Questions on funding remain, but likely won’t be enough to derail a deal designating the Baseball Grounds as the home field for Jacksonville’s new soccer team.
I first brought you my WOKV investigation Friday, which detailed the new lease agreement filed last week. Initially, the Mayor’s Office had hoped to borrow $300,000 for improvements to the Baseball Grounds to accommodate the team in addition to paying up to $700,000 of your tax dollars each year for the three year agreement to convert the field between baseball and soccer as needed. Jacksonville’s Finance Committee cut virtually all new borrowing, however, so the lease that was filed took the $300,000 and rolled it in to a $1 million budget request. The Armada pays the City a ticket surcharge of up to $10,000 per game.
Today, the first of three committees to vet the bill looked in to where the money will come from- when the bill was filed the funding source was not identified. I’m now told they have found the needed money from savings generated from thousands of other capital projects all put together in a subfund.
Council has balked so far this budget season at using one-time funding anywhere in the budget. I asked what makes this request different, and Councilman Bill Gulliford- who chairs the Rules Committee- tells me this is not operating expenses, so he’s more comfortable with one-time money. I pointed out, however, that it is a three-year lease and the funding only covers the first year.
“We’ll address that when we get to it, see how successful they [the Armada] are,” he says.
For Gulliford, it’s about being fair to the start-up franchise and the investment they’re making in Jacksonville.
“We have another obligation there just as much as we do the Jaguars or the Suns,” Gulliford says.
Councilman Johnny Gaffney, who covers part of Downtown, believes the investment the City makes in the team is one that will not just pay off, but have a residual affect in the area through boosting area restaurants, hotels and the like as well as helping Jacksonville develop its “sports destination” brand.
“We have to make that investment,” Gaffney says.
I asked Gaffney why the Armada should get any of the savings that have been found in the budget rather than other capital projects and groups which have been cut through the past few months. He says it’s not either-or, but rather in addition to. He plans to try to restore funding for some projects under the City’s borrowing plan during the final budget approval meeting next Tuesday and believes other Council members will do the same.
The lease agreement must still clear two more committees in order to be up for a final vote next week as well. Gaffney says despite some of the greater funding concerns, he gets the sense that the Council overall will support the plan.
I will continue to track the latest on this bill and how the City is spending your money. Keep your dial on 104.5 FM for the latest.