Here's the (Tropicana) pitch...

Heres a copy [Download RFP-Trop.site.PDF]  of the city's of St. Petersburg's request for proposals (the "RFP") to redevelop the site of Tropicana Field. The City Council will review at its Thursday meeting and then it is supposed to be sent out on Friday.

The RFP is vague or silent on the specific financial requirements the city is looking for -- although in theory, whatever happens at the Trop site has to help pay for a $450-million baseball stadium down on the waterfront.

I'm getting copied on several citizen e-mails asking the City Council to delay (or even defeat) the RFP. Defeating it would, of course, kill the entire deal right away and that is not going to happen. The city will move ahead on the theory of "we're just gathering information here." The question is how far down this road the city goes before it then argues, "We've gone too far to turn back."

Comments

Howard,

As usual, you’ve nailed it.

"We've gone too far to turn back."

If I had a dollar for every time that approach has been used… well, I’d have at least $240.00.

Hey… maybe that’s what the tax break is all about!

The Rays already owe the tax payers of St. Petersburg $ 1,376,747.00 for the last 4 years of traffic control. New Stadium run the bums out of town. The Rays are a homeless team. Watch a game on tv there is no one home at the trop. Tropicana Stadium is a great place for a homeless shelter.

[David McKalip]

I will attempt to present this letter to the St. Pete City council on 10/17 at 3:30 pm at City Hall. We shall see if they keep their ears closed.
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To: St. Petersburg City Council, Mayor Rick Baker
From: David McKalip, M.D.
1-17-2008

Dear City Council and Mayor,

The Devil Rays are seeking property tax support from St. Petersburg to fund construction of a new baseball stadium on the current site of Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg. The estimated taxes are described as coming from “redevelopment” of the current Tropicana Field Site and surrounding land. The Devil Rays claim “no new taxes” will be required, but clearly current taxes from property tax payers will be required at least to the amount of $250 -$300 million. Likely the team will ask the city to issue a bond (take out a loan) that will be underwritten by the taxpayers of St. Petersburg, even though the loan on the current stadium is still not paid off.

The taxpayers of St. Petersburg can no longer afford to finance the Devil Rays venue that has made them a very profitable team in major league baseball. Further the taxpayers cannot afford the cost of maintaining and supporting the dome such as through property insurance payments ($2 million last year) and police coordination of traffic ($300-$400,000/ year which does not include the cost of retirement and health benefits for the police department and their supporting staff).

As a registered voter in St. Petersburg (ID #107203656), St. Petersburg native and businessman, I formally request that the City Council and Mayor amend our city ordinances to reflect that any development at the Al Lang site will be financed entirely with private funds. This is the first step in determining whether an initiative will be required pursuant to Article VII of city code. If the Council officially rejects such an ordinance, I will have little difficulty in securing the five names required to initiate a referendum to ensure that the Devil Rays do not profit off the back of the St. Petersburg taxpayer.

I would suggest adding the following line to article III, §21-85(2):

c) Any facility built after 2007 at the Al Lang site that provides a profit to a private corporation shall be financed entirely with private funds and shall not require any subsidy from the city of St. Petersburg.

There is surely other alternative language that will serve the same goal: The Rays Pay. If the Rays want a new stadium, then they should pay for it just as any business does when it expands. Public financing of stadiums has not been shown to serve the goal of economic development and has been shown to lead to local job loss and redistribution of revenues from other local businesses in addition to being an undue and excessive burden on taxpayers.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your written response in a timely fashion.

Sincerely,

David McKalip, M.D.

On behalf of St. Petersburg Residents: Kipp Wall, David Simpson, Jemie Russel, Sara Lopez