Former Ballplayers Tout Cruise Ticket Tax to Build Miami Stadium

By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press Writer
Mar 21, 2000 - 04:45 PM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Marlins owner John Henry brought along some heavy lumber Tuesday to help lobby for a $4-a-day tax on cruise ship passengers to pay for a new bayfront ballpark in downtown Miami.

Accompanied by Hall of Fame first baseman Tony Perez, a Marlins special assistant, and longtime National League slugger Andre Dawson, Henry outlined the need for the stadium during a noon meeting with lawmakers from the Miami-Dade County delegation.

"The tactic that is generally employed is that 'we're going to leave,'" Henry told an overcrowded meeting room in the Senate office building. "I'm not here to threaten. I believe in Miami-Dade County as a force, as a worldwide force.

"I want to talk about the future and the future of Miami," he said. "And about having our home there for the next 30 years."

But Henry and his entourage said the Marlins won't have a future without a domed downtown park. Henry seeks a voter referendum to approve $320 million in taxes on cruise ship passengers for the new ballpark.

"Without that we will never have a competitive organization again," Marlins' president Dave Dombrowski said.

"You can see what happened in Cleveland and Baltimore," said Perez, noting revitalized downtown areas in those cities around new ballparks.

"It will be the crowning jewel for the downtown area," added Dawson, who grew up in Miami years before the city landed a Major League Baseball franchise.

The jewel envisioned by Henry is a $400 million stadium with a retractable dome, 38,000 seats and a view of Biscayne Bay. He would like to have the park ready for the 2003 season.

Legislation filed in the Senate would create a seven-member authority independent of the county commission to add the cruise tax if voters approve it in a county-wide referendum in November.

But there were just as many opponents, albeit not with the celebrity status of the retired home runs hitters who accompanied the Marlin delegation.

"When you analyze the bill, it's a predator tax," said John LaCapra, who represents the Florida Ports Council and Florida Caribbean Cruise Association. "We view the proposed tax on cruise ships as putting the port of Miami at risk."

The cruise industry has lined up against it, saying it would be an unfair tax and would drive ships to other cruise ports around the state.

"It means jobs," said Jorge Rovirosa, manager and director of the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Company. "A vote for this tax is a vote for unemployment."

About a million people take cruises annually from the Miami area and about 6,700 people are employed by the cruise industry, said Richard Sasso, president of Celebrity Cruises and chairman of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association. "It's about serious business in Dade County."

Gov. Jeb Bush, who is from Miami, has not taken an position on the issue although he did meet briefly Tuesday with Henry.

"The governor thinks it would be wonderful having a stadium in the Miami area," Bush spokeswoman Elizabeth Hirst said. "But he also has to consider the impact on such an important industry and on South Florida."

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