Stadium might get new owner

Hillsborough commissioners today will consider taking possession of Raymond James Stadium to eliminate the property tax bill.

By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 5, 2003

TAMPA -- Only weeks after the Tampa Bay Bucs won the Super Bowl, Hillsborough County commissioners today will consider taking ownership of Raymond James Stadium to end a long-running dispute over its property tax bill.

The controversial move would make the tax bill go away, an action commissioners have been loath to take since the Florida Supreme Court ruled two years ago that most publicly owned sports arenas are taxable.

The victors would be county and city taxpayers, who have been footing the costs since the April 2001 court ruling. The losers would be Hillsborough schools, which have enjoyed a roughly $400,000 annual windfall since the ruling, but could now see that money disappear just as the district faces one of its worst budget crunches in years.

County officials say the deal will save taxpayers millions of dollars and end a years-old dilemma, without any cash benefit to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The team would still be responsible for paying property taxes on portions of the inner part of the stadium, such as new skyboxes and on anything they add inside the stadium or build on surrounding property.

But they would do so through a "payment in lieu of taxes" equal to the estimated tax bill.

"It doesn't help them financially or hurt them financially," said Eric Johnson, director of management and budget for Hillsborough County. "This agreement basically requires that they make a payment comparable to what the taxes would have been."

Last year, that limited tax bill, mainly for 28 skyboxes and the pirate ship inside the stadium, was about $120,000. The overall tax bill for the stadium was $4.3-million.

Raymond James Stadium, and the roughly 65 acres it sits on, is owned by the Tampa Sports Authority. When the deals were struck to pay for its construction, it was thought the stadium would not be taxable because it would be owned by a government entity and leased to the privately owned Buccaneers.

Under the original 1996 agreements, the Bucs weren't liable for property taxes even if a court ruled the stadium taxable.

Then came the April 2001 ruling by the Supreme Court in a case out of Highlands County involving Sebring International Raceway. It said sports facilities owned by most government entities, such as cities and sports authorities, are taxable.

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