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Rating agencies to assess bond proposal for Marlins stadium

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN
mhaggman@MiamiHerald.com

With votes clearing the way for a new Florida Marlins ballpark done, the final hurdle before construction now begins: borrowing the money to pay for it.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, county leaders are set to meet with rating agencies that will assess Miami-Dade County's financial condition and its plan to sell $563 million in bonds to pay for construction of the planned Little Havana stadium and refinance existing county debt.

The three agencies -- Fitch, S&P and Moodys -- are expected to rate the bond proposal before the end of next month. County Manager George Burgess said the county then plans to "go to market in either late May or early June, at which point we will know if we can sell all the bonds at the right price."

Time is short because a July 1 deadline looms; after that, none of the parties -- the county, the city of Miami or the Marlins -- can back out of the financing plan to build the $634 million stadium. The city and the county are paying more than 80 percent of the stadium costs; the baseball team will contribute $120 million and repay a $35 million county loan.

Last week, city of Miami commissioners approved the site and building plans for the stadium. City and county leaders each approved the financing plan in March.

The meetings with financial ratings agencies come as the bond market, which seized up earlier this year amid a severe credit crunch, is beginning to ease.

But there are still concerns if the county can achieve acceptable terms. The county has capped the interest rate it's willing to pay on most of the bonds at 7.5 percent.

There are also worries if the so-called bed taxes are a sufficient revenue source to pay back the bond investors. Hotel tax revenues have plunged in recent months -- as much as 22 percent in February -- as the travel industry suffers amid an ongoing recession. If there aren't sufficient tourist taxes, then county commissioners would have to dip into the general fund, which pays for services like police.

"It's rolling the dice," Miami-Dade Commissioner Carlos Gimenez said at a commission meeting earlier this month.

Burgess says the financing plan will work.