On Monday, City Manager Erik Walsh said he does not intend on increasing property taxes across the city to foot the bill for Project Marvel.
SAN ANTONIO — On Monday, San Antonio leaders discussed how they will foot the bill for a potential Spurs arena downtown.
According to City Manager Erik Walsh, it does not include raising property taxes across the city.
A new arena could cost up to $1.5 billion. Right now, Walsh is preparing a funding framework to present to the city council for Project Marvel.
“There’s a lot of work to do but I expect to have that public presentation in front of city council in less than a month,” Walsh said.
Walsh said the city is considering five sources of revenue. He listed the first source as a venue tax.
Bexar County’s existing venue tax consists of a 1.75% hotel/motel occupancy tax and a 5% short-term rental tax. If the county were to maximize contributions from the venue tax for the next few years, they could contribute up to nearly $400 million. If the hotel/motel occupancy tax were raised to 2%, they could contribute nearly $450 million.
The county will need to call for a venue tax election by August for it to be on the ballot this fall.
Walsh then listed the Spurs organization. The Spurs have not publicly shared to what extent they’re willing or planning to fund their next home downtown.
He also mentioned a tax increment reinvestment zone or TIRZ. A TIRZ would increase property tax in the area in need of development. A TIRZ already exists in the Hemisfair area.
“It’s public dollars but it’s dedicated in that zone so in other words paying for development in that area,” Walsh said.
Another source of funding would be revenue from the new arena.
The fifth funding resource is being discussed by City Council this week. It is a public finance zone (PFZ), which provides state funding for projects that boost tourism.
Right now, San Antonio’s current PFZ plan includes renovations to the Alamodome and Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. However, on Thursday, Walsh will ask the City Council to change the plan to include a potential Spurs arena.
The city estimates around $2 billion in funding over the span of 30 years from the state.
“It’s potential at this point but we wanted to put that plan in place and have that flexibility for it,” said Chief of Financial & Administrative Services Ben Gorzell
However, Walsh answered a question on the minds of many San Antonians Monday regarding property taxes.
He said right now, that is not an option for funding the arena.
“The only way that can happen if it goes to the voter and early on last November when we made that initial presentation, the council made it very clear, that was not something they were interested in pursuing, that’s not something we’re recommending,” Walsh said.