Welcome to a meeting of your Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners.

Representing District One, Harry Cohen.

Representing District Two, Ken Hagen.

Representing District Three, Gwen Myers.

Representing District Four, Christine Miller.

Representing District Five, Donna Cameron Cepeda.

Representing District Six, Chris Bowles.

Representing District Seven, Joshua Wolstall.

The County Administrator is Bonnie Wise.

The County Attorney is Julia Mandel.

Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for citizens to speak on any issue.

So we have time for everyone.

Speakers are asked to limit their comments to three minutes.

Today's meeting is brought to you with closed captioning by Hillsborough Television.

Heavenly Father, I come to you thanking you for another day.

So speaking as an Army veteran myself, it's an honor to recognize this amazing organization.

Hillsboro County Veterans Helping Veterans Incorporated is a 501 C3 nonprofit who is dedicated to passionately advocating for the hungry, needy, and underrepresented members of our veteran community.

To fulfill its mission, the organization is driven by an all-volunteer board of directors and staff, and it depends on one-time and scheduled donations from individuals, businesses, and groups alike.

And I'm so excited to present this commendation to veterans helping veterans.

Very excited.

And it and um the recommendation reads the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners is pleased to applaud Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans for its unwavering commitment to serving veterans in need and their families.

Founded more than 10 years ago by U.S.

Navy veteran Mike O'Dell.

Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans has been instrumental in providing timely, temporary and emergency assistance when no other resources are available, while additionally working to bridge the gap with federal, state, and county veteran programs.

The nonprofit organization is managed and operated entirely by veteran volunteers whose donated time and service enables the organization to return 96% of every dollar received directly to benefiting veterans, in addition to raising critical funding through an annual golf tournament and city county and corporate grants.

Marking a record year of service and impact.

In recognition of its outstanding service, the organization has been awarded a Hometown Hero Award from the Tampa Bay Lightning, further illustrating the positive impacts it has made in Hillsborough County.

The Board of County Commissioners of Hillsborough County, Florida, does hereby commend Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans Incorporated for its exemplary dedication to improving the lives of veterans and their families and expresses sincere appreciation for its continued contributions to the community executed this fourth day of February 2026.

Thank you and congratulations.

Thank you so much for all that you're doing for our veterans and our community.

Thank you.

And would thank you.

Thank you.

And would you like to say to say, Commissioner?

And thank you to all of our commissioners and those that support our veterans in the community.

We are very busy with what we do to help those in need.

Unfortunately, it seems that our goal keeps growing and growing and growing, and so does the need for those that need our assistance.

RJ is our treasurer who uh has the job of not only have to keep records of all the the incoming monies and what's going out, but he manns the phone most of the time dealing with all of our veterans.

And if any of you have dealt with some of our veterans that uh struggle, you know what a uh a deed that that can be.

So I would like RJ to uh give you a uh a little bit of our information.

Thank you.

Just a brief summary.

I started keeping track, and in 2020, we we helped 34 veterans next year 55, 62, 98, 134, and now this last year.

Wow.

Housing, 50 percent of what we've uh donated to help veterans went to housing hotels, rent mortgage, so they don't get evicted.

Uh we had some single moms with three kids and two kids that uh were living in their car, and the cold weather was really hitting them hard.

So we put them in a hotel for a week.

Utilities, 40 percent of the money went to utilities, electricity and water.

A lot of it uh was shut off already.

So we have to pay at least 50 percent of the bill in order to get it turned back on.

One veteran uh his bill was 1300 bucks.

We couldn't afford to pay his whole thing.

We we helped him, and he was able to get additional funding to get because he had two teenage kids in his house.

So that was good to get get it back on.

One guy went two weeks without any electricity, and he was so happy to find that we were able to help him get it back on.

Uh homeless people, we've uh bought plane tickets so they could go back home to family, so they can be taken care of bus tickets also, so they can get to where their family is.

We've fixed cars so people can get to work, and we've given them uh gas card uh money for a gas card so they could get to work and keep working and stay in where they're at and working.

We track all these people, what what they what we helped with, when how much, so that we don't uh like to get repeat every few months.

We let them know.

Very we've had very few second timers, and that's extraordinary cases, but that's for 178 people.

That's astounding that they only needed one-time assistance.

Thank you.

We are very good stewards of the monies that gets donated to this organization, and RJ is uh cracks the whip on all of us to make sure that we do what we're supposed to be doing.

So one more thing.

Uh we have our 10th anniversary callings that we did for our 10th uh year golf tournament that we do every year for raising monies, and we would like to present those to each of you that are here on the board.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And um let's take aone you want to join?

Yeah, I'm gonna picture it.

I have one more three.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Cameron uh Cepeda.

Uh Bonnie, you want to review the change to the agenda?

Yes, good morning, Commissioners.

We have one uh revision or correction to the agenda.

It is a time change for item E1.

It is now at 1015 to receive a special appearance by Santiago Garrada, president and CEO visit Tampa Bay to present their activity report for 2025.

We have two items for time certain.

Item F3 at 10 o'clock by Commissioner Hagen, an update on the Tampa Bay raised ballpark discussions.

And as I mentioned, item E1 at 1015 receive a special appearance by Santiago Carrata, President and CEO visit Tampa Bay to present their activity report for 2025.

1145 is a recess for lunch.

Those are the changes to the agenda.

Motion, Commissioner Wolstall, second Commissioner Myers, please record your vote and change the agenda.

Motion carried seven to zero.

Okay, we're going to the public comment portion of the agenda of the Board of Welcomes comments from citizens on any issue or concern.

Um requests at the same time when you address the board.

Uh comments are not made uh personally toward commissioners or staff, but rather the issues.

We've set aside uh 45 minutes for public comment this morning.

When you come forward, please take your name and speak clearly into the microphone.

Uh first three speakers this morning, uh Denise Herndon, followed by Gary Hartfield and then William Bredbenner.

Miss Herden here.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Denise Herndon.

In 40 years ago, I was coming out of a class for respiratory, and saw the challenger crack up.

But in that class, the instructors were saying, document document document because people will do things to you to get you in trouble, even in danger patients.

Well, now we have computers.

And when I worked at Brandon Hospital last, I would see opposite things.

They had already been had a data breach.

So here now I'm here.

What are you going to do with these grants?

I hope and I believe there should be a law for all nonprofits to fund their nonprofit the way this one just did, where the majority of it goes to the actual cause.

He mentioned 90% just in housing and with food and electric.

You don't see that.

Even the majority of the VA places out there don't.

But what are you guys gonna do with this FDLE money?

Does it really go?

There's nothing wrong with making mistakes.

What's wrong is if you're not given the chance to build yourself back up.

Just look around and see what's going on in our society.

We all are important, but some people believe anybody is important.

The immigrants, illegal immigrants that are coming to our country are more important than our veterans.

There should be no veteran that is homeless.

I understand a lot of them have some issues psychologically and stuff, but just pushing a drug isn't the answer.

Something needs to be done.

And our country was founded, but here we're celebrating black history month, black this, black that, and what would people have done if the slaves who your ancestors fought and really suffered?

What would you guys be doing right now in the country that you came from?

We have so many liberties, and it's only us individuals that allow somebody to keep us down.

Shirlene Hammond has really tried.

My neighbors have tried, and thank God Brenda Walker and Gene Munger said, I'm going to jail, I'm going to jail.

I hadn't done anything to go to jail, but I was working and someone was going in my locker.

I quit when the manager said that.

Thank you, Ms.

Herndon.

Thank you.

Appreciate the comments.

Gary Hartfield, followed by William Bredbenner, and then Tom Cobert.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning, Mr.

Chair.

My name is Gary Hartfield.

I initially signed up to speak to the discussion regarding the possibility of the stadium being brought here to Tampa Bay.

