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Tampa Under Budget On Super Bowl

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: March 19, 2009

TAMPA - The $1 million set aside by the city to pay for things such as law enforcement, fire rescue and transportation issues during the Super Bowl last month wasn't all spent, and city officials announced Wednesday that more than $400,000 will be returned to the general fund.
Mayor Pam Iorio pledged the $1 million city contribution in 2005 when the National Football League granted Tampa's bid for Super Bowl XLIII, held at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1.

For months before the game, the city spruced up, planting shrubs and trees along interstate exits and in highway medians and getting portable signs in place to direct traffic to events that began weeks before the game.

All that was paid for out of the city's Super Bowl earmark, but when the bill was paid, $425,000 remained in the city's purse, said Santiago Corrada, neighborhood services coordinator for the city.

"The biggest example of cutting corners is the modification of work hours," he said, "making sure personnel was assigned to the right place during the right hours, and that included police and fire."

The city's costs totaled $573,448, with 68 percent, or $390,337, spent on public safety services by the Tampa Police Department and Tampa Fire Rescue. Some of the public safety costs will be reimbursed by the NFL, Corrada said.

The city raked in some cash as well.

The parking division collected $221,000 in additional parking revenue at NFL events throughout the city. The parks and recreation department counted $25,000 from parking at Al Lopez Park alone on game day. The Department Of Solid Waste brought in $25,000 through increased recycling and additional commercial collections.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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