The Dolphins are offering a new deal for their much-discussed stadium renovations: We’ll pay for them if we don’t have to pay property taxes.
The team was rejected when it previously asked for direct public financing for Sun Life Stadium upgrades, but the Dolphins are now hoping that they’ll get more support if they offer to pay for the renovations themselves, while still getting help from the public in the form of not having to pay their property tax bill, which is currently about $3.8 million a year, according to the Miami Herald.
That $3.8 million a year goes to schools and other government services, so there will surely be some resistance to the deal among those who believe it would be a bad deal for the public and a sweetheart deal for billionaire owner Stephen Ross.
On the other hand, Ross paying the $350 million to renovate the stadium himself would be a much better deal for the public than the previous proposal, which called for $289 million in public money to pay for the stadium renovations. That deal was rejected. Ross hopes this deal can be struck, and the Dolphins can get renovations that will make Sun Life Stadium more attractive to ticket buyers, and a potential host of a future Super Bowl.