However, given that the discussion is still in its formative stages, I will withdraw my commentary until a later time.

But thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate you being here.

William Bredbenner.

Mr.

Bredbinner here.

No.

Okay.

Followed by Tom Cobert.

Mr.

Cobert, and then Christopher Peterson, and then Christopher Nord.

Good morning, sir.

Morning.

Mr.

Chairman, Commissioner, staff, and deputies.

My name is Tom Cobert.

It has been said that when fascism comes to America, it will carry a cross and be wrapped in a flag.

The cross is Christian nationalism, which preaches hate and does not follow the teachings of Jesus.

Fascists claim that they only they can save America from the people that want to destroy it.

They utilize a tactic known as projection.

Accuse others of what you were doing.

Congress could stop this, but the members seem to have misplaced their spines.

Others have convinced the president he can succeed in becoming a dictator by terrorizing the American people and the submission.

Therefore Ice.

The president is finding out that the American people have spines of steel and will fight for their rights and freedoms.

I learned in the early 90s that I can make a difference as a community activist.

Government has the responsibility to serve all the people.

America is the richest nation in the world, but we have a rapidly growing homeless population, many of them veterans, which is shameful.

This is because all of America's wealth is being given to billionaires.

You will not serve the people by taking away health care, not when there is a growing need for it.

With the insanity that is taking place in health and human services at the federal level, we will soon face the growing threat of pandemics that will easily get out of control because of incompetence at the federal level.

For those that doubt this, measles was declared eradicated in 2000.

It has come roaring back and children are dying.

Moderna had a grant of $750 million to develop a vaccine for bird flu.

JFK Jr.

revoked the funding.

Bird flu caused a pandemic in the early 1900s.

It was known as the Spanish flu, which was devastating worldwide.

Taking public transportation away from people will drive many into poverty.

If people can't get to their job, they can't work.

That would be a reality for many.

People who are unemployed because of government action or inaction or an unnecessary burden on social services and have little respend in the local economy, therefore not contributing to the tax base.

Again, you are here to serve the people.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Cobert.

Christopher Peterson.

Followed by Christopher Nard and then Thomas Fletcher.

Morning, sir.

Morning, Chair, Commissioners.

Chris Peterson for Fortified Financial.

We are pace providers under the FPFA.

First of all, I want to thank the board for readopting pace.

I think pace in a post-SB 770 world is working very well.

And thank you to Eric Olson and his team for managing the program uh very efficiently.

I'm here today to talk about a specific issue, which is the tax collectors and the counties that have pushed back on the FPFA's court ruling from October of 2022.

That court ruling allowed FPFA to operate statewide.

Many of the counties and tax collectors pushed back on this ruling and uh you know reached out to us and said, please stop doing business without you know an agreement with the county.

So we did, we stopped.

We only did about 130 assessments or so in Hillsborough County.

Then we went and fought, we we added this home rule language to SB 770 along with the consumer protections, fought for that in Tallahassee and ultimately got that passed.

However, during that time, um, you know, the counties and the tax collectors asked for a rehearing, and that lower court ruling was upheld.

Then they asked for an appeal that was upheld.

Then they asked for this to this one to the Florida Supreme Court.

Florida Supreme Court on December 17th, 2025, upheld the lower court ruling, which specifically states that those assessments need to be collected by the tax collectors part of the ministerial duty.

That's in the in the ruling.

It's very clear.

I'm happy to send that around.

However, there are you know several tax collectors that have decided to put these on the tax rule and move on, which is what we wanted, and others that are pushing back and continue to push back.

Um, and not liking that ruling is really no reason to spend taxpayer dollars and staff time and resources.

Uh, it's not going to change it.

And so it's just a matter of time.

My colleague Chris Snard is going to get into the the effects that this is having on Hillsborough County property owners and who those of voluntarily use the PACE program uh a little bit more.

But that's that's what I wanted to say today, and again, we stand ready for questions and to have a further discussion about this.

Thank you all.

Thank you, sir.

Christopher Nard.

I'm followed by Thomas Fletcher and Sergett Doss.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Chris Snard.

I'm the CEO of Fortify Financial, and I just wanted to take a second and elaborate on uh some of my associates' comments.

Uh, this dispute over putting them on the tax roll has gone on for almost three years now.

It's cost millions of dollars in legal fees, there's been huge amounts of disruption.

And it I don't know if it's about more than this, but it seems to be about a dispute on putting the assessments on the tax roll.

Fortify's done about 140, uh 138 transactions in Hillsborough during that period.

And we're only one writer.

So there's probably about two times that.

And in each time the county, the tax collector refused to put the payments on the tax roll, these people fall further behind.

So they have valid liens on their property, and we bill them once a year, even though it's on the tax bill, not on the tax bill.

Now, about half of these people pay and half don't.

So the ones that don't pay, I can only think they don't pay because they think they don't owe it because it's not on the tax bill.

But again, it's a valid lien on the property.

And what's going to happen is when they go to refi or sell the home, they're gonna have to clear that lien.

And they're gonna be very surprised, very unhappy.

And if there's not a lot of equity in the property, these people may not be able to enact that transaction.

It'll be really unfortunate.

Um we would really like to move on from this.

I mean, one thing the continual challenge to this has done in the continual challenge to the judicial validation process is done, is it's taken cap capital out of the state of Florida.

I mean, you know, Fortify alone was financing hundreds of millions of dollars of these things in Florida, and we've stopped since this disruption.

If people can't rely on judicial bond validations, which all municipal financing is subjected to, there will be less liquidity in the market, less liquidity drives rates up.

We always hear rates are too high.

Well, as you take capital out of a business, rates naturally go up.

Um, we'd love to move on.

We'd like to work with the county, the county staff that does this after pace has been uh reinitiated in Hillsborough have been great.

We'd like to work with folks to get these on the tax roll before homeowners who have borrowed fall another year behind and get into a hold that they can't get out of.

So we're here to do whatever we can to work with you, work with county staff to get these on the tax roll and stop fighting this in Tallahassee and spending uh for all of us millions of dollars on legal fees.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir, for your comments.

And Bonnie, if you can just have our folks take a look at that and make sure that we're doing everything we can.

All right, next three speakers, Thomas Fletcher, followed by Sergrit Doss, and then Quentin Robinson.

Good morning, Ms.

Fletcher.

Good morning, uh commissioners.

Uh, first thing I want to do is uh offer my appreciation to uh Commissioner Sapeda for uh uh bringing forth this uh veterans helping veterans group out here.

You have no idea how much we appreciate the veterans community and way appreciates uh these kinds of efforts on the part of the commissioners to recognize organizations that put out a lot of effort uh for their brothers and sisters.

It's a good thing to have the support from these these commissioners, and uh over the years that I've been involved.

Uh I've been over here many times, and most of the time it's always to say thanks and show show appreciation.

But uh you've already all uh all of all of you already heard a lot of good stuff about uh uh Mike and his crew and veterans helping veterans, but a couple of things that you don't know that hasn't been mentioned is back about 15 years ago.

Uh I uh I heard about what Mike was doing.

Uh he and his buddy were doing anyway, and apparently they had uh found an open uh like a small business that had been uh vacant for a while, and they they decided that uh veterans needed help finding furniture or getting furniture, additional furniture for the household and stuff.

So uh he and his buddy uh launched this effort to collect furniture and this and that and the other.

And my wife and I found out about it, and we decided we had some extra stuff, so we put it in a truck and went over there and met Mike and his buddy and stuff, and uh unloaded this stuff, and I said, Oh my god, what is he trying to do for Pete's sake?

He's gone nuts.

This this is just not gonna work.

Well, you know, push come to shove.

Uh fast forward a few years, and it grew into something that uh this community is very appreciative of and very thankful to have.

And uh once again, uh like to give my nod the head to you folks for all you do for the community and and for everybody, especially the veteran community.

