SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo hosted a town hall on Tuesday evening to discuss a November ballot proposition that would pave the way for more year-round rodeo operations at the Freeman Coliseum grounds.
Prop A on the Nov. 4 ballot for Bexar County would ask voters to use the county’s venue tax to help pay for making improvements to the Frost Bank Center, replacing the Freeman Coliseum roof, and doing an expansive overhaul of the Expo Hall and surrounding grounds.
The project would include adding and renovating buildings with the hopes of generating more year-round activity, like Olympic event horse shows, horse auctions and expanded expositions.
The venue tax, which helped pay for the Frost Bank Center’s construction, is split between a 1.75% tax on hotel stays and 5% tax on short-term car rentals. As part of the proposition, voters will be asked to raise the hotel portion to 2%.
A recent county presentation put the estimated price tag of the combined work somewhere between $235 million and $240 million. Most of it would go toward the grounds upgrades.
If voters approve, the tax could be used to raise about $192 million. The county already has an additional $48 million on hand from what the tax has already generated.
Voters will also be asked on a separate proposition, Prop B, to use the same tax raise to kick up to $311 million toward building a new downtown Spurs arena.
Most of the attention has been focused on the Spurs proposition, but rodeo officials hosted a town hall on Tuesday night to go over the expansion plans and answer questions.
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