:30:45] taxpayers.

[3:30:47] I raised those questions and

[3:30:49] again, you two obviously took

[3:30:51] care of those and again, I'm

[3:30:51] very grateful.

[3:30:53] I think the agreement we have

[3:30:54] before us is certainly better

[3:30:55] today.

[3:30:57] I think the private financing

[3:30:58] requirements have been

[3:30:59] strengthened, the private

[3:31:00] parties bear greater

[3:31:01] responsibility for cost overruns

[3:31:03] and performance, and

[3:31:05] enforcement, not a relocation

[3:31:07] protections have been added, the

[3:31:08] rental structure provides a

[3:31:10] defined revenue stream from $1

[3:31:14] to $4 million with the cpi that

[3:31:16] can replenish county funds

[3:31:17] committed to the project.

[3:31:17] However, I do still have

[3:31:18] concerns.

[3:31:20] County is the majority public

[3:31:22] contributor, wlil much of the

[3:31:24] expected return depends on the

[3:31:25] surrounding development which is

[3:31:27] what I look at this as a real

[3:31:27] estate deal.

[3:31:29] This isn't a ball park deal.

[3:31:32] I know that we've talked about,

[3:31:33] commissioner hagan said this is

[3:31:33] the catalyst.

[3:31:34] I agree.

[3:31:36] I have a 12-year-old daughter.

[3:31:39] When she was very young, I used

[3:31:41] to her this book called "the

[3:31:42] giving tree."

[3:31:44] anyone who has a child you know

[3:31:45] what the booing is about, plant

[3:31:46] a seed, let it grow and it gives

[3:31:50] back over time.

[3:31:51] In a way, this park is like "the

[3:31:51] giving tree."

[3:31:53] it could be.

[3:32:20] >> as I continue to look at

[3:32:20] this, we have to think about

[3:32:22] that the mixed development is

[3:32:24] not just a side issue and the

[3:32:25] development risk remains but the

[3:32:27] revised agreement kind of links

[3:32:29] that public return through that

[3:32:32] investment process, or the, not

[3:32:38] the investment, the tiered

[3:32:39] appendix that's if the back.

[3:32:41] It provides -- in the back.

[3:32:42] It doesn't guarantee the

[3:32:44] development, and I was kind of

[3:32:46] slitly disappointed, but I

[3:32:47] understand this, and I think

[3:32:50] that the, the rays and certainly

[3:32:52] their ownership, they're all

[3:32:52] real state developers.

[3:32:54] This ask where they're making --

[3:32:56] this is where they're making

[3:32:56] money.

[3:32:58] They got a 99-year lease with

[3:33:01] hcc and the state, they own the

[3:33:02] pads.

[3:33:02] At least the dirt.

[3:33:04] The pads is where they're going

[3:33:05] to make the money on.

[3:33:06] Right?

[3:33:07] And ultimately that's where we

[3:33:09] are going to make the money on.

[3:33:11] so it doesn't, it's not

[3:33:13] considered the, you know, the

[3:33:14] larger unproducted structure

[3:33:16] that was before us --

[3:33:17] unprotected structure that was

[3:33:19] before us, and that concern

[3:33:21] again is not new.

[3:33:24] And in fact in JUNE I spoke to

[3:33:26] bonnie about, I proffered a

[3:33:27] thought experiment with bonnie

[3:33:29] in JUNE because in JUNE we all

[3:33:30] saw what was going on with the

[3:33:31] city of tampa.

[3:33:34] City of tampa dropped the ball

[3:33:36] with a cra.

[3:33:37] In my opinion.

[3:33:39] They didn't send up the, the

[3:33:41] land use agreement or -- excuse

[3:33:44] me, the future land use to, for,

[3:33:47] to the state, and then there was

[3:33:51] the jockeying with the bord on

[3:33:53] whether or not they would even

[3:33:55] do anything with the mou because

[3:33:57] again, this is how we should at

[3:33:58] least approach these things and

[3:34:01] just listen.