Thank you, Mr.

Fletcher.

Uh Sergett Doss.

No.

Last two speakers, Quentin Robinson and Charles Hearns.

I think Mr.

Robinson might be virtual.

Is he on the line?

Mr.

Robinson has not checked in.

Okay.

Charles Hearns.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning, Mr.

Chairman, commissioners, uh, county administrator, and to all of those who are here gathered.

Happy Black History Month.

As I'm sure you know, February each year is celebrated as Black History Month.

It started out a hundred years ago in 1926 when Dr.

Carter G.

Woodson decided that initially there should be a week every year, and he chose the second week of February, where the accomplishments and the potential of black people should be recognized and honored.

Fast forward to 1976.

President Gerald Ford proclaim the entire month of February, Black History Month.

My name is Fred Hearns.

I think most of you may know me by Fred.

That's my middle name.

And we're celebrating at the Tampa Bay History Center, our fifth annual Black History Month reception.

I did provide flyers this morning for the commissioners and for our county administrator.

It's going to be on Friday, February 27th, 5 p.m.

Doors open.

And we have a new location this year, 1213 North Central Avenue, in a historic building.

It's over 100 years old, the former St.

James Episcopal Church.

And that in the middle of next year will open as Tampa's very first Black History Museum.

The building is owned by the Tampa Housing Authority.

They are an unbelievable partner with the Tampa Bay History Center in bringing this museum to fruition and as a reality next year.

We're looking forward to that also in this community.

And Tampa's Black History Museum, actually, for the last two years, we've been having programming there, building up support and an audience for the museum once it opens.

We have several activities planned for this month.

All of this information is on our website, Tampa Bay History Center.org.

Again, I'd like to commend the Tampa Housing Authority.

Everything we've needed, they have provided.

And this is going to be an amazing facility once it opens next summer.

As I mentioned, this is the fifth annual Black History Month reception.

We're going to be honoring the Florida Sentinel Bulletin newspaper this year with the Dr.

Bernard Lafayette Sancofa Award for keeping Black History alive.

We're going to be awarding a thousand dollars to a local public high school for its involvement with the Thurgood Marshall History Club and so many other things to look forward to.

Friday, February 27th, Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa's Black History.

Thank you, Mr.

Hurns.

Appreciate the comments.

Okay, that closes a public comment.

Can we have a motion to approve the consent?

Move to approve.

Second.

Motion to approve consent by Commissioner Meyer.

Second, Commissioner Walstool, please record your vote.

Motion carried seven to zero.

Okay.

Bonnie, you want to introduce the first item?

Yes.

We have some time before our time certain items, so we can move to the regular agenda.

Um, the first two items are related, item B1 and B2.

They are both related to funding of the Timberly Trust, which is for the Mosley Homestead site, which is a designated landmark.

John Mueller will take us through these two items, B1 and B2.

Good morning, John.

Uh good morning, Chair, good morning, commissioners.

John Mueller, Director of Facilities Management and Real Estate Services, and as Bonnie said, I'm presenting both agendas items A uh B1 and B2, which are related.

At the uh December 17th board meeting, we presented a staff report on Timberley Trust and the funding the county had apportioned for the Mosley Homestead in Brandon for preservate for preservation work and also the funding the county had apportioned for capital construction of a welcome center on the homestead.

Today, we are asking consideration of two items just for preservation work.

I will speak to Capitol again at the conclusion.

As you see on the screen, first item B1 would provide uh just under 250,000 of funds that would support a similar grant that Timberley Trust has received from the state combined.

This allows for just under $500,000 of work that focuses on replacement and preservation of windows, walls, and other items throughout the existing structure.

The second item B2 is uh an additional 25K that was recently placed in this year's budget and is focused primarily on site fencing repairs and uh also for HVAC for the storage building, which historically has been called the scrapped.

I would like to reiterate that the two items presented today are preservation of existing assets with regards to capital improvements on the site, and as was requested at the December 17th meeting, the trust is to provide staff with a separate proposal on capital renovations and improvements with a focus on supporting public visitation, alignment with the restrictive covenants, and financial planning for any improvements and ongoing costs.

We'll evaluate those plans for feasibility, and we are scheduled to report back at the April 1st BOCC meeting.

Members of the trust are here today to show their appreciation of your consideration of these items.

We're available for any questions.

Thanks, John.

Appreciate the presentation.

Um Commissioner Wilson.

Thanks.

I just wanted to stay consistent as I've been on these nonprofits that we're moving in a direction that does not create a new permanent burden on the bottom line of the taxpayers of Hillsborough.

And I I know that that's in here, and that is not the direction we're moving in with this item, correct?

Uh it it this work for preservation will be focusly focused on the repairs and um to get it back up to to shape.

In terms of the ongoing impact, at the next report, we're asking for a financial analysis from them to show again our our goal, I think here is aligned with yours, Commissioners.

We're not looking to add to ongoing support.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

I'll move for approval.

Okay, we've got a motion to approve.

Commissioner Wilson, second Commissioner Myers.

Um don't see anyone else in the queue.

Please accord your vote on B1.

Motion carried seven to zero.

All right.

Move B2.

Second.

Motion to approve uh B2 by Commissioner Cohen, second Commissioner Wolstall.

Please call your vote.

Motion carried seven to zero.

Thanks, John.

Good money.

Thank you.

Uh the next item is Commissioner Cameron Sepa's item, item F1.

This is to amend the federal legislation, sorry, federal legislative agenda.

Commissioner Cameron Sapeda.

Yes, I'd like to make a motion to adopt an amendment to the 2025-27 Hillsborough County Federal Legislative Agenda by adding the following item.

Oppose federal preemption of local authority that would limit the ability of counties to play a role in telecommunications infrastructure decisions, including the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025.

Um cost and uh cost associated with the implementation of this amendment to the 2025-27 Hillsboro County Federal Legislative Agenda are included in the Government Relations Strategic Services Department of FY26 adopted budget.

And also, I would just like to add also that um you know we have the National Association of Counties that are also oppose this.

We have the National League of Cities oppose it, U.S.

Conference of Mayors oppose it, telecommunications officers, and advisors oppose it.

Umpose it, American Public Power Association oppose it.

I mean, there's so many things in here.

Um what the bill does and what it does not do.

The bill does eliminate states' rights to preempt all local control over the placement of wireless facilities.

It forces local governments to rubber stamp virtually all wireless facilities.

If they don't rubber stamp the facilities would be built without a permit.

Um there's so many things that could go on and on about it.

And um one of the reasons why I believe we should oppose it uh several reasons why there's so many really, but um they will harm, injure, and disable millions of Americans who will be involuntary irradiated, irradiated.

Um, and also it removes the possibility of informed consent.

And there's just so many other reasons, but it's uh I really believe that we need to uh oppose this and have this put on the agenda added.

Okay, uh Commissioner Wolfsol.

I'll second it.

And my reason to object to this is that the state has been trying to put forward a bill that would put a financial burden on the county for moving these lines if it's in like a certain amount of time under one of our roads.

So we're gonna have the federal government preempting us on this stuff going in, and then we have the state government putting financial accountability on us.

If let's say I I think the the state laws that if we decide to widen a road within a certain amount of time or something, they're saying that we have to pay to move these utility lines to it for an unknown amount of money, and it's it's really expensive.

So I'm I want to support this for that reason.

So thank you, Chair.

All right, so Commissioner Cameron's pay you're you're making the motion to adopt the amendment in opposition.

Yes.

Okay, motion commissioner Cameron to pay to sign Commissioner Wolstall.

Please record your vote.

Yes.

Commissioner, thank you.

Motion carried seven to zero.

Thank you.

Uh the next item is item F two, Commissioner Hagan.

This is your item regarding a discussion regarding expanding the swim and drowning program.

