{"id":304030,"date":"2026-06-11T16:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304030\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:18:09","slug":"cra-delays-tampa-bay-rays-stadium-funding-talks-until-august-blowing-past-teams-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304030\/","title":{"rendered":"CRA delays Tampa Bay Rays stadium funding talks until August, blowing past team\u2019s deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency<\/a> has pushed discussions about funding for a new Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> stadium until at least August, blowing past the team\u2019s June 1 deadline for local governments to sign a memorandum of understanding<\/a> for the new ballpark.<\/p>\n

The CRA board, which is made up of Tampa City Council members, voted during its Thursday meeting to remove the item from this week\u2019s agenda, leaving one of the most scrutinized pieces of the stadium deal unresolved.<\/p>\n

The final vote continued the item to the board\u2019s Aug. 20 meeting, though several members made clear they may not be ready to take up the issue then either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us they had a June 1 deadline, am I correct? But they didn\u2019t say what year,\u201d Council Member Charlie Miranda quipped, inviting laughs from the audience.<\/p>\n

The delay marks a setback for the stadium MOU proposal, which relies in part on $100 million tied to the CRA along with $80 million from the city of Tampa in addition to other public dollars. While Tampa and Hillsborough County previously approved a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Rays, the CRA portion remains unfinished.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But the move comes as no surprise<\/a>. Council Chair Alan Clendenin initially moved to continue the item to July 23<\/a> ahead of Thursday\u2019s meeting, saying negotiations are still ongoing and include exploring funding options that could handle the CRA\u2019s share differently.<\/p>\n

Clendenin said the Rays organization, Hillsborough County, the city and the city attorney\u2019s office have been part of those discussions, noting that there may be an opportunity to handle the funding \u201coutside of what the existing agreements are with the existing CRA.\u201d<\/p>\n

But several board members balked at keeping the item on a rolling monthly agenda if the deal is not ready for a public discussion.<\/p>\n

Council Member Lynn Hurtak said she had not been briefed on those ongoing talks as a CRA board member and objected to the idea that only some members had more information. She and other CRA board members called for outright removal of the item from future agendas, noting it could be added back when there is something for the board to discuss.<\/p>\n

Council Member Bill Carlson also argued against continuing the item month to month, saying it creates expectations for the media, public and board members that the stadium discussion will happen when it may not be ready.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He also reiterated his concern that the Mayor\u2019s Office has been negotiating the deal on behalf of the city, but is not authorized to negotiate on behalf of the CRA board. He and other CRA board members said the Rays should negotiate directly with the CRA.<\/p>\n

Council Member Luis Viera supported keeping the item on a future agenda. He argued that moving the item to July, August or later would simply acknowledge that the board needs more time, and that removing it entirely could create a fight later to bring it back.<\/p>\n

Hurtak disagreed, saying repeated continuances force board members and the public to prepare for meetings that may not produce a real discussion. After Clendenin\u2019s motion to continue the item to July failed, Hurtak moved to remove the item from the agenda until it is ready to come back. Carlson seconded that motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to continue to prepare month after month, reminding myself what I needed to say every single month,\u201d Hurtak said. \u201cI don\u2019t want the public to keep having to take time off of work to come out here to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Clendenin then offered a substitute motion to continue the item to August instead. That motion passed, with Miranda and Hurtak voting against it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miranda pushed to wait until after voters decide on the property tax reform measure in November, comparing the deal to a major purchase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were going to buy a house in November, and you\u2019re making $10,000 a month, and you know the possibility of making $8,500 a month and you can\u2019t pay for a house. Are you still going to buy a house? Absolutely not,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cSo why not wait? The election is held in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council Member Guido Maniscalco said August is a fair compromise, but cautioned the item could still be delayed again. He argued delaying to the August meeting gives negotiators more than two months to prepare.<\/p>\n

The vote leaves the Rays stadium funding picture unresolved for at least two more months, with board members openly acknowledging that the item could be delayed again or return in a different form before the CRA takes it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could very well be continued even further,\u201d Maniscalco said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of information out there and I want to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency has pushed discussions about funding for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium until…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[6931,276,135,3815,137,136],"class_list":["post-304030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-community-redevelopment-agency","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}