Jacksonville City Council gears up for Jaguars stadium workshop

The NFL gets behind the new Jaguars' stadium. Image via Jacksonville Jaguars.

Before the Jacksonville Jaguars can have their stadium of the future for the next few decades, the city’s legislative branch must hash out the details of the agreement between the NFL team and Mayor Donna Deegan.

City Council President Ron Salem rolled out the framework for a discussion between the legislators between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5.

If necessary, there could also be an overtime session Thursday between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., but that’s contingent on if any questions are left to answer.

Council members will discuss financing, team guaranty, and the nonrelocation agreement with Deegan’s chief negotiator Mike Weinstein and Jaguars President Mark Lamping, Council Auditor Kim Taylor and City Council consultant Michael Huyghue.

The workshop sets up a breakneck pace to get the deal voted up by the end of President Salem’s term.

Per the Jacksonville Daily Record, a public hearing is slated for June 17, with a vote expected eight days hence.

The proposal, if unamended, would see Jacksonville on the hook for $775 million in stadium renovations and $150 million in community benefits, with a $775 million total match ($625 million on the stadium) by the team, though with conditions. The Jaguars would have 30 years to dole out their $150 million share of the community benefits piece.

The city proposes to finance the money by delaying the implementation of a half-penny sales tax intended to defray roughly $5 billion in unfunded pension obligations linked to a plan closed to new entrants nearly a decade ago, letting the pension ride until 2030 and moving capital projects back to that regressive scheme under the aegis of the Better Jacksonville Plan.

The team would have to pay back the city’s $775 million if it moved within the first 15 years of the lease, meanwhile, though years 16-30 see smaller penalties progressively for any such contractual breach.

Recent polling from the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) shows conditional support for the deal, meanwhile.

A full 56% of 667 Duval County registered voters polled between May 21 and May 23 support the deal, against 43% disapproval. Most of those objections come from people who say they aren’t fans of the NFL team, with 60% of that subset against the deal.

The overall appetite for the deal among those surveyed is sweetened by the $150 million community benefits agreement, money to be programmed by the city in the next few years with an eventual match by the team. A full 88% of Jags fans and 71% of nonfans support that condition.

Conversely, the city’s proposed $775 million stadium spend is the most unpalatable part of the deal’s framework, with just 41% support overall and 58% opposition. While 54% of those who say they are Jaguars fans back that part of the deal, just 21% of non-fans are supportive.