Marlins Stadium Update No. 17
The House voted 86-24 this afternoon for a $60 million sales tax rebate to help the Marlins build a ballpark in Miami.
The rebate allows the first $2 million collected in sales taxes in the ballpark annually for 30 years to be used to help pay the cost of the venue’s construction. A bill that would provide the rebates to the state’s nine professional franchises – at a potential cost of $540 million – to pay for new construction and improvements is expected to come before the House on Friday.
Today's vote by the House is considered early. The funding request typically hasn’t been considered until the final hours of the session. The Senate passed the rebate measure on the last day of the 2006 session, but it died on the House Floor when time ran out. This year it will be up to the Senate to determine the measure’s fate.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
