County commissioners approve a deal to assume title of the St. Pete Times Forum, removing it from tax rolls. Tampa officials vote today.
By GRAHAM BRINK
Published December 16, 2004
TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Lightning is one vote away from sidestepping more than $600,000 in annual property taxes on the St. Pete Times Forum.
The Hillsborough County Commission voted 6 to 0 Wednesday to transfer title of the Times Forum from the Tampa Sports Authority to the county, thus removing it from property tax rolls.
Some commission members had been reluctant to go along with the deal, so their approval was the last major political hurdle likely to stand between the team and property tax freedom.
The Tampa City Council will vote on the question today.
It is expected to readily approve the deal, which has strong backing in City Hall. The Tampa Sports Authority already agreed to the new contract earlier this week.
The savings for the Lightning: a minimum of roughly $630,000 a year, although Hillsborough Property Appraiser Rob Turner says the figure could be as high as $1.1-million. In return, the team agreed to stay in town for the next 10 years.
Commission chairman Jim Norman lauded the agreement as a step toward preserving one of the "economic engines" of the area.
"It's good for our economy. It's good for our investment, and it's the right thing to do for this community," Norman said.
The team's managers were smiling as they left the commission chambers. The deal came amid a lockout of NHL players; the Lightning have yet to play a game this season.
"This is good news for us during an uncertain time," said Lightning president Ron Campbell.
But Turner called the deal "corporate welfare" and said it shifts more of the tax burden onto the shoulders of homeowners and small businesses.
"There was no review of this," Turner said. "It was all rush, rush, rush. That kind of ramrodding is what causes mistakes."
Turner said the deal would certainly provide ammunition for other businesses to ask for similar exemptions. For instance, the Yankees, who pay about $80,000 in property taxes, have a clause in their deal that states that if any other area sports franchise get a better deal, they can renegotiate.
Philip Tope, manager and vice president of Tampa Juice, which operates a terminal for orange juice at the Port of Tampa, contacted Turner on Wednesday about why his company would have to pay property taxes and not the Lightning. Why doesn't the county take over the port property and exempt all the tenants from property taxes? Isn't the port just as much of an economic engine, he asked.
"The Lightning's a private company; Tampa Juice is a private company," he said. "The playing field should be level for all of us."
Lightning officials say they have lost millions of dollars annually for many years, until posting a slight profit last year, when the team won the Stanley Cup.
As part of a remedy, the Lightning, which also operates the Times Forum, asked local government officials for a break on the property taxes. They said they needed a sweetened deal, or they might have to relocate the team.
They said they simply wanted the same deal afforded to Tampa's other professional sports teams, the Buccaneers and Yankees, which pay little or no property taxes on their stadiums.
The Lightning got their wish Wednesday, and more. The new deal exempts the Lightning from property taxes on the Times Forum. The Lightning also won't pay rent on the building. The Bucs pay $3.5-million in annual rent.
If the Lightning leaves town any time in the next decade, financial penalties kick in, up to a maximum of $4.5-million.
The Lightning agreed to pay its share of special assessments now and in the future for the Ybor Trolley, stormwater and the business redevelopment district. The franchise also agreed to pay up to $75,000 to the city and county for legal and other fees.
The Lightning did not get one of its bargaining chits. The team had asked for control of a 50-cent surcharge the county tacks onto many tickets sold to the Times Forum, which would net the team roughly $350,000 a year. That request was not addressed in the new deal.
When the commission agreed to consider the Lightning's request earlier this month, commissioners Brian Blair and Ronda Storms were the most skeptical.
Storms, who was absent Wednesday, and Blair wanted at least a 17-year commitment that the Lightning would stay in Tampa. Blair said at the time that the Lightning should be held to the terms the team accepted nearly eight years ago when the forum, then called the Ice Palace, was built.
On Wednesday, Blair said he agreed to the new deal "very, very reluctantly." The Lightning had made concessions in the past few weeks, including agreeing to 10 years instead of seven, and to pay the special assessments.
The City Council and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio have also indicated that they support the deal, Blair said.
"As a new commissioner, I want to promote a spirit of harmony and cooperation," Blair said.
Campbell, the Lightning president, said critics should look at the "global perspective." The arena, and the Lightning, draw huge crowds to the Channelside area. The crowds help bolster restaurants and other businesses in the area, which expands the tax base.
"It's not just about us paying property taxes," he said.
Turner agreed that the arena helped bolster the Channelside area when it was first built. The area today, though, is home to many more residents than a decade ago, and can sustain itself, even if the hockey team leaves town, he said. The arena would still host concerts and other events.
Turner called the threats to leave a "bluff" that area leaders bought. The current NHL lockout should have provided some needed guidance, Turner said.
The lockout is all about players salaries, the reason owners constantly cite for their franchises bleeding red ink. The lockout, the owners have said, won't end until salaries are brought under control with a salary cap.
Turner argued that the property tax bill is negligible to the Lightning compared to players' salaries. Once the salary problem is solved, the Lightning's cries of poverty won't ring true, he said.
Turner also said the penalties that would be imposed if the Lightning leave are "chump change." Even the maximum amount of $4.5 million wouldn't stop a profession franchise from moving, he said. He pointed in comparison to the hockey team in Raleigh, N.C., which would have to pay tens of millions of dollars if it moves in the next few years.
"They took what the Lightning said they would give," Turner said. "We call that negotiating?"