[3:34:03] So with that I asked about is

[3:34:05] there raway that if -- is there

[3:34:09] a way that if that didn't prove

[3:34:10] feasible, is there a way we

[3:34:12] could become the only public

[3:34:13] partner which is only one side

[3:34:15] of the question because if you

[3:34:17] think if you recall, my, I

[3:34:20] thought that in exchange for

[3:34:21] that rate of responsibility we

[3:34:23] should receive a greater revenue

[3:34:26] for that, and certainly a

[3:34:27] greater participation and create

[3:34:29] something, a tif or assume the

[3:34:30] cra, whatever the, you know, the

[3:34:33] mechanism would be, and, you

[3:34:35] know, part of that process was

[3:34:36] kind of moving us already in

[3:34:37] this direction, and I think

[3:34:40] that's what kind of moved you

[3:34:42] perhaps to kind of think a

[3:34:43] little more outside of the box

[3:34:46] and go you know versus they're

[3:34:47] going to make promises to us

[3:34:50] versus how do we, you know,

[3:34:52] stick or carrot.

[3:34:53] Let's give them a carrot versus

[3:34:55] a stick, and that's where we

[3:34:57] kind of landed on.

[3:34:59] And we've gotten to that point

[3:35:00] to where our real estate

[3:35:02] developers, some of them sitting

[3:35:04] here, and that can now look at

[3:35:06] that an say the more we build,

[3:35:12] the better off it is for

[3:35:13] everybody.

[3:35:14] So with that, you know, that's

[3:35:17] kind of the standard I like to,

[3:35:21] continue and have from the very

[3:35:21] beginning.

[3:35:22] I think that we need to consider

[3:35:23] the contribution, the risk, and

[3:35:25] the return and make sure they're

[3:35:27] all reasonably aligned, and in

[3:35:28] fairness, the revised agreement

[3:35:30] responds to part of that

[3:35:30] question.

[3:35:31] It creates a pathway for the

[3:35:32] county to retain a portion of

[3:35:35] the increment generated on a

[3:35:36] project bland

[3:35:38] brand and its subsequent

[3:35:38] improvement.

[3:35:39] Maybe thought the best, but it

[3:35:42] is what it is at this point; you

[3:35:43] know, that value certainly

[3:35:45] hasn't been quantified yet.

[3:35:48] The actual county benefit will

[3:35:49] development on performance,

[3:35:50] taxable values and the

[3:35:52] obligations paid from those

[3:35:53] revenues.

[3:35:55] I will continue to say as I have

[3:35:57] said privately and somewhat

[3:36:00] publicly, I am very dopily dis --

[3:36:01] deeply disappointed still by how

[3:36:02] this city and the county shared

[3:36:05] the project site increment is

[3:36:05] apportioned.

[3:36:07] The agreement divides that

[3:36:08] revenue according by their

[3:36:09] respective millage rates, which

[3:36:11] you just referred to.

[3:36:13] And I think that for the more

[3:36:14] than two decades that

[3:36:15] hillsborough county has worked

[3:36:17] to reduce or hold down its

[3:36:18] millage rate, under this

[3:36:19] formula, the county's lower

[3:36:21] millage rate produces a smaller

[3:36:22] share of that retained increment

[3:36:24] while the higher city millage

[3:36:27] produces a larger and

[3:36:27] .

[3:36:29] In practical terms, the county's

[3:36:30] fiscal discipline is being used

[3:36:31] against us.

[3:36:33] The city's rewarded for

[3:36:34] maintaining a higher property

[3:36:36] tax rate while the county

[3:36:37] receives less because it's

[3:36:39] exercised long-term restraint.

[3:36:41] And that is especially difficult

[3:36:43] to accept when the county's the

[3:36:44] majority public contributor in

[3:36:47] and the city is the minority

[3:36:47] contributor.

[3:36:50] We're giving 91%, they're giving

[3:36:53] 9.

[3:36:55] Fiscal responsibility should not

[3:36:58] become a financial disadvantage.

[3:37:01] A more ectable with formula --

[3:37:03] equitable formula would consider

[3:37:05] each population, risk and

[3:37:06] continuing service obligations,

[3:37:10] not simply its mittage rate.

[3:37:11] The county is making a

[3:37:13] `substantial commitment, and

[3:37:14] these dollars could support

[3:37:16] other eligible capital

[3:37:18] priorities as has already been

[3:37:18] said.

[3:37:19] And we should not minimize

[3:37:22] minimize that

[3:37:23] but we should also not present

[3:37:27] the public wth a false choice,

[3:37:28] and I think, and I think

[3:37:30] councilmember vierra referenced

[3:37:31] that last night because voting

[3:37:34] no would not automatically build

[3:37:34] five stations.

[3:37:35] We cannot do that.

[3:37:37] We cannot do that to future

[3:37:39] boards as commissioner wostal

[3:37:40] just pointed out.

[3:37:41] Doesn't mean we're going to

[3:37:43] widen roads or fund other

[3:37:43] projects.

