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County pussyfooting

Pinellas County should give St. Petersburg the running room its needs to finance renovations to two city landmarks vital to culture and tourism.

Imagine you want to buy a house and your bank has approved your credit, accepted the property's appraised value and said it wants to be your partner in the purchase. Except the bank will only give you an 8-year mortgage. The city of St. Petersburg finds itself in a similar situation as it seeks Pinellas County's approval of a funding plan for needed renovations to Mahaffey Theater and the Pier.

The county already contributes tax revenues collected in the city's downtown core for redevelopment projects there, but that agreement ends in 2012. St. Petersburg wants to extend it until 2035 and borrow against future city and county tax revenues - called tax increment financing - to renovate the theater and pier and do some smaller projects. The city's share of the debt repayment would be 55 percent and the county's share would be 45 percent.

County commissioners say they agree with nearly every detail of the city proposal, including the choice of projects, the $95.4-million price tag and the need to borrow some or all of the money to get the work done on time. But when County Administrator Steve Spratt explains the conditions of the county's participation, it sounds a lot like the bank offering the 8-year mortgage.

First, the county said it was afraid the city would expand the project list or spend more than proposed, so St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker agreed to stick to the list and spending cap. Then the county said it was afraid borrowing costs would get out of hand, so Baker agreed to use any excess tax revenues to pay down the debt early, saving on costs.

Then Spratt came up with another condition that probably would be a deal killer. He wants to guarantee county participation only until 2020, which would extend the tax district's life by 8 years beyond the existing 2012 end date. And Spratt doesn't want the county to decide on any city borrowing until 2012.

If county commissioners adopt those conditions at their meeting Tuesday, "the Mahaffey improvements and the Pier improvements would be at risk at that point," Baker said. That is because the city needs to begin borrowing immediately - $15-million now for the theater, which has a temporary wall and leaks from all six sides, and a total of $29-million before 2012 for both projects.

After that, the city would need to borrow about $66-million to finish the Pier repairs and do the other downtown improvements. There would be no way to get such loans with only an 8-year commitment from the county, Baker said.

The St. Petersburg City Council had planned to approve the Mahaffey contract on Thursday, but that is now very much in doubt. So the stakes are high. While tax increment financing isn't the ideal way to pay for some projects, it is the best way in this case. Mahaffey Theater and the Pier are important to the county's cultural life and tourism industry, and besides, county commissioners have already said they should share the responsibility.

Spratt appears to be playing games. If he thinks the county shouldn't spend future tax dollars collected in downtown St. Petersburg to help the city out, he should say so. The county has wrung the necessary concessions out of St. Petersburg. It is time for the games to end and the work to begin.

[Last modified April 3, 2005, 00:09:18]