All right, thank you.

Uh board members, I've um been on this board a long time and championed many issues and projects, but um I think the one that I'm most proud to be responsible for is our uh swim safety and drowning prevention program, and that's because uh we're saving lives.

Uh it was Memorial Day 2014 when uh three children drowned in Tampa Bay area that really woke me up to the depth of the problem that we have with youth drowning in our community.

Uh so I began looking into the issue and found out that the children's board and the YMCA had wonderful drowning prevention programs, but Hillsborough County did not offer one.

Um so later that year, I initiated and brought to the board our swim safety program uh throughout Hillsborough County, uh, where we partnered with with organizations who had pools because going way back to the uh Ed Rattis days when he was our park director, uh the county did not want to get into the pool business, and I think that was a smart decision.

But we partnered with uh Brandon Sports and Aquatics, which is now high five, City of Tampa, City of Temple Terrace and the YMCA through their many locations.

The time we felt it made the most sense to uh start the program with those who are at risk and needed it the most, and so staff recommended that we offer the program to our Hillsborough County's Head Start Children.

Uh phase one of the pilot uh launched in spring of 2015 with Hillsborough County Head Start Children.

Um initially the program included many but not all of the Hillsborough County and Hillsborough County School District Head Start locations.

And then I think it was either 2019 or 2020.

Uh we expanded the program to cover all of our head start locations and also offer uh transportation because we found that the biggest uh challenge or obstacle uh for the parents uh was transportation uh in order to access the program.

Um as part of the program, the children are tested in four different categories.

Uh inter-exitability, uh submerging skills, floating and propulsion, and safety recognition.

Uh the good news is it's been very successful.

The first year we served 941 children, and last year it was uh nearly 1,800.

The success rate or what they term progression rate has also increased from 73 percent to 95 percent last year.

To date, nearly 16,000 children have learned how to swim, and we're offering it to all head start children.

The bad news is uh more kids are drowning, and the problem might actually be growing.

Uh we simply need to reach more children if we are ever gonna have a chance to eradicate this problem.

Again, we're not the only organization that's working on this.

Uh the YMCA and Children's Board are doing a great job.

In fact, to the state's credit, they're expanding uh their voucher program.

Um, but I believe our goal should be to provide swim lessons to as many children as possible, and do that we're gonna need to expand it outside of Head Start, possibly to boys and girls clubs or to Hillsborough County's uh summer program.

So for today, and I'll pass to Gavel the Vice Chair.

My motion is just to direct staff to report back with a recommendation on how we can expand the program, ideally with existing resources, since I know uh there are some transportation dollars that have not been utilized, but also include any costs that would be associated with expansion.

I want to emphasize I don't want to break the bank here.

I know we're all in sure of pending property tax reform.

So if additional funding is needed, bring back options in the 50 to 100,000 dollar range.

Uh once we receive that information, we can determine what is needed for a potential program expansion, and at that time we can decide if you know if we want to consider it during uh this year's budget discussions, you know, later on in the summer.

So for today again, it's just to direct staff to come back on with a recommendation.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion by Chair Hagan, a second by Commissioner Wistol.

Um we don't see anyone in the queue for further discussion.

Um, hi, good morning.

Good morning.

Uh Rick Valdez, director of parks and recreation.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair and Commissioners, for bringing this to our attention and giving us the opportunity to expand.

Has been a very successful program.

Uh, I've had the benefit of uh visiting the pools and seeing the kids, get thrown in the water for the first time, and it's a great experience, actually.

So thank you very much.

Well, thank you, board members.

Thank you for your comments.

Um, and thank you, Chair Hagen, for your leadership on this program.

It's very valuable to our community.

Please record your vote um for F2.

Motion carried seven to zero.

Okay.

Bon, I guess we have future issues.

Future discussion items.

Does anyone have an item we want to bring up?

Commissioner Wolstall.

I just want to make sure I know Commissioner Hagen said it, but do we need to ask for a future item about?

I didn't know there's a Supreme Court ruling on December 17th about pace or your you're good.

You don't need a future item.

We don't need a future item on that.

Um we can brief individually as needed.

Anyone else?

Yeah, I have something.

Oh, Commissioner Bowles.

Yeah, thank you.

Um, as we all know, Hillsborough County is growing really fast, and within the next 20 years, we certainly are projected to exceed 500,000 residents, raising our population to two million people.

That with that growth brings real and urgent needs for housing, especially affordable housing, and it demands thoughtful locally driven um solutions.

As a state mandate that strips local governments of meaningful discretion and forces approvals without regarding for local additions, and that's the Live Local Act, which was why I supported Commissioner Woosel in his uh motion to authorize a county attorney to challenge the live local on constitutional grounds, and I certainly support that effort moving forward.

But along with that, there are some things that the state has provided and that not necessarily have some housing policy that is flawed.

Senate Bill 1730, known as Yig B.

I think deserves a closer look.

Some of our surrounding counties have looked at that as well.

Um and for those of you don't know the yes in God's backyard, yigby kind of a play on the NIMBY, uh, allows religious institutions to develop housing on property and provided that at least 10% of those units are affordable.

Critically, unlike the Live Local Act, which we all have a serious problem with, the YIGB preserves local authority by allowing local and elected officials to approve or deny those proposals.

That distinction matters and is critically important.

This also creates an opportunity to work collaborative with faith-based institutions that are already deeply rooted in our neighborhoods and have come before our board repeatedly expressing their interest in being part of a responsible and community-centered solutions.

Uh over the last six months, I've worked with statewide partners and internally to develop a GIAS GIS tracking map of potentially available properties within the county.

There's over a thousand acres that we could probably be utilized for this process.

Uh this tool will be designed to help identify realistic opportunities, improve transparency, and ensure that any housing discussion is grounded in data and local uh location specific analysis.

Given that framework in that discussion, I'd like to request that staff bring back a report analyzing how Yigby may be or could be implemented here in Hillsborough County.

The report should outline and identify the legal and policy considerations, any pros and cons, and clearly define um any steps that would be required if the board chooses to move forward and if possible have that within 30 or 60 days.

Fine.

Follow that.

Yes.

Um, and but I don't know the complexity, so we'll work with the timetable.

Yeah, I just understand.

But uh the idea is to try to kind of launch this out of there.

We've done a lot of uh work kind of identifying the properties around Hillsburg County specifically, um, and finding what areas are we can do that on.

And of course, it's about scale too.

So we are uh 13 minutes uh before our last item, which is time certain.

It's not a public hearing, so I'm fairly certain we can we can waive waiver rules if if the board's inclined to do that.

So moved.

Okay, and a motion by Commissioner Wolstall, second Commissioner Myers to waive our rules.

Uh please record your vote motion carried seven to zero.

Thank you.

It's item F three.

This is an update uh by Commissioner Hagen on their Tampa Bay Ray's ballpark discussions.

Uh thank you, Bonnie.

Uh Commissioners, as I've done with our various uh raised ballpark efforts uh through the years.

I wanted to provide an update uh on our current discussions uh with the team on their goals and plans for their forever home.

After my comments, I'm gonna ask Bonnie uh to make a few remarks and then I'm gonna uh place a motion on the floor.

In an effort to be as uh transparent as practical, I thought it would be helpful to enumerate uh the update for board members to have in advance rather than to simply verbally uh update the board.

Uh first of all, I want to thank the RAIS ownership group uh for the approach and manner in which they have uh undertaken this effort since purchasing the team.

Uh how they have conducted themselves is a hundred and eighty degrees different than what we experienced with all of our previous ballpark efforts with the previous ownership group.

Um I think we can speak, I think I can speak for our entire team to say that it is refreshing and very much appreciated.

Um I think the update that was provided is an excellent uh description of the status of our discussions.