[3:37:45] Those decisions would require a

[3:37:46] separate board action.

[3:37:49] Cit funds can also not pay a

[3:37:51] recurring cost of firefighters.

[3:37:52] Paramedics, deputies, or daily

[3:37:54] county services.

[3:37:57] A fire station is a capital

[3:37:57] expense.

[3:37:59] I know we like to throw fire

[3:37:59] stations around.

[3:38:04] Nobody in this room knows better

[3:38:08] how much we are behind in fire

[3:38:09] stations.

[3:38:11] I lived it for 28 years, and we

[3:38:13] are making that progress.

[3:38:15] But staffing it every day

[3:38:18] requires a dependable recurring

[3:38:18] revenue,.

[3:38:19] We're already seeing that we

[3:38:20] have these problems.

[3:38:22] And at least with the

[3:38:24] possibility of this development

[3:38:26] in this area, we could get some

[3:38:27] of that growth.

[3:38:28] And some of those monies can

[3:38:30] come back to the hillsborough

[3:38:32] county, and operation counts.

[3:38:34] And this board is responsible

[3:38:38] for addressing those both.

[3:38:39] Supporting the agreement does

[3:38:40] not relieve this board of its

[3:38:41] responsibility, any of us

[3:38:42] sitting up here.

[3:38:43] We still have a responsibility

[3:38:46] to our public, and certainly to

[3:38:47] the men and women, the first

[3:38:48] responders who are out there

[3:38:50] every day doing the job.

[3:38:52] Our staffing -- station deficit,

[3:38:53] staffing needs, equipment,

[3:38:55] transportation, and other

[3:38:56] essential infrastructure needs

[3:38:59] to be taken care of.

[3:39:01] Our evaluating this only on the

[3:39:04] tif, my answer would be no.

[3:39:06] If my responsibility were simply

[3:39:07] to identify reasons to reject

[3:39:11] this agreement, I've just listed

[3:39:11] them for you.

[3:39:13] But that is not the full

[3:39:15] responsibility of governing.

[3:39:17] Our responsibility is to weigh

[3:39:18] the agreement as a whole,

[3:39:20] including its weaknesses, and

[3:39:24] forcible protections, potential

[3:39:27] return, and the consequences of

[3:39:27] either decision.

[3:39:29] We have to not only look at the

[3:39:30] risk benefit assessment of

[3:39:32] moving forward, but also

[3:39:34] consider the consequences of

[3:39:36] rejecting this agreement before

[3:39:36] us.

[3:39:38] It brings in private investment,

[3:39:40] a new ballparks, surrounding

[3:39:40] development, and potential

[3:39:43] creation of a major economic

[3:39:43] district.

[3:39:45] It offers an opportunity to

[3:39:47] expand the future tax base,

[3:39:50] which wasn't there before, the

[3:39:52] incentive agreement, the tif,.

[3:39:53] The cdd, all these things.

[3:39:56] Those weren't in there in the

[3:39:56] mou.

[3:39:58] They're there now.

[3:39:59] Although the outcomes are not

[3:40:00] guaranteed, but under the

[3:40:02] revised agreement there are no

[3:40:05] longer based solely just on a

[3:40:09] handshake and a promise.

[3:40:11] I think a cautious approach does

[3:40:12] not require me to remain opposed

[3:40:14] after agreement has materially

[3:40:15] changed.

[3:40:16] Due diligence has meaning only

[3:40:18] if it were willing to recognize

[3:40:19] when the scrutiny produces a

[3:40:20] better result, and I think we

[3:40:23] have that result before us.

[3:40:24] I think we've also said this is

[3:40:26] far from perfect.

[3:40:27] It's black and white.

[3:40:28] There is gray here and we need

[3:40:29] to find where we can live in the

[3:40:32] gray.

[3:40:33] i would say again that the

[3:40:35] county's return is as strong as,

[3:40:36] not as strong as I would like or

[3:40:39] that I would accept the tif

[3:40:40] apportionment as fair.

[3:40:40] I do not.

[3:40:42] It is not a commitment to

[3:40:43] provide additional county

[3:40:44] funding later though.

[3:40:50] I find that agreeable and it

[3:40:52] does not end the need for

[3:40:54] aggressive public oversight.

