PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Petersburg city leaders spent the day discussing the deal to rebuild the Rays stadium during a committee of the whole meeting. While there wasn't a vote today, it gave the city council a chance to discuss the deal before it moves on.
“It is really the first opportunity that we’ve had publicly to walk city council through the various agreements," Brian Caper, director of economic and workforce development, said.
Twelve agreements need to be fleshed out and approved before the deal can move forward. City leaders discussed them all Wednesday, but one big one is the stadium development and funding agreement.
“That will talk about, how does the stadium get build? What does it pay for? What are the roles and responsibilities of the various parties,” Caper said.
Rays Stadium Development Timeline
That agreement also discusses the timeline, overrun costs, and revenue opportunities. The stadium's price tag is $1.3 billion, and the plan shows that the City of St. Pete would fund $287.5 million, which would come from the In Town Tax CRA and Financing District.
A local group called No Home Run is opposing the deal. They think it's not good for taxpayers and want the city to get more out of it.
“What we would expect is that the city would maximize the value of this land so that we can use the money to focus on what is important to the citizens,” Ron Diner said.
Last week, Mayor Ken Welch acknowledged that some people don't like the deal but said the majority of his constituents support it.
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