Joshua Wostal teases Tampa Bay Rays ballpark resistance planned by the Tampa CRA next week

Hillsborough County Commissioner Joshua Wostal says concerns related to Tampa Bay Rays ballpark negotiations could soon come to a head.

He indicated during an appearance on “The Ryan Gorman Show” that the deal could run into resistance from the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) next week.

Wostal, who has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Rays ballpark proposal, aired many grievances with the project during the episode. While his concerns were not new, he indicated that the Rays memorandum of understanding (MOU) may still face resistance by the Tampa City Council acting through its role as the CRA next week. 

Some Tampa City Council members, including swing vote Bill Carlson, have expressed concern with a lack of negotiation by the team with council since the MOU was approved by the city and Hillsborough County last month.

Carlson recently told Florida Politics the Tampa Bay Rays have primarily negotiated with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, largely leaving Council members — and many of their requests — absent from the negotiation table. However, Carlson noted that Castor is not authorized to negotiate on behalf of the city’s CRA.

The MOU currently promises $80 million from the city of Tampa and another $100 million from the CRA, in addition to other public dollars. Opponents to the deal are now looking to the Council’s role as the CRA board to gain some added leverage in ongoing negotiations. Carlson’s swing vote is noteworthy since he has publicly voiced displeasure that the Rays since the MOU was approved and role on the CRA, indicating that the CRA does not have the funds necessary for the deal.

If Wostal’s comments on “The Ryan Gorman Show” are to be believed, the CRA will vote to remove the Rays MOU from its upcoming agenda next week and potentially force a renegotiation.  

To this point, the CRA has not voted to remove the Rays MOU approval from next week’s agenda. But members would need to wait until they are acting as the CRA board to do so — meaning the agenda item may not be removed until the meeting itself.

During his remarks on the show, Wostal argued the stadium should be funded through user fees and tourism tax dollars alone. Instead, he criticized the current MOU for leveraging local tax dollars, disaster recovery money, infrastructure funds and potentially money tied to public safety needs. 

“I had the county attorneys confirm that there’s actually not an executed MOU that has been advertised, because the only legal body that can approve CRA or negotiate those dollars are the Drew Park CRA, not the Tampa Mayor and not the Tampa City Council,” Wostal said.

“They declined to make that vote at their last board meeting and they punted it to June — which means the MOU is not currently executed — and they’ve realized that they do not have the votes for it to pass that Drew Park CRA to my understanding. So they will be asking for it to be removed, which changes the entire MOU structure, because it will now have to go back to all parties for passage again.”

Much of Wostal’s criticism tracks with concerns he has previously raised about the proposed stadium package. He said the county has still not received enough information to justify the size of the subsidy, including detailed site plans, proof of financing or documentation supporting the team’s claimed $2.3 billion project cost.

He also questioned the economic assumptions being used to promote the deal. He said an outside review found the Rays had cast doubt on projections that the development would generate $6 billion in tax revenue over 35 years. Wostal argued the actual return could be far lower once realities set in, putting the county and the city at risk of losing out on its projected revenue returns.

Wostal also highlighted Hillsborough County’s other looming sports-facility obligations, including potential renovations at Raymond James Stadium and future needs at Amalie Arena. He said funding needs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and pressures from other community investment tax-funded initiatives make it even more important to protect taxpayer dollars.

Wostal said he is not opposed to keeping the Rays in the Tampa Bay area, but he is not ready to support a deal without stronger financial protections for taxpayers.

“I understand that the more emotional, passionate fans want it here as well,” Wostal said. “But I can’t sell people down the river.”