Miami Taxpayers Receive a Break

In the Cambridge Companion to Baseball is a chapter by David Finoli about the economical impact of baseball teams, and their stadiums, on the cities they are in, are moving to, or have left. In this chapter, “Baseball and the American City,” Finoli talks about the very first team to relocate: the Dodgers. When the Dodgers first moved out of Brooklyn to build their new stadium in Los Angeles, a lot of people were angry, including Los Angeles taxpayers, who filed a lawsuit trying to keep the team from acquiring the land for Dodger Stadium. The Los Angeles taxpayers would eventually lose their battle and end up paying for the stadium, but it did postpone construction for a few years while the case was settled. Finoli writes, “The Dodgers’ Brooklyn-Los Angeles ordeal ushered in an era of endless cases that would pit baseball franchises in search of lucrative stadium deals against the cities competing for them.”  

Fortunately for the Miami Marlins, but more importantly, for Miami taxpayers, one such headache of a case may have been avoided. Patricia Mazzei, of the Miami Herald, writes, “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.” Sure, much of the $642-million dollar park has been financed by taxpayer money, so a $1.2 million dollar break may not look like much, but for a city that is projected to be $35-million dollars in the hole at the end of this fiscal year, that $1.2 million dollars left Mayor Tomas Regalado sleeping a little easier after the decision was made. It’s not clear whether or not this decision to grant the city a tax break on the parking structures will hold, but at least the structure’s appraiser has come forward and said that he has no plans to challenge the ruling.