The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners held a workshop on April 16, 2026, from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM to receive updates on negotiations with the Tampa Bay Rays regarding a proposed $2.3 billion, 31,000-seat ballpark and a 7.6 million-square-foot mixed-use Stadium District on the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry Campus. The workshop included presentations from AECOM on economic and fiscal impact analysis, a legal opinion from bond counsel on Community Investment Tax (CIT) usage, and a staff overview of public funding options and open deal points. No formal votes were taken.
Good afternoon. It's uh April 16, 2026. Welcome to the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners Tampa Bay Ray's workshop. Uh, before I pass things over to the county administrator for opening remarks, a couple of uh comments. You'll see that the workshop is scheduled from one thirty to three today. Commissioner Cohen uh has a flight to take shortly after that. Commissioner Miller has child care duties, and I have to leave shortly after that as well. So I'm gonna ask speakers to be mindful of the time so we leave plenty of time for board uh questions and comments. Uh, secondly, there are three uh primary goals of today's meeting provide an update and status of negotiations to receive uh board uh input and direction, and to provide transparency to the public. We will not negotiate in public. With that, uh Bonnie, if you'd like to make some opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome everybody. And today, as you mentioned, we're convening today's workshop to provide an update on the ongoing discussions regarding the opportunity for the Tampa Bay rays to relocate to Hillsborough County. The proposal under consideration includes a approximately a thirty-one thousand seat ballpark and approximately seven point six million square feet of surrounding development on the Hillsborough College site. Some of those issues will be discussed during today's workshop. The financial request from the team is substantial, over a billion dollars, and would exceed any comparable requests for professional sports facility by a local government that we are aware of. That reality requires careful scrutiny and disciplined evaluation. You'll also hear today from County Attorney Mandel regarding the permissible use of the community investment tax for a project of this nature. And I also want to take a moment to address some questions that have arisen regarding how these funds were anticipated to be used. There were several categories that we outlined in 2024. They include transportation and public works, public safety, public facilities, and public utilities. We'll focus on the public utility, sorry, public facilities category because other than contingency, that is the one category we're considering utilizing. Within public facilities, there's a subcategory entitled Community Facilities, and that subcategory was funded at $545 million. Within that category, several types of projects were identified as eligible, including Raymond James Stadium, Amelie Arena at the time, now Benchmark International Arena, Steinbrenner Field, Tournament Sports Facilities, A PET Resources Shelter, and Community Facilities Other. However, it's important to note that only the total funding amount for this category was approved. Eligibility within that category does not constitute a determination of priority or appropriateness for funding. No specific allocations were designated for any individual project or entity. While internal estimates were developed at the time, those figures were preliminary, not part of any formal approval, and were never promised or guaranteed to any group. These are taxpayer dollars, and only this board has the authority to allocate them through formal action. That action has not occurred. It is also worth noting that since the CIT's approval in 2024, the board has made significant additional investments in several of these community assets without the need to rely on these CIT funds, including most recently $18 million for Steinbrenner Field and 250 million dollars for benchmark international arena. This was done because we recognize the strong partnerships we have with these teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We also recognize that these are county-owned facilities and that they allow for a multitude of events to be held, which provide tremendous impact to our community. That continued support is warranted. You also hear from staff today regarding the financial structure being requested by the RAIS. One key issue is the request for substantial upfront funding during the construction period. This creates challenges in identifying viable and responsible revenue sources. The financial strategies that will be presented today are just that. They are options. They are not recommendations and they require further analysis and vetting. Importantly, the team also has not agreed to the financing concepts being presented today, nor to several of the county's core requirements. Those discussions are ongoing and no final terms have been reached. Finally, you'll hear more today about the proposed timeline and potential next steps. But let me be clear: a project of this scale and importance demands thoughtful, deliberate consideration. We will not bring forward an agreement for board consideration before it is fully developed and thoroughly evaluated. There is still substantial work to be done and many questions that must be answered. At the same time, we recognize the opportunities of this scale are rare, and if structured responsibly, this could this one could have a transformational impact on our community. And we look forward to today's discussion and to continuing to work with the board as this process moves forward. And finally, I would like to recognize many people who have been part of this process.