Thrive
Stadium bond docs shed light on St. Pete storm losses
Editor’s note: St. Petersburg officials postponed the committee meeting Wednesday morning after the Catalyst published this story. Beth Herendeen, managing director of city development, said it would now take place Nov. 21.
St. Petersburg’s elected representatives will collectively meet Thursday for the first time since Oct. 3 to discuss issuing bonds that will help pay for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium.
The meeting is the city council’s second since Sept. 19 and Hurricane Helene and first since Hurricane Milton damaged much of St. Petersburg – including the Rays’ current home, Tropicana Field. However, members will act as an expanded Budget, Finance and Taxation (BFT) Committee.
The administration still intends to provide $287.5 million to offset construction costs of a $1.37 billion ballpark and $130 million for infrastructure improvements in the surrounding Historic Gas Plant District. The Rays will cover repair, maintenance and insurance costs in the new stadium – designed to withstand a Category 4 hurricane.
“The long-term effects of the hurricanes, including any capital resiliency funding that may be required, is not known at this time,” states the documents. “However, the city does not expect that the financial impacts of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton will have a material adverse impact on its ability to pay debt service on the bonds.”
Mayor Ken Welch (center) addresses St. Petersburg City Council members at a Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment workshop in July. Photo by Mark Parker.
Initial storm costs
Tom Greene, assistant city administrator, and Anne Fritz, debt finance director, will lead a presentation initially scheduled for Oct. 17. City officials updated documents to reflect storm impacts.
“Since submitting the BFT package for the 10/17/2024 meeting, certain documents were required to be updated to add disclosures relating to Hurricane Milton, as well as the final review process from the parties,” states the first page of a PowerPoint presentation.
A section titled “Climate Change and Natural Disasters” provides the first public storm-related cost updates. It begins by noting Helene passed roughly 100 miles offshore of St. Petersburg before making landfall Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend area.
The document states that “recovery and debris removal are ongoing” and “preliminary estimated losses to city property” are $18 million. That will likely increase as officials continue evaluating Helene’s damage.
The document subsequently notes that Milton made landfall Oct. 9 near Siesta Key, roughly 55 miles from the city, as a Category 3 hurricane. “The city received significant wind effects, which resulted in damages to city property and Tropicana Field.”
Milton’s gusts, which topped 100 mph in St. Petersburg, shredded the stadium’s semi-translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass dome. Engineers did not design the once-enclosed facility to drain, and subsequent water intrusion exacerbated storm damage.
“Preliminary losses to city property and Tropicana Field are $70 million,” officials wrote. “The city is currently evaluating damage to Tropicana Field and city properties.”
Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg was one of several city-owned facilities damaged by recent storms. Photo by Mark Parker.
The city is responsible for repairs and has insurance on the stadium. However, that will not cover widespread storm-related expenses for municipally owned structures.
City officials expect “external insurance to cover a portion” of its expected losses from Helene and Milton. They plan to supplement that funding with state and federal assistance.
St. Petersburg’s general property insurance program has a $100 million combined windstorm and flood limit. Officials must pay 10% of the first $50 million.
In addition, each insured location has a 5% windstorm and 5% flood damage deductible “for each cause of loss,” with a $1 million minimum. City-owned Albert Whitted Airport suffered extensive damages, and officials are still assessing water resource facility damage.
However, the document states those facilities are insured under a separate program. Officials also plan to tap into St. Petersburg’s economic stability and equipment replacement funds to “maintain city operations” and aid its recovery process.
Officials redlined previous language stating that the city’s storm losses would likely fall within “limits and sub-limits” of the external insurance program and that its exposure would not surpass deductibles. The documents now note that administrators, like many constituents, have requested Federal Emergency Management Agency and state assistance to help cover losses.
Council members will vote to approve $75 million in tax-exempt funding for “stadium-related infrastructure” and $212 million for “stadium-eligible costs.” They must also agree to use Intown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenues and an “up to amount” for “pricing flexibility and issuance costs.”
The administration’s resolution also certifies that the city “determined the project serves a public purpose” and that “it is in the best interest” to accept the underwriters’ offer to purchase the bonds “at a negotiated sale.”
St. Petersburg’s October 2024 debt service estimate for stadium and infrastructure costs is $671.9 million. That represents a $12 million decrease from April, and a $32 million reduction from October 2023.
