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Red Sox Could Fill Sarasota's Void Left By Reds

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By DOUG SWORD

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: July 21, 2008

SARASOTA - Besides location, the biggest question about luring the Boston Red Sox back to Sarasota is whether a pair of cash-strapped governments can raise the money to pay for a stadium project estimated to cost at least $80 million.

City and county governments have laid off hundreds of workers over the last year and have seen virtually every revenue source plummet, from sales to property taxes.

But an analysis of city and county finances suggests that there could be more than $120 million in various funding sources to pay for a baseball stadium.

Any cost is an estimate at this point, and a final number will depend on the site, said Dave Bullock, the deputy county administrator most involved in stadium talks.

The city, county and Red Sox are looking at the fairgrounds on Fruitville Road, the Ed Smith Stadium site and a cement plant on Central Avenue, among others.

But Bullock agreed that most of the nine funding sources in the Herald-Tribune analysis could be tapped and suggested there could be others as well.

It's not like the two governments have a lot of money set aside.

Both are facing large shortfalls in their general funds, which are fed mainly by property taxes and pay for everyday government services such as parks, libraries, police and fire protection.

But a stadium would not be paid for from the general fund because voters have made it clear they want property taxes to go down, not up.

Also, using property taxes could trigger the need for a voter referendum - and that runs contrary to the goal of quickly reaching a deal with the Red Sox, who trained in Sarasota from 1933-1942 and again from 1946-1958.

To a large degree, it was Sarasota's inability to come up with a funding package to renovate the aging Ed Smith Stadium that prompted the Cincinnati Reds, who have played spring ball here since 1998, to look elsewhere.

In January, the team signed an agreement with Goodyear, Ariz., to negotiate a possible move there. The deal was cemented in early April when Goodyear agreed to spend $32 million for a clubhouse and practice fields for the Reds, in addition to the $75 million the city had already committed for a new stadium.

The Reds notified Sarasota the team will move to Arizona after the 2009 spring training season.

Sarasota then sent out feelers to several teams who were known to be looking for other spring training sites, including the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers and Red Sox, who train in Fort Myers.

In early April, the Red Sox expressed an interest in moving here - the only team to do so - and city and county officials have been scrambling since then to put together a deal to bring the team here.

Raising The Money

In addition to finding a site to house the new 10,000-seat stadium and six practice fields the team has said it wants, local officials have also been trying to convince the Red Sox they can raise enough money to pay for it all.

The bulk of the funding almost certainly would come from the so-called "bed tax," the tax tourists pay on their room rentals here. By state law, bed tax money can be used to build sports facilities.

Based on formulas that the county used when it dedicated a half-percent of the bed tax to building a new spring training facility for the Reds, that tax could contribute $19 million to a Red Sox ballpark.

And there appears to be support on the county commission to raise the bed tax from 4 percent to the legal limit of 5 percent to pay for the stadium.

If that were done, the tax could pay for $57 million of the stadium's cost.

That number may be overly optimistic, though, because shaky financial markets may undercut how much borrowing the bed tax could support.

On the other hand, the tourist tax is one of the few county revenues that grew this year. Others, including property, sales and gas taxes, and impact fees have dropped.

Some of the funding for the stadium complex could come from capital funds - such as the fund fed by the 1 percent infrastructure tax that voters approved last November.

City and county officials expect to raise more than $800 million from that tax in the next 15 years.

The majority of that money is earmarked for particular projects, but some of it could be available for a baseball spring training facility.

For instance, the county promised voters that it would spend $5 million of the surtax on the fairgrounds, so if a ballpark were built there, that money could be used.

Meanwhile, the city promised $11 million in surtax money for "community" projects, which may be loosely enough defined to steer some of that money into a stadium project. City officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Surtax money for parks and roads also might migrate into an eventual Red Sox deal.

Regardless of the site, a stadium will need road and sidewalk improvements, Bullock said. And the county dedicated $22 million of the surtax money for north Sarasota County youth ball fields. That money could be used to revamp the Ed Smith stadium site at 12th Street and Tuttle Avenue.

Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta said he is confident there is money for a stadium, even though property taxes are off the table and the economy is soft.

"There's enough funding sources," he said.

Florida May Chip In

Barbetta also said there is still a chance to get $8 million in state sales tax money for the project, even though lawmakers have said it is unlikely they will allow Sarasota to use the money for the Red Sox.

The state approved the money in 2006 for a Reds stadium, and there will be resistance to allowing Sarasota to use the funds to lure the Red Sox from Fort Myers. But Barbetta said Arizona is interested in the Red Sox, and that threat could lead the state to allow Sarasota to use the funds.

Just like the cost estimates, some of the funding sources are site-specific, too.

In crafting a Reds deal, the team offered to pay maintenance costs of a new stadium, freeing $423,000 a year the city spent to maintain Ed Smith. If a Red Sox deal involves demolishing Ed Smith, or turning the property over to the county, that cost would go away.

Last year, the city estimated the annual expense could be used to underwrite $6.8 million of a new stadium's cost.

Two other major funding sources have been suggested by the city. City Manager Bob Bartolotta said hotels and other businesses would want to build near a Red Sox stadium. Estimated leases for fairgrounds property on Fruitville could bring in $20 million. And new construction would translate into more property taxes for the city and the county.

Another Bartolotta idea was to help pay for the stadium with the property taxes paid by businesses locating near the Red Sox. He estimated that would generate $10 million.

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