St. Petersburg officials receive big bonuses following Rays stadium deal

City employees who had a hand in negotiating and crafting a Tampa Bay Rays stadium and redevelopment deal hauled in big checks this week.

According to payroll records obtained Friday by the Tampa Bay Times in a public records request, 17 high ranking employees received bonus checks Thursday totaling $250,000.

Mayor Ken Welch confirmed the payments were made for the employees’ work on the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment project.

“The amount of time and effort required of key staff for the successful Historic Gas Plant District development agreement process was extraordinary,” Welch said in a statement.