Baseball-loving Lynn Hurtak scrutinizes stadium deal, Bill Carlson faults Jane Castor

Tampa City Council Member Lynn Hurtak and her husband skipped a traditional honeymoon and bought Tampa Bay Rays season tickets instead.

They attended 68 games that year.

“It was phenomenal,” Hurtak told Florida Politics. “It was a great year. It was a lot of fun.”

But Hurtak’s fandom has not persuaded her that Tampa should commit upward of $180 million — and potentially far more once borrowing costs are included — to the Rays’ proposed stadium district at the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus.

“I love baseball, but right now, the city has so many things to pay for,” Hurtak said. “If we had extra money, maybe. But we just don’t have extra money.” 

A day after she helped deliver two setbacks to the proposed development, Hurtak said the Rays need to present elected officials with a complete plan, negotiate directly with the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency and contribute more of their own money.

Hurtak said the Rays and other parties developing the project have repeatedly asked Council members to advance individual components without presenting a sufficiently detailed picture of the finished development.

Asked what could make the proposal more acceptable, Hurtak offered a simple answer.

“More money from the Rays,” she said.

A $100 million ask from a $3 million CRA 

Hurtak and other CRA Board Members have told Florida Politics that the CRA simply does not have the cash for the proposed deal.

Under the framework previously approved by the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County, the county would contribute up to $796 million, the city would provide $80 million and the Tampa CRA would be asked to contribute another $100 million. The maximum local public commitment could reach $976 million if the unfinished definitive agreements are ultimately approved.

Hurtak said the proposed CRA contribution presents a fundamental financial problem.

The Drew Park CRA is projected to receive approximately $3 million in tax increment revenue next year, according to figures discussed during Thursday’s meeting.

“It’s not a high-performing CRA,” Hurtak said. “There’s no way to fund that. They want us to bond for that money, and because we as a CRA are a completely different entity we do not get the city’s bond rating. … So for $100 million, you add $50 million, so it’s truly a $150 million project.”

She added that Tampa Chief Financial Officer Dennis Rogero advised that officials should account for financing costs as high as 60% to 70% of the borrowed amount, which could bring the CRA’s overall obligation of approximately $160 million to $170 million.

“That’s a lot of money,” Hurtak said.

Her comments came one day after the CRA Board voted 5-2 to remove discussion of its proposed $100 million contribution from its Aug. 20 agenda.

The decision did not reject the contribution or remove the CRA from the project, but it left the agency without a scheduled date to consider the request. Members can schedule the item as early as its September meeting, but have indicated they would only do so once they believe negotiations have advanced enough to warrant consideration.

Hurtak said she is scheduled to receive a briefing Monday about potential alternative proposals city staff has been developing. However, she stressed that a city briefing does not substitute for negotiations with the CRA — which operates as a separate legal entity.

She asks for a more fleshed out proposal, and a seat at the table, before considering the deal.

“If you’re asking Council to move forward on a plan, we want to see the full fleshed-out plan,” Hurtak said. “If you want to negotiate with us, you need to schedule meetings with us to have that happen.”

Direct talks begin as political tensions deepen 

Rays CEO Ken Babby began making that outreach Friday morning. He met with Carlson after contacting him Thursday night and told Carlson he planned to speak with every Council member.

When asked whether she would accept a similar meeting with Babby, Hurtak said, “sure, absolutely.”

Carlson did not provide insight into details of the conversation, but he told Florida Politics on Friday the conversation was positive. He criticized Mayor Jane Castor — who is authorized to negotiate with the Rays on behalf of the city but not the CRA. 

The jab comes after Castor publicly expressed frustration of her own with City Council’s Thursday votes, stating that “some of them clearly are intent on killing the Rays plan even before negotiations are done.”

“It’s obvious to everyone that the divide between City Council and the Rays was caused by Jane Castor and her cronies. They were either grossly inept by excluding Council from the negotiations or they did it on purpose to serve their political agenda. They seem to be setting up the Rays for failure so they can blame the City Council,” Carlson said. 

“The citizens of our community deserve better. Castor needs to stop the dirty politics or step aside so this city can start to work for its citizens again.”

The clash also comes in the middle of the 2027 race for Mayor. Hurtak and Carlson are both running to succeed Castor, who is term-limited. Former Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who backed Castor as his successor, is also seeking to return to City Hall for a third, nonconsecutive term. Carlson has already made criticism of both Castor and Buckhorn part of his campaign, arguing that their administrations neglected infrastructure and spent too heavily on major projects.

Positions on the Rays stadium deal will likely come up as a hot topic on the campaign trail as the mayoral election draws near.

A debt that could outlast the ballpark 

Hurtak also raised concerns that the property-tax growth generated by the development would not provide significant new money for city services.

“That’s simply going to pay off the bond,” Hurtak said. “The city will never see any of that money.”

She added that a potential 30-year repayment schedule also raises questions about whether taxpayers could finish paying for the stadium before the team sought another facility or major renovations, she said.

“By the time that’s paid off, they’re going to want a new stadium,” Hurtak said. “It’s not even going to be 30 years, if you are paying any attention to sports stadiums. So we’re not even able to pay off the first bond before we’re probably going to be requested for a second one.”

Hurtak also drew a firm line against using Tampa’s share of Community Investment Tax revenue for the city’s proposed contribution. She said city officials promised voters during the tax renewal campaign that the money would not be spent on a stadium.

The timing of the request adds to her concerns. Castor is scheduled to present her proposed budget next week, and Council members have already been warned that projected revenue will be lower than usual as a precautionary measure for potential property tax reform depending on the results of the November election.

“The Rays chose probably one of the worst possible times to ask for money,” Hurtak said.

Land-use vote reflects concerns

Hurtak’s demand for a more complete proposal also shaped her vote Thursday evening against transmitting a comprehensive-plan amendment for Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus to state agencies.

The amendment would redesignate approximately 115 acres as Regional Mixed Use-100, with a smaller strip along Lois Avenue designated Urban Mixed Use-60.

Hurtak questioned why most of the property needed the higher-intensity RMU-100 designation when officials had not produced a final development plan.

“Going for an RMU-100, it’s just, ‘I want to have the most I can possibly have,’” Hurtak said. “That’s what that says. It doesn’t say that they are spending time thinking about what fits in with the community around them.”

The City Council’s 4-3 decision blocked the anticipated state review and eliminated the September adoption hearing envisioned under the previous schedule. It did not formally reject the stadium or its financing package.

City Council Chair Alan Clendenin told Florida Politics on Friday that the Council should have allowed the review to proceed.

“By refusing to transmit the amendment despite those recommendations, City Council cut short the review process without the benefit of state agency input,” Clendenin said.

He said the decision appeared “arbitrary rather than based on the record.”

Hurtak sees the land-use vote and the financing dispute as different parts of the same problem: elected officials are being asked to advance a sweeping redevelopment before they have seen the full proposal and negotiated its terms.

She said the next phase must include direct negotiations, a realistic accounting of the debt and a clearer explanation of what taxpayers would receive.

“I understand that people would like a stadium,” Hurtak said. “But there’s just not a lot of money that the city has to help with that, and quite frankly I don’t believe that the County has a lot of money to help with that either.”