I want to thank Bonnie, Julia, uh Greg, uh Eric Hart, they all uh are heavily involved in our meetings, and each of them weighed in on what was sent out.

A couple points that I think are important and that I want to highlight.

Uh there have not been any formal negotiations up to this point.

While significant progress has been made over the last couple months, we have a long way to go in order to get to a place where our board can have an honest debate and discussion on what a framework or agreement would look like.

Uh that being said, we do not have the luxury of time.

Unlike the previous ownership group, the team has a sense of urgency in order to meet their 2029 uh goal.

Canally their goal is quite ambitious, and we will see if the team is successful uh in their timeline.

But again, after having worked with the uh previous group um who never shared any sense of urgency, uh this ownership's timeline and how they hit the ground running is certainly refreshing.

The document uh suggests an update will be provided to the board within 90 days.

I anticipate uh a vote and discussion even sooner.

Uh the location is Hillsborough College.

Uh it's my understanding many locations were considered, including Ybor City, which candidly was my preferred location as well as many others in the community.

Um, but Hillsborough College was the only location that met all the team's needs and criteria, primarily uh sufficient land in order for to uh realize their entire mixed-use development.

As we heard from the governor yesterday, the governor is supportive of the team being in Tampa and the location being Hillsborough College.

In fact, he said uh baseball belongs in Tampa Bay.

Baseball uh can succeed in Tampa Bay.

Yesterday's event was critical in all of the raised ballpark's efforts through the years.

This is the first time a governor has ever held a press conference and publicly supported not only a new ballpark, but Governor Santis also stated support for the location and partnership.

I don't think that can be underscored enough.

Uh the team has floated the cost of the ballpark.

It will be in the 2.3 billion dollar range.

I can tell you that number is not firm, and we will certainly make every effort on our part to value engineer the design.

Understandably, most of the focus has been on the ballpark and cost.

However, the ballpark is the driver for a generational mixed-use development.

Uh that will be funded with an overall $8 to $10 billion direct investment by the team.

Um the team has characterized the mixed-use development as the battery on steroids.

And I don't know if you're if anyone is not familiar with the Braves and their battery project.

I would encourage you to do so.

It's an amazing uh mixed use development that is the model for future ballparks and stadiums that only occurred but for the ballpark.

That project is on 74 acres, and the RAIS project will be on approximately 120 acres.

The battery has my understanding two million square feet.

This project will have six to eight million square feet.

And lastly, uh the projections are for nearly 10 million unique visitors a year.

That's more visitors than attend Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

Just think about that for a moment.

I really believe that puts the depth, impact, and perspective of this of this project.

As we have with our previous efforts, uh, we are not taking the team's word on the economics and impact of the ballpark and ancillary development.

We are independently verifying uh their projections by having AECOM perform an economic study similar to our previous ballpark efforts.

I'm not going to go into detail, but the study includes a fiscal impact analysis, market demand for a ballpark, market demand for ancillary development, and key assumptions and market-driven absorption scenarios will be reviewed and studied.

Now, where do we go from here?

Uh we're waiting on additional information from the team.

Once we get that, we will begin to work on a financial framework.

Assuming a framework can be made, negotiation will begin to see if a term sheet can be agreed upon.

It's important to point out there's no guarantee we'll even get that far.

If a term sheet is ultimately agreed upon, Bonnie will present that to our board for consideration.

City Council and TSA approvals will also be necessary.

If approved, the formal contractual language we worked on, which is my understanding is a quite complex legal document.

Now, in closing, to the team's credit, they have not threatened relocation if an agreement cannot be reached.

However, and I've stated this for many months now, I honestly believe that if we cannot work out an agreement, the team will relocate with Orlando being the like likely uh place.

And yesterday, Governor DeSantis and Commissioner Manfred both reference Orlando as an extremely viable option.

Now that's not a threat, it's just reality.

And I point that out because I think in some folks' minds, they feel the team will remain here no matter what.

And that's simply inaccurate and frankly naive.

Um any additional information you want to add on, and then I'm gonna just place a motion on the floor.

Um thank you.

I just have a few quick comments, and as you noted, uh Chair Hagen, the opportunity to bring um the raise to Hillsborough County is a tremendous one, and we're grateful to be in the position to evaluate such a proposal.

Um this development will be truly transformational for the Jew Park area.

I was at the city of Tampa over 20 years ago when that CRA was created, and we have seen truly limited growth in that tax base since that time.

So it would be um a big boost to the Drew Park area.

But beyond the new ballpark, the project has the potential to deliver meaningful benefits to the college, job creation, increase, tourist taxes, and sales taxes, and overall economic activity.

But at the same time, um, the work of assembling a financial structure will be challenging and complicated.

It will require significant creativity and coordination with the City of Tampa, the Tampa Sports Authority, and the team.

And uh Commissioner Hagen had some guiding principles that he outlined in his agenda item.

So our goal is to bring forward a financing plan that is clear, responsible, and one that the board can clearly evaluate while delivering strong returns for the community, and we will keep you apprised of our activities along the way.

Thank you.

Thanks, Bonnie.

Uh so for the purpose of today is just I'm gonna make a motion just for um to continue our discussions uh with the RAIS in an effort to determine if a framework and partnership can be agreed upon, and if so, uh staff is to bring that back to our board for consideration.

Second okay, we have a motion by Chair Hagen, a second um by Commissioner Myers.

Uh Commissioner Wistel, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.

Um I'm gonna be supporting today's motion for a discussion, but I don't want that to be misinterpreted.

My message today is more generally to the general public.

On December the 14th of 2024, during a CIT workshop renewal, I strategically gave advice, which was then adopted to remove the term community stadium from the ballot language for the renewal of the CIT.

That was put forward.

During the April 17th, 2024 public hearing for the CIT renewal, I put forward a motion to explicitly restrict the CIT funds from being prohibited for new professional sports facilities.

That motion received a surprise second from Commissioner Kemp, who opposed me on absolutely everything, um, which turned into dialogue and an intervention by the county attorney.

The county attorneys then gave legal advice that they felt like my motion that was going to receive bipartisan support was unnecessary because it would require a readvertisement of the CIT that we notified the public.

At that point, it was said over a half a dozen times by almost every county commissioner at the time, myself, including Commissioner Hagen, Commissioner Cohen, Commissioner Owens, and Commissioner Kemp and Commissioner Cepeda multiple times on the public record that the CIT was not to be used for new professional sports facilities.

At that time, and I will quote for the general public, and they can contact my office for a copy of this at Woolstall J at HCFL.gov.

We will provide you a copy of book 575 on page 81 of the clerk's records, and I quote, attorney Beck explained the motion would require readvertisement to amend the ballot language and suggested alternatives.

Chair Hagen pondered if the language change was in the ballot or ordinance.

Attorney Beck opined on the interlocal agreement ordinance and ballot language changes.

Chair Hagen sought clarification on legal sufficiency regarding removal of community stadium from the ballot language.

Attorney Beck noted the ballot language was written as public facilities, so the county would not own any future professional stadiums.

End quote.

My goal is to not intervene on the success of anyone doing business here.

But what you will be faced with in the future regarding the CIT, which is my primary concern on this, because we promised everyone on the public record that the CIT numbers would be ineligible for the use of a new public facilities.

We have not even began to collect that tax, and here is a suggestion that we already deceive the taxpayers that we made a promise to no less than two years ago.

The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears, it was their final most essential command, George Orwell.

I insist that you request these copies and inform yourself on directly what was said and advertised in terms of the CIT.

Those are my remarks about the eligibility of these funds.

I will say to the comments of the suggestion put forward that underlined no transportation or public safety projects would be impacted, and that this would be to exceed the initial estimated annual growth.

That is a fallacy and a farce.

No one can make that promise.

