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Florida lawmakers exempt Miami from taxes on new Marlins stadium garages
By Patricia Mazzei
The Miami Herald
Miami leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief when, less than three hours from the end of the 60-day legislative session, state lawmakers exempted the cash-strapped city from having to pay an annual $1.2 million in property taxes on garages at the new Marlins ballpark.
And the city received more good news Monday: Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia, who had indicated he would likely send the city a property-tax bill for the parking garages, said he would not challenge the new legislative tax break.
“It’s a great thing for the people of Miami,” said a relieved Mayor Tomás Regalado, whose city is facing a budget hole of more than $35 million for the next fiscal year.
Regalado, an early-to-bed kind of guy, stayed up late Friday awaiting the crucial vote, which took place in the waning hours of the session in Tallahassee.
At 9:23 p.m., he got the phone call. Lawmakers had passed the legislation. “I slept like a baby that night,” Regalado said.
Late last year, Garcia informed the city that it could be on the hook to pay taxes for the four garages. By leasing all 5,700 parking spots to the Marlins on game days, Garcia said, the facility would no longer be used for a public purpose, as required by law to receive a tax break. But the city countered that the garages would be available to the public the rest of the time.
Garcia said he was following the advice of county lawyers, but hadn’t yet made a final decision.
The legislation sent to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk Friday extends the exemption to facilities that serve “an essential ancillary function” of a project built in part using tourist taxes. The new $642-million Marlins Park in East Little Havana was financed mostly with taxpayer money, including tourist dollars known as convention development taxes.
Garcia said Monday his office will abide by the new law once it goes into effect July 1, presuming it passes muster with the governor, as expected.
“I’m going to do exactly what the law says,” he said. “If it benefits the citizens, for me, it’s a pleasure.”
The law, he added, “removes a problem, an error that was made when they (the city) did the contract.”
The property-tax issue is under scrutiny as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into the financing of the new ballpark.
A clause in Miami’s agreement with the Marlins makes the city responsible for any taxes. The ballclub — which is paying $10.07 per parking space to resell them at a higher price — pointed to the provision last year when it turned down a plea for help from city leaders dumbstruck by the prospect of a tax bill.
That’s when state legislators stepped in.
Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the man who called Regalado on Friday, pulled strings behind the scenes to tuck language to rescue the city into broader tax legislation.
“It was touch-and-go, but luckily, we were able to pull it out,” said Lopez-Cantera, a Miami Republican and head of the Miami-Dade legislative delegation. “I’m happy that I was able to provide the tool by which the appraiser will now not tax the city of Miami.”
Lopez-Cantera’s provision — filed by fellow Miami Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz — stirred little debate in the Legislature. But a pointed Florida House of Representatives staff analysis questioned whether it would be constitutional to give a tax break to city-owned facilities not used exclusively for a public purpose. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that regular, for-profit use of a government building by a private entity essentially disqualifies the building from receiving a tax break.
Lopez-Cantera, the House Republican leader, said he spoke to staff lawyers and is confident the specific issue of city-owned facilities ancillary to public buildings, as the garages are to the stadium, has not been tested in court.
With the property appraiser saying he won’t challenge the new law, the constitutional question could be put to rest for now. But a political fight could be looming: The term-limited Lopez-Cantera is considering running this fall against property appraiser Garcia.
“Before this session, I had no intention of running for property appraiser, but this situation has made me start to think about it,” Lopez-Cantera said. “Several people have encouraged me to think about it.”
Said Garcia: “We will see the difference between a politician and a professional. I am definitely a professional.”
By Patricia Mazzei
The Miami Herald
Miami leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief when, less than three hours from the end of the 60-day legislative session, state lawmakers exempted the cash-strapped city from having to pay an annual $1.2 million in property taxes on garages at the new Marlins ballpark.
And the city received more good news Monday: Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia, who had indicated he would likely send the city a property-tax bill for the parking garages, said he would not challenge the new legislative tax break.
“It’s a great thing for the people of Miami,” said a relieved Mayor Tomás Regalado, whose city is facing a budget hole of more than $35 million for the next fiscal year.
Regalado, an early-to-bed kind of guy, stayed up late Friday awaiting the crucial vote, which took place in the waning hours of the session in Tallahassee.
At 9:23 p.m., he got the phone call. Lawmakers had passed the legislation. “I slept like a baby that night,” Regalado said.
Late last year, Garcia informed the city that it could be on the hook to pay taxes for the four garages. By leasing all 5,700 parking spots to the Marlins on game days, Garcia said, the facility would no longer be used for a public purpose, as required by law to receive a tax break. But the city countered that the garages would be available to the public the rest of the time.
Garcia said he was following the advice of county lawyers, but hadn’t yet made a final decision.
The legislation sent to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk Friday extends the exemption to facilities that serve “an essential ancillary function” of a project built in part using tourist taxes. The new $642-million Marlins Park in East Little Havana was financed mostly with taxpayer money, including tourist dollars known as convention development taxes.
Garcia said Monday his office will abide by the new law once it goes into effect July 1, presuming it passes muster with the governor, as expected.
“I’m going to do exactly what the law says,” he said. “If it benefits the citizens, for me, it’s a pleasure.”
The law, he added, “removes a problem, an error that was made when they (the city) did the contract.”
The property-tax issue is under scrutiny as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into the financing of the new ballpark.
A clause in Miami’s agreement with the Marlins makes the city responsible for any taxes. The ballclub — which is paying $10.07 per parking space to resell them at a higher price — pointed to the provision last year when it turned down a plea for help from city leaders dumbstruck by the prospect of a tax bill.
That’s when state legislators stepped in.
Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the man who called Regalado on Friday, pulled strings behind the scenes to tuck language to rescue the city into broader tax legislation.
“It was touch-and-go, but luckily, we were able to pull it out,” said Lopez-Cantera, a Miami Republican and head of the Miami-Dade legislative delegation. “I’m happy that I was able to provide the tool by which the appraiser will now not tax the city of Miami.”
Lopez-Cantera’s provision — filed by fellow Miami Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz — stirred little debate in the Legislature. But a pointed Florida House of Representatives staff analysis questioned whether it would be constitutional to give a tax break to city-owned facilities not used exclusively for a public purpose. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that regular, for-profit use of a government building by a private entity essentially disqualifies the building from receiving a tax break.
Lopez-Cantera, the House Republican leader, said he spoke to staff lawyers and is confident the specific issue of city-owned facilities ancillary to public buildings, as the garages are to the stadium, has not been tested in court.
With the property appraiser saying he won’t challenge the new law, the constitutional question could be put to rest for now. But a political fight could be looming: The term-limited Lopez-Cantera is considering running this fall against property appraiser Garcia.
“Before this session, I had no intention of running for property appraiser, but this situation has made me start to think about it,” Lopez-Cantera said. “Several people have encouraged me to think about it.”
Said Garcia: “We will see the difference between a politician and a professional. I am definitely a professional.”
Why no front page Miami Herald?
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