The Pinellas County (Fla.) Commission dedicated $41.7M in bed taxes yesterday for upgrades to the Blue Jays' ballpark and spring training facilities, a pledge that "amounts to covering more than half of the project," according to Tracey McManus of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. The county will "split its payment" over several years: $1.3M now, $14.8M to be paid Oct. 1 and $25.6M in FY '20. In November, the city "locked-in the team to stay for another 25 years with a new licensing agreement." But the county's funding commitment to the $81M renovation of Florida Auto Exchange Stadium and the training site at the Englebert Complex was the "major piece needed before the development agreement can be signed, sealed and delivered." In a phone conversation Sunday, Blue Jays President & CEO Mark Shapiro told Dunedin City Manager Jennifer Bramley the team would "look elsewhere if the approval of the funding agreement was postponed for more negotiations." The Blue Jays have also agreed to fund an additional $25M over 25 years in "maintenance, operations and repairs on facilities the city will own" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/25).