They have no guarantees that if this money is bonded, that there will be an exceeding of the initial estimated annual growth, which is irrelevant, that would absolutely potentially impact our ability to fund all of the many fire stations that we promised in our renewal and public safety elements for the sheriff, lithia pinecrest, the biggest bonding need of the CIT, Van Dyke.

I will point out that the second motion I made on that meeting, if you watch it, is that I intentionally put a restriction for all individual entities that receive the CIT and their apportionment are restricted to 70% bonding.

There are no guarantees that if we bond out a large sum and growth estimates fell, that we will then not be able to bond Lithia Pinecrest, Van Dyke, or any of the many fire stations or other public safety elements that we promised the voters on our intentional 15-year interlocal agreement.

Thank you.

Commissioner Bolz, you're recognized.

Well said, Commissioner Wistel.

Um I agree.

I think that we should be advocating for certainly economic in development and ongoing revenues here and finding every opportunity to do so.

So you know, I'm comfortable certainly with continuing conversations with the rays and seeing some of what value that comes with any available options that uh are brought before us, you know, through staff and as we as we continue to look at that.

That said, though, um, I as I am becoming aware and as things are being brought before us of the possible funding components, I do have concerns with aspects of the framework, particularly the scale of dollars proposed for the new stadium construction and a potential reliance on CIT funds.

And I think that's uh was brought up very well by Commissioner Wistel.

And as he pointed out, when voters approved the CIT, the discussion of language is primarily focused on maintaining existing facilities, strengthening public safety, and supporting core infrastructure.

And that, I believe, intent still matters today.

In 2024, Hillsborough firefighters were the tip of the spear in advocating for the renewal of the CIT, specifically due to the lagging needs in the identified problems and um issues with having funding for fire stations and response times out there identified in their master plan.

I also supported that renewal with the clear understanding that those CIT dollars remain focused on those priorities as well as the infrastructure and the transportation needs.

And I take that responsibility seriously.

So any use of those funds uh must be limited and I think clearly justified in structure so it does not shift resources away from fire rescue, law enforcement, transportation, or any other essential services that we're looking at to to fund those needs.

However, with that being said, I'm still very open to continue dialogue, reviewing any proposals as they revolve, because I I do think that there may be a path to yes.

I don't know what that is, and I have confidence that you'll bring all kinds of interesting ideas to the table.

However, again, I think my participation at this time is that any CIT monies must be narrowly defined and consistent with the voter intent and not be a primary funding source for the new state of construction.

But as these discussions continue, this framework will certainly guide how I evaluate any proposal that comes before the board.

And I think there's no doubt that continual discussions make sense.

Um, but we still must respect the original purpose, approved by the voters, and remain focused on our core public needs.

Thank you, Madam Chair, or Vice Chair.

Thank you, sir.

Um Commissioner Cohen, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, uh, Madam Vice Chair.

I first of all uh want to just start out by complimenting whoever wrote this three-page document that was attached to the agenda, it commissioner Hagan, it came from you, so I'll I'll give you the compliment.

The reason I say this is because this I think very succinctly and clearly states what the question is that's before us and what some of the answers are that we're gonna be seeking.

And um I think that the the to get into the weeds of how exactly this would be funded today is probably a little premature, but on the other hand, I I think it's very important that commissioners spoke out right from the very beginning to talk about the issues that exist related to the CIT.

But on the other hand, I I think it's very important that commissioners spoke out right from the very beginning to talk about the issues that exist related to the CIT.

Um administrator-wise, I I remember at the beginning of this uh process, I had heard that you had had uh laid out a couple of general principles that would guide these negotiations.

I I remember one of them uh had to do with protecting our credit rating.

What what were the what were the the there were like three principles, I believe, that you that you articulated.

You're testing my memory.

Um but yes, one definitely was the um the protection of our credit rating, both ours and the city of Tampa's.

The other was that we did not want to take the development risk.

We know that the development beyond the ballpark is really what is a big part of what we want to have in this community, but we can't take the risk that that occurs and when it occurs.

So that was um one of the main ones.

And and there's been a lot of questions that have been raised about outside validation of the information that's presented to us by the team.

You have people and and organizations already in place that can assist the county with that type of independent analysis, correct?

Yes, and is ongoing.

Okay, and that's the AECOM study and and other Stanska.

Um, you know, this saga has been going on for a long time, and all of us in our in our roles here are, I'm sure uh approached by people all the time that give their opinion about what they think ought to be done related to the ray's relocation.

And I have heard the full gamut.

I've heard people that say not a dime of public money should be spent for a stadium, and then there are there are those that actually have said you need to do this at any cost, uh we we have to have the team here no matter what you have to do.

And you know, as I've thought through this and sort of prepared for this moment to come, I have have really rejected both of those views and and come to the conclusion that there is an inherent worth to having the team here, and there is um a real uh value that that can be attached to what it means economically to this community in terms of job creation and hotel nights and all the other things that that come with this type of uh proposal.

Um so as I was thinking through this, I went on on my iPad and I did a search using artificial intelligence, and I asked the following question.

Um I I imagined a world where the rays saga is settled and their location is settled, and that they're gonna be in Florida somewhere, and in 2028, Major League Baseball is going to expand by two teams.

They're gonna have a two, they've committed that once the the raise stadium is settled, they're gonna be pushing in 2028 for an expansion.

And and I asked the question, how much will the expansion be fee be that um Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Montreal, uh Portland, Oregon, that all of these cities will compete for those two spots.

How much will the expansion fee be that those communities are gonna be willing to pay to Major League Baseball to have a team in in their community?

And the answer I got back was somewhere between two and two and a half billion dollars.

Now, I don't know if that is a correct number or not.

We can certainly be conservative and uh assume that maybe it'll be something a little bit less than that.

But the fact that before they would even put a shovel in the ground, before they would even start the process of building a team, that somebody would look to make an outlay like that just to get major league baseball into their community, says on its own that there is a value to these things.

And so I think it would be very irresponsible today not to vote for this motion, because this motion gives us the opportunity to pursue an idea, pursue uh something that is something that's not available to any other major market in this country right now, which is the chance to have a major league baseball team without paying uh uh a multi-billion dollar expansion fee.

So for that reason alone, I I have enormous confidence that our county administrator and our team, the people in the city, the people at the sports authority, uh, can enter into an earnest discussion bounded by the principles that were articulated, that we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna go into this with our eyes open, transparently, so that the public can see exactly what we're doing, and and we'll talk about it here and make the decision of whether or not it makes sense for this community.

But to pull the plug on on the endeavor now and not support this, to me would be throwing away uh an opportunity that that actually has value.

Thank you, sir.

Uh Commissioner Myers, you're recognized.

Thank you, madam vice chair.

You know, I'm sitting here and listening to all the comments, and we as board members, we often say, let's direct staff.

Can you bring this back to us in 90 days, et cetera?

And this is what this is all about.

We're discussing right now.

The future, we have to wait until Bonnie brings back a proposal or a sheet that we can discuss.

We're not there yet.

This is us only to bring back information.

But wow, why would we miss an opportunity not to have the raise here in Tampa?

I've always said it, let the raise stay in the region, and then one day I was clarified that no, no, not the region, but Tampa Bay.

No, Hillsburg County.

And I said, okay, I'll support that.

It's made real clear to me.

Today is not all about CIT or what to come back.

We've already talked about the barriers, five stations that we needed.

We're building, we just had two groundbreakings coming up, and they're going to be opening soon.

We are very aware of the need here in this county.

As we think of today of the raise here in Hillsburg County, when we look at what it's going to be sustainable, what is going to be an economic engine here in our county in years to come, not tomorrow, but years to come.

The jobs that will be created here in our county.

And you know, if you didn't go or didn't look at the hockey game Sunday night in the freezing temperature when we had 65,000 people at that game, our taxpayers, they will support.

I want to be very clear, and those of you who are listening.

We will support sports.

