PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Hundreds of St. Pete residents are letting city leaders know how they feel about the new Rays ball park and the development plan surrounding it.
A new survey from the League of Women Voters shows that roughly 80% of 779 people who completed the survey want to see some changes to the current plan.
The plan promises 4,800 residential and 1,200 affordable housing units in the area.
According to the survey roughly 70% of respondents want the City of St. Pete to sell the land for the stadium at a higher price so that the city can use the proceeds to build more affordable housing.
"That is a concern in our city, we don't have enough workforce housing and affordable housing," said Robin Davidov with the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area.
Davidov said in the survey, people made housing for low-income families a priority.
"A lot of people in workforce housing category can't afford to live here and we aren't going to have a vibrant community without everyone being able to live in our city," said Davidov.
Savannah Harrison lives in St. Pete and agrees that more affordable housing is needed.
"Affordable housing gets involved in all of this. We have so many people moving to St. Pete from all over the country, and people should be able to enjoy the city. Everyone should be able to enjoy it," said Harrison.
The survey also highlighted that roughly 78% of respondents want taxes to be spent on wastewater and stormwater infrastructure rather than on a new stadium.
"And we all know the problem with the stormwater; there are neighborhoods underwater," said Davidov.
After seeing the results of the survey, the organization is asking the city to hold off on making any more decisions so residents can look over the plans more.
We reached out to the city for a response to the survey and are still waiting for them to respond.
St. Pete is slated to contribute $287.5 million in bonds toward the development, and over the next 30 years, Mayor Ken Welch estimates over $500 million in taxes for the city.
"And that cost, and I'm an accountant, whether viewed in present-day or 30-day horizons will be exceeded in benefits…including more than 30 years of property taxes, sales taxes, wages, bed taxes, and the fulfillment of promise of economic inclusion for the black community and businesses that were displaced," said Mayor Welch.
The community benefits advisory council finished its recommendations for the plan last week, and the City of St. Pete and Pinellas County must approve the deal.
Harrison said despite her concerns, she thinks, if executed correctly, the stadium could be beneficial.
"Hopefully, with people putting a lot of money into the stadium and bringing small business around, hopefully that can turn around, and that can turn into opportunity to get housing, jobs, etc. in the area," said Harrison.
Update 2/16/2024
The League of Women challenged the numbers the mayor put forth in a statement sent to ABC Action News.
The Mayor stated that the City's contribution to the stadium project is $285 million. That is incorrect because the City is providing an additional $130 million in infrastructure and the City is financing the cost with bonds. Bonds, like mortgages, carry interest expense. The correct contribution amount is $703,927,750.
The source of repayment of these bonds is property taxes, including a portion of the County's share of property taxes which otherwise would pay for schools and County services. Economists say that diverting taxes to pay for a stadium creates a big hole, and that hole has to be filled with more taxes, or less services.
The Mayor states that the City will receive benefits in the future. Our survey shows that taxpayers do not want their taxes used to fund a stadium. They believe that the Rays should be treated like every other business; pay rent for the land, pay for the building and pay property taxes. If City funds are provided to the Rays, survey respondents want the Rays to share a proportional amount of revenue with the City, like they do today, in return for this large investment of taxpayer money. If the Rays believe that the stadium will be filled and there will be many off-season rentals, then they must make up the revenues to the City and County if that does not happen.
