Wostal said the county\u2019s proposed use of community investment tax (CIT) dollars creates an immediate problem. He said the county would commit $360 million over four years, taking up more than half of expected annual CIT revenue in the early years of the renewed 15-year tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe $90 million a year for Fiscal Year \u201927 to Fiscal Year \u201930, that\u2019s going to be over 50% of the new annual CIT revenues because the CIT is underperforming compared to past years,\u201d Wostal said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, we had an unexpected loss of $12 million a year because there\u2019s no longer a business lease sales tax that used to be applied. So that means that we\u2019re going to have some very hard decisions to make. That ends (Rays CEO) Ken Babby\u2019s<\/a> statement of a no-harm framework<\/a> immediately. We\u2019re going to have to delay a significant amount of projects. All of those projects will cost much more money to complete five years from now when we start catching up.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Tampa Council Member Charlie Miranda<\/a> said he is concerned even a nonbinding MOU could box elected officials into later approvals before they have enough answers about the site, traffic, costs and promised development. <\/p>\n He told Florida Politics that he has only scanned the MOU so far, but criticized the proposal for a lack of guarantees that the entertainment district would ever be built out. The economic impact projections used by the Tampa Bay Rays as part of their pitch are dependent on the entertainment district serving as a primary revenue generator.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no guarantee that what they say is going to happen is going to happen,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cThat\u2019s not in this contract as far as I read so far. It\u2019s all about pie in the sky and that everything is going to work out. Well, that\u2019s not the way I do business,\u201d Miranda said.<\/p>\n Tampa Mayor Jane Castor<\/a> and other proponents are urging residents to view the MOU as an early step in the process and not a final deal. She was among many local officials who praised the MOU during a news conference last week<\/a>, but echoed her pitch to residents in her weekly newsletter on Monday. She explained that the MOU is \u201cless like a contract and more like a handshake with a witness,\u201d and that \u201cnobody is writing checks yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat it is, is a shared commitment to keep working toward something real \u2014 responsibly, transparently, and with this community\u2019s best interests as our north star,\u201d Castor said in the newsletter.<\/p>\n She emphasized that keeping Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay is worth pursuing for reasons beyond sports, but noted that the use of tourism tax dollars would ensure that the city \u201ccan\u2019t and won\u2019t give away the store\u201d to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking workforce pathways, affordable housing opportunities, infrastructure improvements in Drew Park, and long-term economic growth that reaches well beyond the outfield wall,\u201d Castor said. \u201cA significant portion of the funding conversation centers on tourism tax revenue, dollars largely generated by visitors, not Tampa residents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The divide over public funding for the project will be on full display this week, when Hillsborough County meets Wednesday to vote on the proposal and Tampa follows suit on Thursday.<\/p>\n After reviewing the MOU last week, Wostal said the deal\u2019s treatment of CIT dollars and county reserves would leave taxpayers exposed.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Florida-Politics_728x100-1.png\")
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