[3:40:56] My remaining concerns weigh

[3:40:58] heavily against this agreement

[3:41:00] but my decision can in the

[3:41:01] solely on a -- weighted against

[3:41:03] those stronger financing

[3:41:04] requirements, responsibility for

[3:41:06] overruns, I believe the

[3:41:08] agreement as a whole has nearly

[3:41:10] crossed the threshold for

[3:41:11] support.

[3:41:13] I will say this.

[3:41:15] This is not an enthusiastic yes.

[3:41:16] It's a cautious and accountable

[3:41:18] yes, made with my eyes fully

[3:41:20] open to both the opportunity and

[3:41:21] the risk.

[3:41:22] The agreement changed.

[3:41:23] The protections improved.

[3:41:25] The remaining risks are now more

[3:41:27] defined and manageable, and so

[3:41:28] for those reasons, I will vote

[3:41:31] yes, but I have an amendment to

[3:41:36] make to the motion.

[3:41:36] It

[3:41:39] is an amendment in order?

[3:41:44] >> christine miller: go ahead.

[3:41:46] >> chris boles: can you restate

[3:41:49] the motion that was made

[3:41:52] earlier, specifically for, I

[3:41:53] caught you off gard,

[3:41:55] guard, didn't I?

[3:42:00] Come on, allison.

[3:42:03] The motion and the portion that

[3:42:07] relates to the cba.

[3:42:09] >> I will need a minute to get

[3:42:12] that information for you.

[3:42:13] >> ken hagan: I can send it if

[3:42:15] that will help.

[3:42:16] >> chris boles: ken, fine, would

[3:42:18] you mind restating that motion

[3:42:19] for you, sir.

[3:42:20] >> ken hagan: I'll just say the

[3:42:20] whole thing.

[3:42:20] It's quick.

[3:42:21] Motion to approve the

[3:42:22] development and funding

[3:42:24] agreement, the guarantee, and

[3:42:26] the team nonrelocation agreement

[3:42:29] in substantial forms presented,

[3:42:31] and allow the county attorney to

[3:42:31] conform all the documents,

[3:42:32] including the city of tampa

[3:42:34] approved documents, and correct

[3:42:37] any scrivener's errors.

[3:42:38] Additionally, if the

[3:42:40] for the community

[3:42:41] benefits agreement no less than

[3:42:42] $50 mill

[3:42:45] million split between the

[3:42:47] county receiving 65%, city 35%,

[3:42:52] with an expectation of a timing

[3:42:56] mechanism where investments and

[3:42:58] meaningful community benefits

[3:43:01] begin immediately and are not

[3:43:02] backloaded.

[3:43:04] So that was --

[3:43:05] >> chris boles: did you just add

[3:43:06] that little last part there

[3:43:07] maybe?

[3:43:08] I don't remember that.

[3:43:09] >> ken hagan: I got it written

[3:43:09] down.

[3:43:13] [Laughter]

[3:43:13] >> chris boles: well, okay, very

[3:43:14] good.

[3:43:15] Well, to that extent, I'm going

[3:43:18] to make it a little more

[3:43:20] concise, and to, to make a

[3:43:21] meaningful change because I'm

[3:43:27] still a little upset about the

[3:43:28] disproportionate share, I would

[3:43:31] like to raise that to

[3:43:32] $60 million with us getting the

[3:43:34] 65% which would provide

[3:43:36] $39 million to hillsborough

[3:43:38] county, 35% to city of tampa,

[3:43:42] which would be $21 million.

[3:43:44] 20% of that total commitment or

[3:43:45] $12 million shall be from the

[3:43:46] loaded or should be frontloaded

[3:43:48] and paid in four equal annual

[3:43:49] installments at $3 million

[3:43:52] during the first four years

[3:43:54] allocated annually as

[3:43:56] $1.5 million to the county and

[3:43:58] $1.05 million to the city.

[3:43:59] The remaining $48 million shall

[3:44:02] be funded pursuant to a binding

[3:44:03] payment and performance

[3:44:05] scheduled to be determined

[3:44:11] through outstanding cba.

[3:44:13] That's my substitute or my

[3:44:15] amended motion or -- sphl

[3:44:17] >> christine miller: going to

[3:44:20] say is that a substitute motion

[3:44:20] to

[3:44:23] or an amendment?

[3:44:24] >> christine miller: chair, do

[3:44:25] you accept the amendment.

[3:44:25] >> ken hagan: absolutely.

[3:44:26] I do want to ask jiewltia

[3:44:28] julia her

[3:44:29] thoughts.

