• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Florida House Votes Against Corporate Welfare For Stadiums Like Daytona Speedway

March 30, 2017 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

The Daytona International Speedway will not get a taxpayer handout, at least not from Tallahassee. (© FlaglerLive)
The Daytona International Speedway will not get a taxpayer handout, at least not if the Florida House has anything to say about it. (© FlaglerLive)

Sports franchises wouldn’t be able to build or renovate stadiums on publicly owned land under a measure that won House approval Thursday.


But while the House voted 82-33 to support the bill (HB 77), the Senate hasn’t been in the same ballpark on the issue.

“It’s fine here, but the Senate … a lot of things are not moving over there, so we’ll see how everything shakes out,” said House bill sponsor Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah.

The bill is part of an effort by House leaders to limit public assistance to private companies, reflecting a broader philosophical gulf from the Senate on business incentives, tourism marketing and government funding of professional sports facilities.

A similar Senate proposal (SB 122) not been heard in committees, nor has another bill (SB 236) that would seek to repeal a 2014 law that potentially made available $13 million a year for stadium work.

“A sports franchise, or a team, is a business. You will be hard-pressed to find many cases where the local government has provided publicly owned land to other businesses,” Avila said Thursday on the House floor. “When we talk about economic development, and some people have mentioned this, do they provide as much economic development as let’s say a UPS, a Subway, Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, some of these other businesses that are on every corner in the community? How many employees do they employ? How much economic activity do they generate? We do not give them publicly owned land.”

The House during the past few years has virtually ignored the 2014 stadium-funding law, despite the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity saying that applications for EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Sun Life Stadium in Miami-Dade County, Daytona International Speedway, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and a soccer stadium in Orlando had satisfied state requirements.

The state agency received just a single application, for Raymond James Stadium, for the current year.

Rep. Richard Stark, D-Weston, objected to Avila’s bill Thursday, saying it would prevent local governments from deciding what projects they consider right for their communities.

“Taking this away from local communities is just another chipping away that we’ve had continually against home rule,” Stark said.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Miami Marlins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Rays play in stadiums on publicly owned land. Also publicly owned land is used for all but one of the state’s Major League Baseball spring-training facilities.

Opposition to stadium funding has grown since a 2009 deal by Miami-Dade County to borrow about $400 million through bonds for Marlins Stadium that, according to projections, may come to a cost of more than $2.4 billion when the final payment is due in 2048.

But Rep. Wengay Newton, D-St. Petersburg, said Avila’s bill, combined with a House plan to eliminate economic-development incentives (HB 7005), “handcuffs the entire state.”

“If you take the land away, which is probably all some of these local governments have … you can forget about growing the state, growing the tax base, creating jobs,” said Newton, whose district includes stadiums.

Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-Treasure Island, said the proposal could hurt future efforts to emulate plans by Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards, who intends to spend $80 million of his own money to renovate Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg from a baseball field into a Major League Soccer-ready facility.

“Why are we shutting down public-private partnerships?” Peters asked. “Why should this gentleman not have the ability to invest $80 million, no taxpayers’ money whatsoever, $80 million to keep this historic integrity and make it a viable stadium, and we then get to benefit from the economic stimulation that comes from that?”

–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Knightwatch says

    March 31, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Oh, no! I find myself agreeing with Florida’s alt-right Republican House… in principle. I don’t much like giving away public land for promises. I think sports teams in particular, and business entrepreneurs in general, have a track record of promising us this and giving us that. I understand the “local sovereignty” issue, but maybe there’s an answer in between state regulation and local control that protects the public from over-enthusiastic politicians and chambers of commerce.

    Reply
  2. taxes says

    March 31, 2017 at 11:08 am

    I’d like to see how much property tax dollars the France family has paid on this facility. I’ve had very reputable source tell me it’s very, very, very, very low. It’s probably on public record, I just never bothered to try and find it. I agree business brings tourism, but we are doing it at the expense of the local people, with one family reaping in all of the benefits.

    Reply
  3. Donnie Riddle says

    March 31, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    They made a fortune on the backs of the race fans forever! It Dale Earnhardt losing his life before they spent the money on safe walls. Wouldn’t be one there yet if it had been a lesser driver. Besides that they tried to make Bill Simpson out to be the scapegoat! Just like the 1979 500 was started with the track still damp so they didn’t lose tv money from cbs.

    Reply
  4. cls says

    March 31, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    All those conspiring against local government’s home rule should be kicked out of office asap, or recalled.

    Reply
  5. truth says

    March 31, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    How can we accuse the France family of not suppor,ting the community when they jobs they create are literally the backbone of the Volusia economy? SMART government leads to stimulus and job growth corporate welfare leads to excess and GDP decline Private-Public partnerships assume an inherent risk upon the private entity- incentivizing them to grow and succeed. Private-Private partnership leads to private wealth accumulation outside of the economic markets which is NOT good for local economies when the entities aremultinational and out of town foreigners. It is not healthy to create predatory markets, because those markets tend to COLLAPSE flagler county

    Reply
  6. JT says

    April 2, 2017 at 5:49 pm

    Truth, I wish it were different but we already have predatory businesses’ in Flagler County….especially in the Hammock.
    Connect the dots, they have duped many ….

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
  • WNZF Creekside Festival

Recent Comments

  • Richard on No Plans Yet for Florida Health Departments to Offer New Covid Vaccine Even as It Rolls Out in Other States
  • Pat on No Plans Yet for Florida Health Departments to Offer New Covid Vaccine Even as It Rolls Out in Other States
  • PeachesMcGee on Taylor Manjarres, 20, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Her Role in Shooting Death of Zaire Roberts
  • jeffery c. seib on ‘No Smoke and Mirrors’: New Baler Helps Flagler Beach Recycle 4 Tons of Cardboard a Week
  • What Else Is New on Moms for Liberty: Joyful Warriors or Anti-Government Conspiracists?
  • Steve on Taylor Manjarres, 20, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Her Role in Shooting Death of Zaire Roberts
  • Joy Cook on Rezoning Enabling Up to 850 Homes in Seminole Woods Causes Sharp Debate Before Palm Coast Approval
  • Marion on Taylor Manjarres, 20, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Her Role in Shooting Death of Zaire Roberts
  • Atbp on Time to Stop Using Individuality-Obliterating Acronyms Like BIPOC
  • Laurel on Michael Benkert, on the Run for 19 Days Since Flagler Beach Trailer Park Manhunt, Is Arrested
  • Laurel on At Root of Palm Coast’s Affordable Housing Crisis: We Got Our Own. Screw the Rest. 
  • Bill on At Root of Palm Coast’s Affordable Housing Crisis: We Got Our Own. Screw the Rest. 
  • Say no to Facists on How Biases Against Black-Sounding First Names Lead to Job Discrimination
  • Laurel on DeSantis Will Debate Gavin Newsom in Georgia in November
  • Foresee on Time to Stop Using Individuality-Obliterating Acronyms Like BIPOC
  • Gene on Montessori School Owner Kerri Huckabee, 54, Arrested on 3 Felonies in Dispute with Flagler Beach Neighbors

Log in