Johanna Wohlfelder
November 19, 2024at4:04 am
For about 1/10 of what the Rays “deal” would cost, we could do the updates needed on the city’s sewage system so that we wouldn’t receive messages like we received after Helene: “This is a message from the City of St. Petersburg. Due to the high storm surge, the Northeast sewage plant is offline. This affects everyone north of 30th Avenue North and east of I-275/Haines Road. DO NOT DRAIN WATER. Do not take showers, do laundry, or flush toilets. This will cause sewage to back up in your home. This outage will last at least 48 hours. Note: You can drink the water from your faucets. Stay tuned for updates”.
Storm surge will continue to cause this disruption to so many of us while 10x as much money is spent to build a stadium for millionaires to play in. Nice. No city council member or county commissioner will ever receive my vote again if they vote for this outrageous gift to the Rays & big business. Same for the mayor.
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
November 4, 2024at8:33 am
Mayor Welch is between a rock and a hard place. I advise him to put us residents first. Do what is best for us first.
Ryan
October 25, 2024at2:17 pm
Perry, the Trop deal is the most consequential issue this city has debated since the original sin of building it to begin with. There’s not a single issue or city development deal that Ken Welch has handled well. He’s a total failure.
Stingler
October 25, 2024at6:47 am
Unbelievable. Hey City Council, do something to help your constituents. MLB isn’t one of them. Stop pandering to corporations in lieu of helping people recover from storms. Hire more staff, insurance adjusters, appraisers etc to get people’s lives back on track. Get rid of the debris. Get a plan enacted to fix drainage problems city wide. Baseball was played in “open air” parks for 100 or more years. Are we really going to put a new roof on a gigantic structure that will be torn down soon. After going to a city council meeting, it’s clear that they are bought and sold by developers. It was a disgusting sight, these simpering counsel members love of money with complete disingenuous “concern” for citizens. They all need ousted.
Perry
October 24, 2024at3:27 pm
Ryan, your comment paints a political picture with such a broad brush that it would obscure any other mayoral governance discussions that might be worthy of comment for our city!
Paul
October 24, 2024at7:42 am
November 21, after the election? Whew, cover for Ed Montanari – the swing vote. By Nov 21 he’ll know whether his political gravy train continues or not and won’t have to see which way the winds are blowing before casting the deciding vote.
james gillespie
October 23, 2024at6:33 pm
THIS IS A DIVIDED CITY ON THE ISSUES IN THE ABOVEW ARTICLE. THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL WOULD HELPED IF THEY HAD UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT ON COSTS AND EXPENDITURES RELATING TO THE ENTIRE CITY UPGRADES AND RECOVERY FROM THE DAMAGE OF TWO HURRICANES. MY GUESS IS COMMENTORS WANT ASSURANCE THAT THE CITY HAS ENOUGH FUNDS AND EXPERTISE TO IMPROVE DAMAGE ALREADY CAUSED BY HURRICANES IN A SETTING WHER CLIMATE CHANGE MAY PROMISE MORE OF THE SAME.
Steve D
October 23, 2024at4:07 pm
Go Rays!…and, St. Pete! Deny the short-sighted curmudgeons their day!
Ryan
October 23, 2024at3:58 pm
Cleveland’s mayor has shown true leadership by saying “No” to the Browns new stadium deal. Ken Welch is the worst mayor in the United States.
HAL FREEDMAN
October 23, 2024at2:18 pm
The rays/Hines deal should be terminated, both for the stadium and the land.. The old use agreement should be breached by not repairing the stadium. There are far more important, existential, needs in Saint Petersburg than baseball. Don’t let the MLB bully the city into doing something that is not in the taxpayers’ best interest.
Karyn Mueller
October 23, 2024at12:39 pm
How can any elected representative of the public act in good conscience to obligate residents to $686,000,000 in debt to subsidize Stu Sternberg while people are homeless and debris are piled up on streets? How can they sleep at night? How much worse do things need to get before we realize we have more important priorities and funding needs? Cearly the infrastructure not being prioritized has directly impacted homes and residents, clearly we need better storm preparation plans and response. No one buys the charade anymore that the transferring of the Gas Plant property and our tax dollars is good for our economy. Where are the infrastructure improvements that we pay for? Why isn’t our public health and safety more important? Now we have $70 million more in needed repairs to the city from the storm damage. And the Rays need for our tax dollars continues to dominate the city’s priorities.