[3:44:31] >> the way you wrote that and in

[3:44:33] line with how you had your

[3:44:35] original motion, it would be

[3:44:37] that the agreement would have a

[3:44:39] total cap, and then the other

[3:44:41] pieces of that will be embedded

[3:44:44] in the cba to come forward to

[3:44:44] you.

[3:44:46] So, so it's a little bit parsed

[3:44:48] out by just what's in this

[3:44:49] agreement, and that's the way I

[3:44:51] understood it, and then what you

[3:44:53] would request that I put into a

[3:44:55] cba that I bring back to you.

[3:44:58] On the timing mechanism.

[3:44:59] >> ken hagan: and I understood

[3:45:00] the $60 million, but and then

[3:45:03] did you say the first 20% was

[3:45:06] over 5 years?

[3:45:06] >> chris boles: four years.

[3:45:07] >> ken hagan: four years?

[3:45:10] >> chris boles: correct.

[3:45:11] Yours is written.

[3:45:12] Mine's typed.

[3:45:13] >> ken hagan: I can't read my

[3:45:15] own handwriting.

[3:45:16] >> christine miller: so you

[3:45:17] accept the amendment, chair?

[3:45:18] >> chris boles: MAY I speak just

[3:45:19] if a

[3:45:25] justfor a moment.

[3:45:26] >> christine miller: yes.

[3:45:27] >> chris boles: yesterday the

[3:45:28] council provided a ceiling, I'm

[3:45:31] going to call it a ceiling --

[3:45:32] looking at other agreements

[3:45:35] around the country, kansas city

[3:45:37] royals and some of theertose these other

[3:45:38] places you have out there, these

[3:45:40] numbers fall within that line of

[3:45:43] 50 to 70, $65 million.

[3:45:47] I think that for the pain and

[3:45:49] suffering that we've had to go

[3:45:51] through with the expedited

[3:45:53] schedule and the amount of money

[3:45:56] that we're not receiving through

[3:45:58] the, our fiscal stewardship of

[3:46:00] our dollars, should at least

[3:46:02] equate to some kind of benefit

[3:46:04] for our community that we're

[3:46:05] seeing people out here that are

[3:46:07] going to see a direct benefit

[3:46:09] from the rays because it's still

[3:46:12] going to be five, four years --

[3:46:13] three to four years, five years

[3:46:14] before we're going to get any

[3:46:15] benefit from that.

[3:46:16] The rays have a great

[3:46:18] opportunity to go out there

[3:46:20] through our CBAs, go out in

[3:46:21] the community and show them what

[3:46:24] they're doing today after this

[3:46:26] is done whether that's little

[3:46:29] league fields, whether that's

[3:46:30] through different agreements,

[3:46:32] whatever those MAY be, having --

[3:46:32] I

[3:46:34] I can't recall how many are in

[3:46:35] there.

[3:46:37] Nine pages of ideas so that, but

[3:46:38] this is an opportunity for them

[3:46:40] to do that on the front side.

[3:46:44] So for that, I appreciate that.

[3:46:44] >> christine miller: thank you.

[3:46:45] That was going to be my next

[3:46:45] question.

[3:46:46] Are you still on the second?

[3:46:49] It is my pleasure to get to call

[3:46:49] this vote.

[3:46:58] Please record your votes.

[3:47:00] >> motion carried

[3:47:02] carries 5-2.

[3:47:03] Commissioners cameron cepeda and

[3:47:04] wostal voted no.

[3:47:07] >> ken hagan: before we

[3:47:11] adjourn -- hmm?

[3:47:14] Before we adjourn, I first want

[3:47:15] to thank all the board members

[3:47:19] for all of your hard work for

[3:47:19] today's robust discussion and

[3:47:22] for approving this generational

[3:47:22] development.

[3:47:23] Commissioner myers, my

[3:47:24] apologies.

[3:47:25] I didn't say it earlier, but a

[3:47:27] change is going to come.

[3:47:28] I also want to thank everyone

[3:47:30] who came down today.

[3:47:31] And really everyone who

[3:47:33] participated throughout this

[3:47:35] process over the last several

[3:47:35] months.

[3:47:37] Most of all though, I want to

[3:47:39] thank the person who is

[3:47:42] responsible for me being in this

[3:47:43] seat, and responsible for my

[3:47:44] love of baseball.

[3:47:46] His name is also ken hagan.

[3:47:47] He's my dad.

[3:47:50] Dad, we did it.

[3:47:50] [Applause]

[3:47:56] We're adjourned.

260828 BOCC Special Meeting - Rays

Agenda

Transcript