Poll any sports-centric US city and you’ll likely get a mix of opinions when it comes to taxpayer-assisted funding for pro-league sports stadiums. Most stadium deals have their share of proponents and critics, but few stir the kind of controversy that has been unleashed on the fine residents of Miami, FL.

The Miami Marlins, an MLB team notorious for operating on a shoestring budget (and who famously upset the Yankees in the 2003 World Series), managed to coerce the city’s taxpayers to fork over the necessary dough for a beautiful new $639 million stadium complex, which opened in 2012.

The taxpayer deal was so controversial that an SEC investigation was opened into the team’s accounting practices — an investigation that in part led to a recommendation that residents bring civil suits against the city.

In Sports Illustrated’s latest issue, the scandal is profiled extensively. In the article, Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado is quoted as saying, “Miami has a history of bad deals, but I would rate this Number 1. The residents of Miami were raped. Completely.”

Ouch. You heard it right. The residents of Miami were “raped”. Poor choice of words, perhaps. The bonds are to be paid out over 40 years, with a total tab of $2.4 billion.