MEMO: Why Hillsborough must reject a new stadium
In a tough election for Florida, with three recounts still pending, Hillsborough County was a bright spot. This week we flipped the Board of County Commissioners by electing two women, Kim Overman and Mariella Smith. We also committed to fixing the derelict buildings and broken AC units in our schools. We should be especially proud of that, because help from Tallahassee was not forthcoming.
Hillsborough should expect no help, regardless of who sits in the Governor’s mansion.
Perhaps the most promising change Hillsborough voters made on Tuesday was creating a transportation fund administered by an oversight board. With this resource, we can finally take real steps toward self-determination as a region. We can begin to improve our barely-there transit system instead of existing in a constant state of transit and infrastructure triage. But we must handle our resources carefully. Because while Hillsborough has chosen to invest in our communities, the state of Florida is moving in the opposite direction.
Florida voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 5 to the state constitution. That means Florida joins 13 states like Oklahoma in requiring a 2/3 vote in both legislative chambers in order to raise any taxes or fees. Oklahoma passed this supermajority requirement decades ago and now many of their schools operate only 4 days a week. Unsurprisingly, their teachers are also the lowest paid in the country.
If the Rays want a new stadium, they will have to pay for it themselves.
All of this is to say that Florida, like Oklahoma, will be in a perpetual budget crunch from here on, and Hillsborough should expect no help, regardless of who sits in the Governor’s mansion. We are on our own and we must take responsibility for maintaining infrastructure and civilization within our borders. That means taking a hard-nosed look at how truly necessary any expenditures are before committing a dime of county or city money to them.
So when Commissioner Ken Hagan tells us to pony up taxpayer dollars for a new baseball stadium, we must tell him “NO.” When his friends say we have plenty of money because of the referrenda we just passed, we must remember: that money is for our schools, for our bridges, for the basic infrastructure of civilization. If the Rays want a new stadium, they will have to pay for it themselves.
