TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — Tampa City Council Member Bill Carlson has put forward a new proposal that could reshape how the city funds a potential Tampa Bay Rays stadium, shifting away from direct city and CRA contributions toward a tax increment financing mechanism.
As it stands, the city of Tampa would contribute approximately $80 million toward the stadium, with the CRA contributing another $100 million. Under Carlson's proposal, neither source would be tapped. Instead, a separate funding pool would be created using property taxes generated within a special district tied to the project.
"So the bottom line with this proposal is it creates a 1.5 to 2 billion dollar infrastructure fund that we could use on much-needed roads, sidewalks, and flooding," Carlson said.
The plan uses what Carlson calls tax revenue sharing, drawing from a tax increment financing, or TIF, mechanism rather than pulling money away from existing city projects. No money would go directly to the Rays. Instead, funds would flow to a community development district and be restricted to infrastructure owned by the city, county, or state.
"We're not pulling away from anything else," Carlson said. "If we say no to the project, then there will be no money to spend for infrastructure for the city or for that project in that area."
Carlson said the previous proposal would have taken money away from other projects, and that his plan corrects that. He also pointed to a shift in how council members have been engaged in the process.
"The Rays really weren't allowed by the administration to negotiate with City Council, and they gave us superficial updates, but they didn't really have us involved," Carlson said. "And you see, by having discussions, we're making some progress."
Carlson said the Rays appear receptive to the idea. The proposal also separates the Drew Park Community Redevelopment Area from the TIF, giving Drew Park control of its own future and an additional 30 years to manage its development, something the community had been requesting.
The proposal also includes taking half of the downtown CRA money, which Carlson said would still leave the downtown CRA with more funding than any other CRA in the city, and redirecting that portion into an infrastructure investment fund alongside the revenue sharing from the Rays project. Carlson said that combination is how the fund would reach the $1.5 to $2 billion figure. He also proposed extending the East Tampa CRA for 30 years.
On whether the November statewide property tax ballot initiative could complicate the plan, Carlson said the structure of the proposal insulates it from that risk.
"By only focusing on the money and the TIF and with the CDD, it takes away the impact for this project," Carlson said. "There's not really a lot of single-family owned homes being proposed, so it's going to only affect areas that have a lot of homesteaded property, and the general budget."
Carlson acknowledged he is not a Rays fan but said the math could work in the public's favor.
"Although I'm not a huge fan of baseball, if we get a baseball team and we get $2 billion for infrastructure to fix roads and sidewalks and parks and flooding, it sounds like a good deal for taxpayers," Carlson said.
Not all council members are on board. Tampa City Council Member Charlie Miranda said a tax is a tax, regardless of how it is structured.
"You can count a pig with lipstick or no lipstick, it's still a pig," Miranda said.
Miranda said his concerns go beyond the funding mechanism. He pointed to the city's existing needs, including deferred maintenance, roads, flooding, and affordable housing, as reasons he remains opposed.
"We have citizens that are looking for a place to live, and they can't find it," Miranda said. "Our streets are in bad repair. Our flooding is terrible. How do we solve that problem? But we're going to give the money away. It does not register in my mind."
Miranda also pushed back on economic impact arguments often made by stadium supporters, citing sports economists and attendance data. I've also talked to Sports Economists who echo sentiments that stadiums don't bring in money.
"I've read that book. It's about 40, 50 pages, and there's about 20 sports economists that say it's worth about two big grocery stores at the end of the year," Miranda said.
Miranda pointed to attendance figures from the Rays' 2024 season in St. Petersburg and their 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, where the team played after hurricane damage forced them out of Tropicana Field.
"I can tell you about the attendance of the Rays in St. Pete in 2024 versus attendance at Yankee Stadium in 2025. It's 6,803 persons less every single day in Tampa than it was in St. Pete, so they want to be here for another reason," Miranda said.
Miranda said any team coming to Tampa should be subject to the same tax obligations as everyone else.
"If you live in Tampa, you go to pay your ad valorem tax. Any sports that want to come in, pay your ad valorem tax like everybody else," Miranda said.
Carlson said he is sharing the proposal publicly this week to gather feedback before presenting it to the Rays and the county.
"You can go to my social channels, or you can email me at bill.carlson@tampa.gov," Carlson said. "Get me feedback on whether you like it or not, and more importantly, what suggestions you might make for it."
Councilman Carlson is hopeful of some kind of draft agreement in the next week or so, and then after that, the final agreement going to a vote.
Rays CEO Ken Babbyis still setting his sights on the ballpark opening by March 2029.
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