More than half of the nearly $700M in city money targeted for the $6.5B project is “projected to come from tax increment financing"Gensler/Rays
To fund its share of a
new Rays ballpark and the proposed surrounding Historic Gas Plant District, the city of St. Petersburg is “betting on growth,” according to Jay Cridlin of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. More than “half of the nearly”
$700M in city money targeted for the $6.5B project is “projected to come from tax increment financing, a tool designed to pay off a public project via future tax gains on higher property values.” St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch’s administration believes that paying $287.5M toward a stadium and $130M toward infrastructure -- “as well as all the debt service that would come with it” -- will “boost tax revenue in the city’s downtown core.” Specifically, the city projects this tax revenue “to grow by 7% every year until 2042,” putting the city “on course to pay off its Gas Plant District debt by 2055.” Cridlin noted the city’s development agreement with the Rays and their partner Hines, which is “set to go before the City Council” Thursday. After 2042, the city “will have to dip into its general fund, paying more than” $220M from another source to “extinguish its remaining debt.” That number “could grow, though, if the city’s tax revenue doesn’t meet projections.” Assistant City Administrator Tom Greene said that the city “has safeguards and alternate plans in case that happens.” The existing tax increment fund has “more than” $25M to pull from in case of a shortfall. The city “could also restructure existing utility bonds to reduce costs and add savings” (
TAMPA BAY TIMES, 5/7).
