TAMPA — Hillsborough County commissioners are set to vote Tuesday on the first big chunk of public money for the Tampa Bay Rays’ new ballpark, and the timing is awkward: it comes one week after Florida voters passed Amendment 3, which will cut into the property taxes counties live on.
The same meeting includes a public hearing on banning concentrated 7-OH, a potent compound sold in some kratom products.
What’s on the table for the stadium
The stadium items were scheduled before the election. According to the county’s agenda, as reported by FOX 13, commissioners will consider three things:
- An initial $90 million. The county would add the ballpark as a new capital project and move $90 million out of reserves in its Community Investment Tax extension fund to set up the stadium’s budget for fiscal year 2027. Any more county money would need separate votes later.
- Making the stadium eligible for the sales tax. Commissioners would add the ballpark to the list of projects that can be paid for with the renewed Community Investment Tax, the half-cent sales tax voters first approved in 1996 to help build Raymond James Stadium and renewed for 15 years in 2024.
- Up to $263 million in bonds. The county would be authorized to borrow that much, backed by its third- and sixth-cent tourist development taxes, the hotel bed taxes paid mostly by visitors. Those bonds still have to go through a separate court validation process.
Why Amendment 3 matters here
Amendment 3 raises the homestead exemption on non-school property taxes from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. The nonpartisan Florida Policy Institute estimates Hillsborough could lose close to $1 billion in revenue over the first two years, FOX 13 reported…