BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Bexar County voters will have their first — and likely only — chance to vote on a new San Antonio Spurs arena in the Nov. 4 election.
Commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday to ask voters whether to raise the hotel portion of the county’s venue tax to 2%, which could help funnel up to $311 million toward a downtown NBA arena in Hemisfair. The county has offered to pay that amount or up to 25% of the arena’s cost, whichever is lower.
Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody was the lone “no” vote, saying he could not support a tax increase. Others on the commissioners court, though, have framed it as a tax on visitors, rather than locals.
Spurs Sports and Entertainment has offered to put $500 million toward the arena and cover any cost overruns. The City of San Antonio is considering a variety of public funding sources to kick in between $350 million and $500 million, none of which would require voter approval.
The arena’s total price tag could reach up to $1.5 billion.
Voters will be asked separately about raising the tax to help fund renovations and upgrades to the team’s current home, the Frost Bank Center, as well as the surrounding Freeman Coliseum and coliseum grounds.
The heads of the Freeman Coliseum and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo have said they hope to generate more year-round activity, such as Olympic event horse shows, horse auctions, an annual county fair or expanded expositions.
County Judge Peter Sakai has said the improvements to those county-owned assets, currently estimated at roughly $240 million, were the county’s priority.
“This is just the start of what we can do, and sky’s the limit for the East Side that should have been delivered many years ago, but yet has yet to be done,” Sakai said.
Organized opposition to the arena and the city’s larger plans for a sports and entertainment district, dubbed “Project Marvel,” has been growing. Numerous people spoke against the venue tax election ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
“This is a blank check to billionaires with our tax money,” said COPS/Metro leader Mike Phillips.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores stressed the venue tax can only be used for qualified projects.
“We can’t use it on housing, we can’t use it on mental health as much as I would like,” she said.
SSE Chief Legal Officer Bobby Perez dodged KSAT’s question about what it would mean if the venue tax were to fail at the ballot box.
“Today, we’re really excited about the opportunity to go in front of the voters, and we’re going to move forward with the campaign, a great message, and let the voters have a chance to voice their opinions,” he said.
County voters passed the current venue tax — split between a 5% tax on short-term car rentals and a 1.75% hotel tax — in 1999 to fund the construction of the Spurs’ current home.
In 2008, voters agreed to use the tax for river improvements, sports facilities, performing arts facilities and community arenas.
The county had previously appeared to be prepared to send much less money to the arena.
However, Bexar County Manager David Smith said Tuesday the county’s legal team had determined some of the upgrades to the Frost Bank Center would be the Spurs’ responsibility, and a later-than-expected start to some of the work on the coliseum grounds meant the estimated capacity grew to $503 million.
Coupled with $48 million in existing venue tax revenue that could be used to help partially fund the work at the Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum grounds, Smith said there’s still $311 million worth of capacity for the county to spend on the arena.
The San Antonio City Council is scheduled to have further discussions about the larger sports and entertainment district, known as "Project Marvel, on Wednesday.
More Project Marvel-related coverage on KSAT: