Let Voters Decide To Swing Or Not At Pitch For $40 Million Park

Published: Jun 22, 2007

A credible consultant and a responsible citizens panel agree that a proposed 52-field complex for softball, baseball and soccer would make a profit for Hillsborough County and eventually repay the $40 million in sales tax needed to build it.

Taxpayers should remember that this prediction is no money-back guarantee. They were told the same thing about the aquarium. The public shouldn't be asked to take the risk for launching a commercial enterprise before commissioners find out if any private investors are interested in building and running it.

Another factor to weigh is an upcoming state-required cut in property taxes. The county is freezing plans for new community parks, libraries and fire stations, and layoffs are not out of the question. It's an awkward time to be investing $40 million in a park for elite athletes, many of them from out of state.

The key issue for county commissioners when they discuss the complex in August is whether this park in the northeast corner of the county is the best use of $40 million in future revenue from the Community Investment Tax.

It's not chump change. The 28-story county office building in downtown Tampa only cost $30 million.

Championship Park is so named because it would be used primarily for tournaments. Amateur sports are a big business and leagues have trouble finding suitable sites for their biggest events.

Renting the fields would be easy, says Rob Higgins, executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. In addition to adult and youth leagues, important college and high school games could also be played there.

County budget director Eric Johnson points out that the grass on the county's existing fields is being beaten down by overuse. Championship Park would relieve some of the pressure. Clearly the county needs more places to hit a baseball or kick a soccer ball. But most local kids would never touch a sneaker to this sod. The turf is too valuable.

The pasture land of the old Cone Ranch, midway between Plant City and Zephyrhills off State Road 39, is a long drive for most county residents. If you color in a circle with a 15-mile radius, with the park in the center, you cover more acres on the map outside the county than in. The site is closer to Bartow than to south Tampa. From Ruskin, it's a shorter drive to Sarasota.

Parents of top athletes don't mind driving long distances, say supporters. This park's grassy grandeur would be a nationwide draw, bringing in out-of-towners who would stay in local motels.

The consultant's analysis shows costs to market it, water it, mow it, manage it and insure it are more than offset by field rental, food sales, parking fees and advertising. That doesn't settle the issue, because lots of enterprises could show a profit if given $40 million to develop free land, without permitting hassles, and if charged no property taxes, corporate income taxes or impact fees. And when the two-lane road the park is on needs widening, taxpayers will get that bill, too.

Two examples of similar, and successful, parks should be instructive for county leaders uncertain of how to proceed.

In California, Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnydale is privately owned. If the county needs a tournament park, it should request bids from companies already in sports management to build and operate it on county land, at little or no public risk.

In Colorado, Aurora Sports Park was built with a taxpayer-approved $20.5 million bond. Before Hillsborough spends $40 million to go into the sports business, it also should at least seek voter approval, just as it did when it asked voters in the last election how they felt about cracking down on nude bars.

Not only are taxpayers paying for it, this project also has been developed without public participation. It is pushed by Commission Chairman Jim Norman, who had little to say about it during his 2006 campaign.

The issue involves much more than a simple yes or no vote. The consultant's report is the first pitch, not the whole ball game.