SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County voters could be asked to approve using and possibly raising an existing tax to build a downtown arena for the San Antonio Spurs.
But it probably won’t be until this fall at the earliest.
Following a closed-door discussion Tuesday, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said he does not currently plan to take the action necessary to get the question on the May 3 ballot.
“There are many questions about the Spurs' proposal for a venue tax election and not enough answers at this time. We are also missing out on the input of the public,” Sakai told reporters.
A new Spurs arena is a key project in the City of San Antonio’s vision to redevelop the Hemisfair area. The stadium is planned for the site of the former Institute of Texan Cultures building at the Southeast corner, near I-37.
Sakai and Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who represents both Hemisfair and the Spurs current home at the Frost Bank Center, said the county did not have information on how much the arena would cost or how much the Spurs or the City of San Antonio might chip in.
To make the May election, commissioners would have to order an election by Feb. 14. But they’d also need to get the state comptroller to sign off on a plan first.
Sakai’s reluctance makes hitting that deadline unlikely. The next opportunity to get on the ballot would be the general election in November.
“We are moving forward to find the win-win solution in this complex issue that we call the new Spurs arena,” Sakai said.
The pair also stressed the need for public input, with Calvert already scheduling town hall meetings on Jan. 25 and Feb. 1.
"If people don’t feel like their voices are heard, they’ll just say, ‘Well, you know, I’ll tell you where to take it,’“ Calvert said.
$34 million a year
Voters passed the county’s 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 county-owned home, now known as the Frost Bank Center.
In 2008, voters agreed to use the tax for river improvements, sports and performing arts facilities, and community arenas.
The tax brought in $34 million last year and is still being used to pay off the debt from the 1999 and 2008 projects.
A county spokesman told KSAT that the remaining $344 million in principal and $165 million in interest is expected to be paid off by 2051.
State law allows the county to raise the hotel portion of the tax to 2%.
Asked Tuesday if raising the tax was part of the discussion, Sakai said, “Those are all preliminary questions that need to be addressed."
The full funding scheme for the arena remains unclear, though top city staff have promised “there will be no general taxpayer dollars going towards the arena."
A city spokesman said Monday they did not have an answer regarding the latest funding plans for the arena project.
Spurs Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel Bobby Perez declined to comment as he left Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’re going to continue working with our partners and see what’s next,” Perez said.
READ MORE: Who’s paying? Funding plan for Spurs arena unclear, but public money could be in the mix
Not another Astrodome
It’s also unclear what will happen to the Frost Bank Center if the Spurs move downtown. The team’s lease on the facility lasts into 2032, but a timeline included in an initial city presentation estimated the Hemisfair arena’s construction finishing in 2028.
One of the unanswered questions, Calvert said in a video message late Sunday night, was, “What funding will the county need for the Frost Bank Center to survive for the next 20 years so that the East Side doesn’t have an Astrodome sitting as a dead carcass on an economically vibrant piece of property.”
The commissioner suggested that opportunities around the Frost Bank Center could include a food court, green spaces, pedestrian bridges, and a “potential higher education opportunity.”
Sakai said Tuesday there needed to be a proposal for economic development on the East Side.