EverBank Field improvements worth $63 million likely will be voted on Tuesday, but first a list of Council Auditor's concerns — as well as any City Council might have — will be heard.
Short on time, council adjourned Thursday before auditor Kirk Sherman's six-page handout about the Jacksonville Jaguars lease amendment was taken up.
Chief among Sherman's concerns was the "volume and complexity" of the amendments, which made the office unable to give assurance audit issues are being disclosed.
The lease amendment currently being debated is the 12th in the original Jaguars lease.
"It would seem like all you are doing is re-codifying," Sherman said after the meeting.
He said with every lease amendment proposed, he's requested the restatement of the agreement, but has not received any support.
"We look at the one amendment that is in front of us. I don't know what is behind us," he said.
Paul Harden, the team's lobbyist, said Friday that the team would be hesitant to restate the agreement because of necessary reviews by lenders and the NFL.
"It's not a complicated document," he said of the current format.
Much of the other points the auditor's office addresses are language cleanups, the need for descriptions and explanations.
There's a need for confirmation that "adjusted" cost increases in the project will be covered by the team.
There's another to confirm the city will not have rights to any revenue from naming rights from the north end zone, one of the major upgraded area. And there's an amendment to expand city rights to use and receive revenue from that north end zone platform.
With the north end zone upgrades also comes a concern about the loss of contractually obligated seating.
An additional city expense to install needed temporary seats for the annual Florida-Georgia is expected to be more than $376,000, according to the office.
In addition, any concerns council has could lengthen the debate.
City Council President Bill Gulliford said after Thursday's meeting that he generally was in favor of the deal, but thought council would further review factors of legality and possible advertising revenue sharing before voting.
Council member Ray Holt had questions about the advertising issue during Thursday's hour-long meeting.
Harden responded by saying that most advertisers do so because of the NFL presence, but if any issues with other events arises that the city and team can work through it.
Then there were questions about the "water features" that once were referred to as swimming pools. Council member Jim Love said constituents had asked him about those.
Harden said the pools label was a "misnomer" and instead referred to aquatic parts of other MLB and NFL stadiums. The EverBank Field amenity would be more of an attractive setting for events and conventions, he said.
The total project comprises new stadium scoreboards, the largest of its kind, and overhauling the north end zone to include different food and beverage options and a "North Florida-themed imagery and water features" to give the stadium a "distinctly Jacksonville flavor," according to a handout provided by the city.
It was announced in June with a price tag of $63 million, $20 million of which Khan will pay.
The remaining $43 million will come from bed taxes, 2 cents from a 6-cent levy the county can charge on hotel rooms.
The city will borrow its share and repay it over time using a portion of the tax, which has been designated for such sports complex upgrades.
The debt service for the new borrowing is about $3 million a year. Combined with a capital improvement revenue refund bond issued at the end of last year, the total debt payment would be about $13 million, according to the council auditor's office.
Khan said the improvements would help make the stadium a "world-class attraction" and provide long-term sustainability, while Lamping said it would help the team attract local fans. Ticket sales, Lamping said, are a large part of its local generated revenue, with the team having a "pretty consistent erosion" in that area over the years.
In addition to the team revenue, the enhancements are "very, very important" in attracting sports and entertainment events, according to Alan Verlander, sports and entertainment director.
"More and more, it's competitive out there," Verlander said Thursday.
He said when the city tries to attract events, such as Wrestlemania or college football games, organizers "want to know you are invested."
He said the improvements will create a "conversation piece" that will attract fans, similar to the Dallas Cowboys stadium.
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