SAN ANTONIO – As the city prepares to turn a nonbinding term sheet into hard contracts, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones thinks the city could still get more out of the deal.
“100%,” she told KSAT. “100% and we’ll work on that.”
City staff told council members during a Wednesday briefing they’re aiming to finish substantive negotiations on various “definitive” documents and agreements related to the arena project by the end of 2026.
Staff said negotiations could move at different paces, depending on the contract.
The city council passed a term sheet in August that lays out the broad strokes of a deal between the city, team and Bexar County. The “non-binding” nature of the term sheet means that, while it serves as a framework for further discussion, there won’t be any lawsuits if final agreements don’t match up.
Jones was on the losing side of that 7-4 vote after unsuccessfully trying to convince the rest of council to delay the deal until the city had received an “independent” economic impact report and held two community feedback meetings in each district.
Under the term sheet, the $1.3 billion arena would be funded with up to $489 million from the city, up to $311 million from the county, and at least $500 million from the team.
Voters already approved the county’s share of the funding in November.
Other elements of the deal include guaranteed development and annual $2.5 million payments under a “community benefits agreement” in addition to the team’s lease payments.
Jones scoffed at the additional payments Wednesday while speaking with KSAT.
“$2.5 million for 30 years. That’s like, Garrett, you saying, ‘Hey mayor, I need a hundred bucks,’ and I’m like, ‘Can I give you half a penny?’” she said.
“Like, when you look at our $4 billion budget, $2.5 million dollars — and I’m not saying this is going to cover our entire budget, but I want people to put in context, right, the value of that (community benefits agreement) in light of what our actual operating budget is."
After Jones asked about what nonbinding meant during Wednesday’s discussion, some council members said the city needed to hue closely to what had been listed in the term sheet.
“We do not want to have business partners in our community, businesses outside of the city, around the state and the country, look at our city and say, ‘Well, you can’t really take their word for granted. You can’t get into a deal with them because you never know whether or not they’re going to change their mind or attempt to re-trade the deal,’” Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) said.
“You know, parties came together to make a deal — the Spurs, the county, the city — and we took that deal to the voters,” Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) said. “And so I think it’s incumbent on us to honor that — to each other, to the parties involved and to the residents of San Antonio.”
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), though, said council members had told residents in town hall meetings ahead of November’s vote that the terms of the arena deal were nonbinding, “implying quite explicitly that they can be amended.”
“So if you don’t to change those terms, I would much rather you just say that,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “But don’t try to absolve yourself of the responsibility to get the best deal for our constituents by now acting like they were the ones who approved the contract, by saying that, ‘Oh, we took this to the voters’ when we didn’t.”
The city is poised to take a step forward on part of the funding deal Thursday morning.
City council is scheduled to vote on whether to submit a proposal to buy a cluster of federal properties near Hemisfair using more than $30 million from the Spurs.
The city would own the properties but lease them private developers for the mixed-use development.
If an arena deal falls through, the city would have to reimburse the Spurs or turn the properties over to them.
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