Isn't this plausible ?

 

Not really. They were close to announcing a deal when someone else entered the bidding and obviously upped it significantly. They wouldn't have started over for some minor amount of money.

 

It took them many months to get close to what they thought would be the deal, so it's not suprising that it's taking many more months to start from scratch with the new, higher bidder.

 

My shirt is on.

 

"Keep your shirt on" was directed at enterthemadness. My fault, I didn't make it clear.

 

but you can't ignore the opportunity cost of allocating those dollars to this enterprise. There's where we pay.

 

So what's the timetable for getting a metrorail/tri rail connection to the stadium? No money? Dang!

 

OK, proceed to bash this comment with all of your intimate knowledge of our local government restrictions on spending tourists tax dollars which may or may not be believable.

 

Alright, I think I'll do exactly that, even though my knowledge isn't "intimate," just comprehensive enough to totally demolish your groundless speculation.

 

Your entire idea of how the bed tax revenue may be spent is just flat-out wrong. The allocation is by state law. FS 125.0104.

 

The 1% Professional Sports Facilities Franchise Tax (of the total 6% "hotel bed tax") must be spent on, guess what? Debt service on professional sports facilities. "Debt service," of course, meaning payment of bond principal amounts and interest thereon.

 

So, contrary to your baseless claim (correctly compared by squall to some ridiculous BS the Herald might come up with,) not only can we ignore the opportunity cost of whatever, we are forced by statute to ignore it:

 

5) AUTHORIZED USES OF REVENUE.—

 

(a) All tax revenues received pursuant to this section by a county imposing the tourist development tax shall be used by that county for the following purposes only:

 

1. To acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair, improve, maintain, operate, or promote one or more publicly owned and operated convention centers, sports stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, or auditoriums, or museums that are publicly owned and operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations and open to the public, within the boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing district in which the tax is levied. Tax revenues received pursuant to this section may also be used for promotion of zoological parks that are publicly owned and operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations and open to the public. However, these purposes may be implemented through service contracts and leases with lessees with sufficient expertise or financial capability to operate such facilities; [This is where the 1% (of 6% total "bed taxes") Professional Sports Facilities Franchise Tax goes.]

 

2. [To promote and advertise tourism in the State of Florida] [This is where the 2% (of 6% total "bed taxes") Tourist Development Tax goes.]

 

3. [To fund convention bureaus, tourist bureaus, tourist information centers] [This is where the 3% (of 6% total "bed taxes") Convention Development Tax goes.]

 

4. [To finance beach park facilities or beach improvement, maintenance, renourishment, restoration, and erosion control] [This is some sort of after-thought, a catch-all for leftover money from the above.]

 

http://archive.flsen....html#0125.0104

 

Nothing in there about metro-rail or anything else.

 

So much for fungibility.

 

Is that believable enough for you?

 

:lol

 

Excellent post. (aside...i didn't mean to imply that the metro rail was my desired recipient of any sort of funding. It was just a punctuation to the post).

 

I'm obviously a fan of baseball. Why else would I be hanging around a random Marlins message board looking at construction photos. But I'm also not one to blindly applaud everything that happens to my benefit. I've never said anything that would suggest that this facility shouldn't be here. I merely pointed out that most of the cost wasn't paid by the Marlins (which is fine). The statute you so kindly pasted here also shows that sports aren't the only thing that those monies can be spent on (albiet the other options are limited, but they are there). The spirit of my comment was that the Marlins should be fortunate that they are the private enterprise that was selected to receive the money, and not a "convention center" "museum" or "zoological park". If this thing had gone to referendum it wasn't a slam dunk to pass. Luckily that isn't how the process worked. They caught some breaks with the people charged with passing it. I'm glad they did. But we can't pretend like bed taxes can only be spent on pro baseball stadiums.

over the moon excited, just got my ticket to opening day

over the moon excited, just got my ticket to opening day

 

 

 

Nice, dude

So people go to the stadium to watch the game on TV?

That's the Marlins locker room.

That's the Marlins locker room.

 

So the players watch the game in the clubhouse when they should be on the field?

That's the Marlins locker room.

 

So the players watch the game in the clubhouse when they should be on the field?

 

with cuban pork sandwhiches and mojitos

wow, Looks like a VIP lounge

 

I guess they are Very Important People

Looks like the swimming pool is full of water.

 

Also, holy Budweiser!!!!

I thought that space could have been pretty cool with a big marlin.

Oh well. Money talks.

Looks like the swimming pool is full of water.

 

Also, holy Budweiser!!!!

I thought that space could have been pretty cool with a big marlin.

Oh well. Money talks.

 

 

What picture are you referring to?

Hanley's locker looks lazy.

 

 

 

 

eh, I got nothing. Need season to start, hurry.

Looks like the swimming pool is full of water.

 

Also, holy Budweiser!!!!

I thought that space could have been pretty cool with a big marlin.

Oh well. Money talks.

 

 

What picture are you referring to?

Its on the webcam

Looks like the swimming pool is full of water.

 

Also, holy Budweiser!!!!

I thought that space could have been pretty cool with a big marlin.

Oh well. Money talks.

 

 

What picture are you referring to?

Its on the webcam

 

After all of these months, no, sorry, my mistake, YEARS of construction, all captured by multiple cameras, all well-publicized, how the devil is it that so many people don't understand what is being talked about when someone makes a reference to something that appeared on one of the camera shots?

 

Amazing. Or, maybe stupefying.

 

The major Budweiser bar neon is very cool. The first sign of "standard" ballpark fare to get mixed into our avant garde motif.

Budweisers advertising has been superb these past few years, especially lately.

Why is the outfiled wall green?

So what percent done is the park now?

Probably 99.9%.

 

Just a guess. Samson has not deigned to comment on it recently that I've read.

 

We don't know what isn't complete other than the Clevelander -- that's about it for obvious stuff. Probably still a thousand little details that will keep them busy for the next week. 8 days is a long time if you have hundreds of people working on the list.

 

In any case, if Samson lives up to his reputation, it'll come in on or under budget and on time. We know one thing for sure -- David does not want to have to tell Jeffrey that there is anything left to be done other than polishing chrome on April 4th.

 

We'll see, and soon.

Why is the outfiled wall green?

 

 

 

 

:facepalm

Probably 99.9%.

 

Just a guess. Samson has not deigned to comment on it recently that I've read.

 

We don't know what isn't complete other than the Clevelander -- that's about it for obvious stuff. Probably still a thousand little details that will keep them busy for the next week. 8 days is a long time if you have hundreds of people working on the list.

 

In any case, if Samson lives up to his reputation, it'll come in on or under budget and on time. We know one thing for sure -- David does not want to have to tell Jeffrey that there is anything left to be done other than polishing chrome on April 4th.

 

We'll see, and soon.

 

wow, if its going to be all done by april 4th ill be super surprised. The bulk of what needs to be done will be finished , but little details are a real headache sometimes.

That is the sex.

Is there any way you could post a link to a larger version of that shot?

This is the link of that pic: http://i1217.photobu...rlinssunset.jpg

 

Not sure if there's a larger version...

would love a larger version of this as well (would make a great desktop wallpaper)

Agreed. Got that pic from ESPN but can't find any larger version.

 

You could save the picture on your computer & enlarge it on Paint-though the resolution won't be as clear.

The pic looks like a concept design. HDR I presume? The resolution on this picture is 72, we need at least 150-300 for a nice background.