Stadium deal faces injunction attempt - Business First of Columbus:

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Grace Solares and Elvis Cruz, who filed suit in February, filedr an emergency motion Monday in an effort to stop the sale of thebondsd altogether. A copy of the temporart injunction motion provided by the plaintiffsd alleges the county is exceeding its constitutional tax and spending powers by issuing bond tied to the professionalsports tax/tourist development tax. As a result of the motion and to avoix a cloud that could affecgt the interest rate on the the county has pushed back the bondsale dates, Miami-Dade spokeswomah Vicki Mallette said. However, the closinhg date for all the bonds remaindJuly 14.
The county had already planned to push back the bond closinh date due to a request chang e on how some financing fees are paidto , whichu has provided the county with a letteer of credit for the project. Wachovia’sd letter of credit is for two yeares atapproximately $100 million. The Wachovia change would require an amendment to the bond ordinance that allowed the county to issue Professional Sports Franchises Tax and Tourist DevelopmenyTax bonds. County commissioners will get a chanc e to consider the change at a special meetinfgon Friday. A public hearing and second reading is scheduled forJune 30.
If countuy commissioners approve theWachovia change, the thred parties would have until mid-July to close on instead of the end of Miami-Dade County and the parties also will be given until July 15, instead of July 1, to pull out of the The change would not impact the projected financing expenditurew the county commission already has according to a statement from County Managere George Burgess. “Our confidence in the project and its underlyingv funding plan hasnot changed,” he said in a statement on Monday. On Friday, Burges also wants to make “minord technical corrections” to the county deed that conveys two parcele to the city of Miami for thestadium garage.
Burgess also is working with Miami to modify the deed on the stadiumn site to reflect the change inthe deal’s new termination date. The city of Miami commissionh will meet Thursday to consider the Wachovia In April, county commissioners approved issuingb bonds totaling a maximum of $536 millionm toward construction of the $640 37,000-seat ballpark.