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Rays ballpark, ferry and transit tax lawsuit could mean a feisty first meeting for Hillsborough's new Democratic-majority commission

 
Hillsborough County Commissioners may discuss Wednesday whether Commissioner Ken Hagan should continue to lead the county's efforts to strike a deal with the Rays. [Times files]
Hillsborough County Commissioners may discuss Wednesday whether Commissioner Ken Hagan should continue to lead the county's efforts to strike a deal with the Rays. [Times files]
Published Dec. 4, 2018

TAMPA — Any deal with the Tampa Bay Rays over how to fund a new ballpark in Ybor City will likely have to pass muster with Hillsborough County's new Democratic-controlled county commission.

Today may provide the first insight into the board's enthusiasm.

Commissioners are scheduled to get an update from County Administrator Mike Merrill on the status of the county's discussions with the team and its attempts to come up with a financing package. It comes after Merrill on Friday sent commissioners a memo that provided the framework of a deal he hopes will form the basis of negotiations with the Rays.

It works on the assumption that the Rays will pay half of the $892 million project, far more than the $150 million to $200 million the team's principal owner Stu Sternberg has talked about publicly.

Merrill's memo also states that the ballpark would be exempt from property taxes but would require the Rays to pay rent and maintain a fund for repairs and upgrades. The county's half of the cost would come from a community development district that would be created around the ballpark, property taxes earmarked for infrastructure improvements and by encouraging investment in the Opportunity Zone there, created as part of the 2017 federal tax cut legislation.

The item could also provide an opportunity for a discussion about whether Commissioner Ken Hagan should continue to lead the county's efforts to strike a deal with the Rays. Hillsborough leaders plan to create a negotiating team that will include Hagan, Tampa Sports Authority President and CEO Eric Hart, a representative from the city of Tampa, and New York attorney Irwin Raij, who specializes in stadium deals.

But Hagan's suitability for that role was questioned by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman after a 10NEWS WTSP report suggested he coordinated with Ybor City developer Darryl Shaw.

Hagan responded by instructing the county attorney to produce a memo debunking some of the claims in the story, which omitted that Shaw owned at least three parcels in and around the ballpark footprint bought before January 2016, when the Rays won permission to look across Tampa Bay for a new home. In a memo to the county attorney, Shaw says he bought an additional three parcels before he knew of the team's interest in the site.

A change in Hagan's role may be unlikely. His colleagues already agreed to let Hagan continue as the only commissioner who serves on Tampa Sports Authority's governing board.

Commissioners may also discuss whether to reverse a recent vote scrapping the county's public-private partnership to build a passenger ferry service for MacDill Air Force Base personnel who live in the Riverview and Apollo Beach area.

Citing concerns about increasing costs, commissioners in November voted 6-1 to cancel the contract with ferry company HMS Global Maritime and the South Swell development. HMS is represented by former commissioner and Tampa mayoral candidate Ed Turanchik.

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Commissioner Pat Kemp, who was on Turanchik's host committee when he launched his mayoral campaign, requested the project be brought back for consideration by the new commission. She was the lone vote against scrapping the project.

As if all that wasn't enough, today will be the first meeting since Republican Commissioner Stacy White risked the wrath of his Democratic colleagues with a lawsuit questioning the legality of an citizens committee being set up to oversee the spending of the new transportation sales tax.

White was a vocal opponent of the 30-year tax, estimated to raise about $302 million in 2019. It was approved by 57 percent of voters including a majority of those in White's District 4 seat.

White filed the lawsuit on Tuesday. It names Hillsborough County, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and the county's three municipalities as defendants. It claims that the committee will usurp the power of elected officials who serve on those agencies.

Commission Chairman Les Miller has already publicly blasted White, who he said is ignoring the will of the voters and wasting taxpayer dollars on a legal challenge the county will have to defend.

Contact Christopher O'Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @codonnell_times.