If you think about it, back in the day with the Bucks, we supported the Bucks, and even they had a blackout.

We did from the taxpayers looking at the game.

We were mad, but we were still supporting the Bucks.

Why?

Economic impact it brings.

We love sports.

And so I'm gonna support this because this is allows our stellar county administrator, Bonnie Wise, to bring us back a proposal.

Understand Stellar.

I have known Bonnie over 40 years.

She has not changed.

She is not going to throw the county and our taxpayers into something that this county cannot approve or handle.

It comes with Bonnie.

I've known you over the years.

From housing finance and all to bonding, you have always stood strong for our county.

It's not going to change today.

Bonnie Wise is Bonnie Wise.

And she has always looked at the best interest of our county.

And so I think we have the votes to move this forward.

If you sit around the table and know how to count the votes, we have the votes to move this forward.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments, Commissioner Bowles.

Uh I'll keep it brief.

Uh still our job body.

Absolutely.

I agree with you.

I adore you.

Um, question and it's related to something that uh Commissioner Cohen brought up.

The paper that we have, essentially, we have one water project, we got one point five billion dollar down there, right?

Uh that we're bonding.

Um possible bonding on this, let's say in the in the neighborhood of 800 million, possibly on the we could with the the options that the if you looked at the the realm of options available, is that probably a fair number, something like that?

Yeah, so if I can just clarify, any water debt is a separate enterprise fund, which has a completely separate credit.

Um any bonding, we would do some bonding, but the city of Tampa would also do some bonding.

So it depends on the revenue source who would be the issuer of the debt.

Okay, so when we talk about our triple A rating, and because it's through an enterprise funds, it doesn't affect our our our triple A rating and goes across the board for everything, but because it's an enterprise fund, it has no effect on any dollars that we may be bonding for this.

Is that what you're saying?

So without getting into a whole discussion on rating agency analysis, the water system has its own rating.

Okay, okay.

That's however, I don't want to make it sound like what we do on the general fund may not roll over because it talks about the county and some other things, but generally it does have its own separate rating.

And then with the the thoughts that we're in negotiations with RJ in the bucks and TSA on how we may be doing some maintenance or whatever we want to call it improvements, and then it sounds like they may even be in the uh the talks of how they can do a similar economic development around there.

I've heard the number one billion there.

If that's true, and we're kind of committed to doing that, not to that extent, but we're committed to bonding dollars for that, not as a and I know what we're at 80 per is it 75 or 80 percent, 70 percent of pay as we go, right?

So how does that affect this?

If we if we commit ourselves to, and again, if we use the number 800 million that we're able to bond, how does that affect all that?

Is that kind of are we overextending ourselves?

So I these are all good questions.

Um the 70 percent restriction is solely a restriction on CIT.

Um, but in any bonding, we always have what we call debt service coverage.

We do the analysis, we want to ensure that there is more than adequate revenue to pay the debt service.

Um so but the restriction, the 70 percent is solely on CIT.

And um there have been no negotiations with the Buccaneers at this time.

However, we do know that the stadium is almost 30 years old, and we do know that improvements are important.

We had that discussion when we talked about the arena.

So we know that something will be forthcoming.

We have been using the fourth cent tourist tax for that, and then we also have some CIT dollars set aside for the for the stadium as well.

All things that will be considered in the analysis.

Okay, and again again, my my question is more along the lines of bonding and how it may affect our rating, and if we end up overextending ourselves on one and not being able to do something that we're committed to for another.

All good discussion, just take under review.

Thank you.

Thank you for your uh comments and discussion.

Um as I recognize you, Chair Hagan, could you please uh restate your motion?

Um it's a very important topic.

I want to make sure that we've got it correct.

Okay, I'll do it at the end.

That's okay.

Um just a couple comments and and to close, I'll jotting down notes from all the board members.

Uh first of all, I want to thank everyone or for your comments.

Uh today's discussion did not need to happen today.

Um, but I wanted to be as transparent as possible and and to not only uh the board but to the public.

And I wanted to hear the concerns and comments from board members, even if it's in opposition to the project.

But I do appreciate board members' uh willingness to not oppose uh moving forward and to get additional information.

The magnitude and impact of this transformative project warrants us getting that additional information.

Uh I truly understand the concerns of Commissioner uh Wolstool and Bowles when it comes to CIT funding, but again, I want to be very honest and transparent.

This agreement does not happen without CIT funding.

It just doesn't.

So I want to be honest about that.

I don't want to play games with that.

Uh Commissioner Cohen, um just like we hand we're undertaking our conversations with the team.

This is a team approach, and I want to be sure to point out that Bonnie, Julia, Greg, and Eric all weighed in on that document.

I certainly uh did not do all the work.

Uh Commissioner Myers bringing up blackouts.

Man, that was a long time ago.

But um, and you certainly put in the pressure on Bonnie.

So uh Bonnie, uh good luck there.

Um and lastly, uh Commissioner Bowles, we made it very clear to the raise that we would not utilize any funding that were that we had set aside for the bucks and that we expect to use for the bucks.

The bucks are a priority for us, we know that.

Unfortunately, they have not shared their goals and plans.

We kind of have an idea, we think, but we haven't even had those conversations yet.

And the th the thought is at this point they're likely gonna exercise their option to extend one more time.

So those conversations are likely not imminent, but that was a priority, and they know that we're not gonna take away anything from the Buccaneers to help in this effort.

That was made very clear from the beginning.

Bonnie, is that's accurate?

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Um, so again, for the purpose of today, it's just to get it straight here.

Just to continue our discussions with the Rays in an effort to determine if a framework uh in partnership can be agreed upon.

If so, uh staff is to report bring that back to the board.

Bonnie will present that to our board for consideration.

Thank you, sir.

Seeing no one else in the queue, um, we have a motion on the floor by Chair Hagen, seconded by Commissioner Myers.

Please record your vote on F3.

Motion carried seven to zero.

Right, thank you, board members.

Uh Bonnie, we got one last item.

Yes, one last item, item E1.

This is to receive a special appearance by Santiago Carrada, president and CEO of visit Tampa Bay to present their annual activity report.

Well, Santiago timing is everything, and you certainly benefit from from following that discussion.

So welcome.

It's always great to see your smiling face.

Well, good morning, honorable chair, honorable vice chair, honorable commissioners, esteemed, or should I say spectacular county administrator and team and those watching in the audience and at home?

I'm gonna do something a little out of character today.

I want to thank uh the tourism and hospitality industry for what they do.

And after this conversation, specifically our hotel industry, charged with working with us to raise that tourism development tax that makes so many great things like the game we saw on Sunday and many, many others that I could call out possible.

So to our hotel industry, thank you for collecting the tax, paying it forward for us to do incredible things.

I normally don't thank them, and shame on me for not doing that.

And I think uh now is the time to really start having uh an appreciation for what they do moving forward.

Um hopefully the presentation will give you uh some cautious optimism going forward.

I'm gonna talk about fiscal year 25.

I can speak about calendar year, but I'll start with fiscal year.

Another record-breaking fiscal year as far as economic impact.

We were number one in occupancy in our comp set.

If you look at 74 percent, 75 percent, that means three quarters of your hotel rooms in Hillsborough County are occupied on average in a fiscal year, no small feat, a record setting, uh, average daily rates, revenue per available rooms, uh, and obviously then uh translating to 1.2 billion dollars, another record in hotel taxable revenue, and obviously another record embed tax collections at over 72 million, actually 11 and a half percent better than fiscal year 24.

Uh and I said cautious optimism because although the industry is extremely resilient, it's also extremely fragile and subject to impacts uh from the economy, mother nature, geopolitical situations, uh, and we grapple with all of those to make sure that Hillsborough County is successful.

A lot of group business, 603 groups booked in fiscal year 25.

You see there the economic impact.

