So now that the proposed Miami Dolphins stadium renovation scam, er, deal would take taxes away from his little, scrappy city, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert — who supported the team’s last plan for using tourist tax dollars — says Sun Life Stadium is not all that.
Gilbert told the Miami Herald Wednesday that he wants Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross to keep paying the taxes that go to the city forever. Miami Gardens gets about $1 million from the nearly $4 million that Ross wants to stop paying once he hands the facility property over to the county in exchange for him financing the $350 million roof and renovation job all by himself.
Because, Mayor Gilbert explained, that alleged economic boost from a Super Bowl every 10 years or so will not make up for it. Even though Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has said the “economic impact cannot be overstated,” because it can and, in fact, regularly is by the host committees, the teams and the politicians backing them.
“We lose money when those events come,’’ Gilbert was quoted as saying Wednesday. “While hotels on Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale may benefit…we have to keep police on and don’t get compensated for it in those events.”
But, wait a minute. Just last year, Gilbert was singing a different tune. He praised the stadium and backed the plan to take tourist dollars in order to fund the then $400-million in renovations (now that it’s his own money, Ross has managed to shave $50 million from the price tag).
Before the stadium bill died in Tallahassee, Oliver and other community leaders had a press conference in February of last year to drum up support for the measure, which would have allowed a public vote on the matter and would have granted the stadium about $3 million in state tax rebates, which Ladra still believes they are going to go after next year.
He stood next to then CEO Mike Dee and talked about how it would benefit his community.
“If we want to be a world class community, we have to have world class venues,” Gilbert told Gary Nelson of CBS4 back then. “We can’t say that we want to be a place where everyone comes, if we don’t want to invest in facilities that everyone wants to come to.”
Gilbert was one of only three mayors — Florida City Otis Wallace and Hialeah Gardens Yioset de la Cruz were the others — who did not oppose the stadium renovation measure last year.
Gee, things change when it’s your own money you are playing with, huh?
UPDATE: Ladra reached out to Mayor Gilbert and asked him to call me. You know, for context. Instead, he sent this written statement:
“You were not paying specific attention to what I said last year with regard to why I supported the renovations to the stadium. My expressed reason was because they were a taxpayer, property taxes, and improving the stadium would increase the value of the property. It makes sense to me that we would use tourist tax dollars to fund the improvement to the stadium. Especially since improving the stadium would increase the tax base. I supported stadium renovation last year because of the taxes that they pay.”
Well, Mayor Gilbert, I expect you not to cow down the the coming pressure from Gimenez and others to strike a deal with Ross… because imagine how much more you will get in property taxes once those renovations are done.
Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert about faces on stadium added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →