SAN ANTONIO – Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones joined KSAT on Tuesday’s 6 O’Clock News to address the City Council’s 6-5 vote against placing funding for a new Spurs arena back on the ballot.
Jones said that while her colleagues do not want to put the city’s $489 million contribution to Project Marvel up for a public vote, the focus remains on the non-binding term sheet with the Spurs, which will come before the council for final approval.
“Our focus now remains the non-binding term sheet, which will come to us for final approval,” she said, adding that negotiations should address worker wages and a relocation clause extending beyond 30 years.
Though Jones thinks city voters deserve a separate vote for the city funding, a majority of the council argued last year’s election on the county portion was sufficient to show voters’ wider approval for the project.
On the city’s $158 million two-year budget deficit, Jones outlined the current proposal: an 8.3% property tax increase spread over two years, $90 million in cuts and $30 million in new fee revenue. She said the city should also reexamine Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, specifically calling out the Midtown TIRZ.
“Some of the highest property value in the entire city is in that area,” she said. “I find it hard to believe that it’s blighted.”
Jones also said Ready to Work program funds could backfill general fund expenditures — including a proposed $2.1 million cut affecting 3,500 scholarships — without a public vote.
She questioned spending priorities, contrasting a $700,000 maternal mortality pilot against Fiesta subsidies and pushing back on continued funding for the Botanical Garden while 39 library positions face elimination.
Jones said the City Council would discuss a no-property-tax-increase scenario Wednesday, which she said the city manager described as “bloody.”
Watch the full interview in the video player above.
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