I have tons of data, can't get into it because I stand between you and lunch, and I would never be guilty of having you be hungry.

But if you really want to delve into a lot of the economic impact numbers, hotel numbers, you name it, uh, we have it.

Uh busy, busy fiscal year working with third parties to make sure uh we are connecting with meeting planners, conventiers, getting them here, teams all over the place.

In fact, our uh trade show booths are extremely popular.

In fact, winning prizes, Florida Association of Executive, Florida State Association of Executives, America Society of Association Executives, uh, Maritz, all of these groups help us to land business, and then obviously uh new groups.

We've been very committed to the Divine Nine.

You see us here with Kappa Alpha Psi, uh Sigma Gamma Row, and the uh Asian American physicians industry.

So again, landing some new profile, and then lots of data behind our campaigns.

And this is our digital campaign.

You can see uh in excess of 70 million dollars in booking hotel revenue.

These are targeted, digitally based, real numbers, not made-up numbers.

These are uh provided to us by Adara, our out-of-state campaigns, key markets are those cold weather markets, obviously January through May.

You see some of the marketing in the wild there.

And what's really important is that we're seeing a shift in our visitors.

We're seeing more affluent visitors because we've elevated the product.

When you talk about the Michelin guide, you talk about the addition, you talk about a pendry under under uh construction, new flights with Virgin Aero Mexico.

We're seeing year over year growth in more affluent visitors, and obviously uh more spending and diversified spending.

Summer drive campaigns uh last year ran from May through July.

Uh I can get into all the impressions and the uses and all that.

Uh again, you can talk to me offline about all of that.

Uh but lots of our partners being highlighted uh in in those drive markets, those those folks that have a propensity uh to travel and visit with us from shorter distances.

Uh people love their animals, and uh we figured out people love their dogs.

Uh so we had a great campaign, uh, believe it or not.

Uh some dog influencers out there in social media have more followers than humans, and so we really wanted to drive visitors to the destination with their four-legged friends.

And again, uh we partnered with Amazon.

You're probably wondering why would you partner with Amazon?

People buy their pet food on Amazon.

So a landing page on Amazon connecting directly to us, uh, very, very important.

And then our international campaigns uh where we need to uh really really evaluate our investment.

We're seeing uh flat UK, uh down Germany, uh down Canada, uh, down France.

You can talk to our friends at the airport, and they'll tell you what international inbound looks like.

Uh again, geopolitical circumstances, financial circumstances, all of which we're on top of, but again, doing extremely well uh in Hillsborough County.

Can't say the same for for other places uh across the country.

And then earn media means free media.

Uh and you see the price tag there, over 108,000 in free media.

Every 12 hours, a new piece of coverage spotlighting our destination goes across major markets.

842 media placements, average of two stories per day.

So we're out there making sure we're talking about the destination, and then uh don't want to get into all the social media numbers because they're huge.

Uh, a lot of connection, a lot of interaction.

People are now traveling with the use of local media.

And then obviously we highlight what's important in our community, and that's the arts and taking uh our artists across the world to inspire those travelers, either in Germany or the Netherlands, to jump on one of those direct flights and come visit us uh here in Tampa.

Uh as you know, we've been very involved with our our restaurant industry, uh, the release of our our second cookbook and our second season of podcasts.

We're gonna have announcements with Michelin here shortly of any new restaurants, new additions.

Uh so we're very, very excited about that.

And then um an incentive we did with uh an incentive program we did with Visa Florida was a takeover of the Wheel of Fortune.

And I hope many of you watch it this past year, uh, where we were featured.

We got a slot on the key uh on the wheel, and someone won a trip to to Tampa, Florida, to Tampa Hillsborough County, Florida.

Uh great, great following.

People love the Wheel of Fortune.

Uh so we were very, very proud to be one of the destinations during that week featured with Visit Florida.

Released a coloring book for the young kids, and now talk real quickly about uh our new campaigns.

Uh when we experienced uh some weather disturbances a couple of years ago, our campaigns were time, right?

Time, time to come, maybe time to visit.

Then we shifted to ready.

Now you're ready.

We've always been ready.

Come on down, and so you see some of the creative around that.

Uh but then we realized that uh perceptions of Hillsborough County and its three cities uh were not always on point with people that had never been here.

And so we did some studies of before and after visitations, and you see the dramatic improvement on how people perceive Tampa Hillsborough County.

So again, using data, we developed a new campaign called Go and You'll Know.

Go and you'll know how great we are and what makes us very different from others.

So uh all over the place you'll see catchy uh taglines like we aim high, go and you'll know.

Make salty new friends, go and you'll know.

So everything around, you know, get to Tampa Hillsborough County uh and enjoy all these wonderful things.

And here are more and more creatives that are all over the country and in those locations internationally, uh, where we have the wherewithal uh to to market.

So any questions, uh that's quick.

Uh there's a lot I could have talked about as far as fiscal year 25.

I can tell you calendar year uh 25 came in a little bit under uh the last calendar year, and that's because we saw a huge bump in the winter months during the hurricane.

It was horrific for our neighborhoods, horrific for our suburbs, but the hotel infrastructure was minimally impacted, and we were receiving displaced citizens, we were receiving crews, we were receiving the press, you name it.

Everyone descended on Hillsborough County hotels during the months of October, November, December, January of the year where we were impacted.

So obviously, believe it or not, 1.8% below that year is tremendous work, considering the huge artificial bump that we saw in the industry due to the hurricanes.

Thank you guys, thank you.

And thank you.

Commissioner Rolsto.

Good job.

Uh, just real quick.

So fourth cent is bucks, fifth cent is raise.

You get the first three cents, right?

No, sir.

So we have a formula.

Uh we get a portion of the first three.

Okay.

Other other dollars go for for things.

Then we have the fourth, which goes to the bucks, the fifth goes to benchmark international arena, and the sixth, there are a number of organizations that also by state statute can receive funding from the six.

Yes, sir.

But no one big a lottery, and I know Commissioner Hagen's idol is probably gonna need part of six for the indoor facility.

So, how much of the first three cents do you get?

We get uh approximately 70 percent of the first three.

Okay.

You're willing to shave 20% off that for the race?

Well, you know what?

We're team players.

Uh we're already doing calculations based on the conversations of the impacts that uh might hit us with the six cent, and obviously with the the first three, if we have to capture uh some cost from the six and the first three, because the first three is wide open, right?

There are lots of uses.

What I am going to caution, and this may be um uh a bit uh off kilter here, is build it and they will come, works in the movies, build it, market and they will come is reality.

So I've been around Hillsborough County for a long time.

Hillsborough County is a fantastic place, but about 13 years ago, we got serious about marketing this destination, and we've seen what's happened over the last 13 years.

So build it and they will come.

Beautiful Field of Dreams movie, lots of nice uh Hollywood taglines, build it, market, and they will come.

And that's and that's based on my experiences doing this for almost 13 years.

I appreciate your honesty.

Thank you, Santiago, as always.

Uh Siniago, thank you very much for your excellent presentation as always.

Um I tell you, I wish I had your your hotel and flight miles, because I know you're always on the road uh sharing what a special destination uh that we have here.

And uh and trying to be home in between.

So sometimes we're one-day trips and I'm back because I love Hillsborough County more than any other place in the world.

So when I'm there, I don't care how beautiful it is, I can't wait to get back home.

I think you're the uh hardest working man in the tourism industry, but I do want to thank you and Joel and your entire team from all of your extent outstanding work.

And I also want to thank I gotta close with thanking uh Commissioner Wellstool for his line of thinking.

I know he's got a lot of concerns about the raised project, so I appreciate any ideas he has on where we can find the funding.

So uh, but seriously though, thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Don't see anyone else in the queue.

So Money, anything else?

No, that's everything.

Thank you.

Okay, so with that uh we're adjourned,