Why Tampa's City Council Had to Reduce its Potential Stadium Funds

We seemingly have the conclusion to the City of Tampa vs. Hillsborough County tiff over TIFs...

The Tampa Bay Times' Richard Danielson reports Tampa's city council has agreed to a reduced share of future property taxes proceeds from CRA/TIF areas, including Downtown Tampa...which means there may not be as much money available for bonding projects, like a stadium:

Through 2043, the county estimates it will keep at least $280 million more in downtown redevelopment revenue than it would have kept under the terms of the deal it signed in the 1980s.

In other words, if the downtown CRA had been continued on its previous terms — all for the city, none for the county — officials say Tampa could have expected to receive an estimated $660 million over the next 28 years for redevelopment projects.

Instead, under the new deal, the county now will keep at least $280 million of that total.

That still leaves an estimated $380 million for CRA projects over a 28-year period.

On one hand, the county could easily decide to still contribute those dollars to a new stadium.

But on the other hand, once those future revenues are considered "general revenue" and could be spent on things like schools, roads, and law enforcement...it will be much harder, politically, for commissioners to redirect the dollars to a stadium.