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Miami-Dade Considering to Up the Ante

By craig

If the county commissioners of Miami-Dade can reach an agreement, big if, they may put it to a public vote whether to cover the funding gap for the construction of a new stadium for the Marlins.

Growing weary of the years spent trying to help finance a ballpark for the Marlins, a couple of Miami-Dade County commissioners said Wednesday they might support asking county voters in September to consider a half-cent sales tax increase for a year to raise funds for the project.

If the sales tax is approved by the voters, a study by one of the commissioners claims, it would generate the following in funds:

...a half-cent sales tax increase for a year could generate about $160 million to $180 million; a full cent could raise $320 million to $360 million.

Over what length of time - I don't know.  But this would appear to cover the funding gap in all of the proposals we have seen thus far.  The idea has its detractors.

Commissioner Natacha Seijas, who previously supported the stadium effort, said she has grown tired of the county being the only government advocating a ballpark and said she would not vote for a ballot measure.

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"The racetrack in Hialeah is completely unacceptable," she said.

Commissioner Seijas was not alone in taking that stance about Hialeah.  If this referendum were to pass, the stadium wouldn't be in Hialeah but most likely would be in an urban area of Miami.

The Marlins had a representative at the meeting.

Marlins President David Samson, who attended the meeting, declined comment.

Yes!  Alright!  Samson finally did something right: he kept his mouth closed.  David, I'm proud of you - I didn't know you had it in you.

The tax proposal issue will be put in front of the commissioners on Tuesday or March 7.

We will see.

In the meantime, Jeffery gets mail from Charlotte.  I do recommend reading the open letter.

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