Jacksonville City Council begins workshops on proposed Stadium of the Future deal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars “Stadium of the Future” deal could be up for a vote in 20 days.

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Paying for the stadium renovations is no small task as the roughly $1.4 billion deal would cost taxpayers up to $775 million.

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On Wednesday, Jacksonville City Council members, the ones who will cast the vote to approval the deal or reject it, heard from the Mayor’s administration and Jaguars officials to review some of the agreements. Two topics of discussion were the financing aspect of the deal and the non-relocation agreement.

There are nine total agreements in the package. Action News Jax heard from several council members who said they think the financing is creative, worth exploring, and several were relatively happy with the how it could be done, calling it “fair” for the taxpayers.

The council auditor’s office went through the payment method, through the City’s Capital Improvement plan and swap the projects and funding with the Better Jacksonville Program. The auditor’s office mentioned how it still would allow for other projects to get done while paying for the stadium.

RELATED: Jacksonville city leaders to begin reviewing Jaguars’ ‘Stadium of the Future’ deal

The council auditor’s office mentioned other potential funding mechanisms to pay for the stadium of the future, including how the city could cut costs in other areas, or increase taxes; the current plan is to do neither of those.

Council President Ron Salem said the auditor’s office likes the current plan and is very thorough, which gives him some comfort and he feels as if the city is moving in the right direction towards approval of the deal.

“I like it, I think it’s a good plan, it saves us a lot of borrowing cost and I think it prepares us down the road for possibly a second large vertical project like a jail,” Salem said.

Action News Jax also spoke with council member Nick Howland, who said he wants to look into it more but believes it’s a creative way to pay for the stadium.

RELATED: Jaguars Stadium deal framework finalized, residents concerned of impact to historic neighborhoods

“I’m really pleased it looks like what we hammered out so far in draft is a very fair deal by taxpayers and we get to keep the jaguars here for 30 years, it’s important,” he said.

Something that will be discussed in a future meeting is the community benefits agreement, which includes $150 million from the Jaguars and the city to go toward community development around the county. It’s received some pushback and something Council President Salem said he still would like to see separate from the deal. It’s still possible there could be an amendment to change it or remove it.

There was also discussion about the non-relocation agreement where the Jaguars would be locked in for 30 years and would face financial penalties if they were to leave. Jaguars President Mark Lamping said the non-relocation agreement is one of the most robust in the NFL.

RELATED: Dozens of people attend first community huddle for ‘Stadium of the Future’ to share thoughts

If the team decided to leave before 14 years, they’d owe the city all of what it’s putting in at $775 million. If they leave after 15 years, they’d owe 75 percent of the cost, then the percentage goes down 5 percent every year until they reach 30 years.

In the meeting, officials said every NFL team has different deals when it comes to reimbursing the government’s share of a stadium project.

If for whatever reason the stadium isn’t usable, the Jaguars would have to play a home game within a 205-mile radius.

The Jaguars would also continue to play one home game in London every year and it’s possible they could play a second home game every four years because of new NFL rules, if they’re selected. There were some questions and concerns from council members regarding that. Lamping said it was important to the Jaguars to maintain flexibility, saying the administration agreed.

At minimum, Lamping said there’s at least seven home games every year in Jacksonville, he added they have no plans to go anywhere else and would rather focus on a “marriage” rather than a “divorce.”

“Why would we be investing this amount of money in a city owned stadium and agree to play there for 30 years?” He said. “So, these are types of protections built into every agreement.”

The deal needs not only the approval of the city and the Jaguars, but also 75 percent of NFL owners.

The non-relocation agreement is not in effect during construction, but the team agrees not to negotiate with other cities while legislation is pending. There’s also no current penalty in effect with the current lease if the Jags were to leave.

Next week, City Council and Jaguars officials plan to review security, parking, and several leases as well.

Jacksonville City Council is hoping to have a vote by June 25th.

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