San Antonio City Council is headed for another heated debate over its plans for a new downtown Spurs arena.
On Monday, just hours before the state’s deadline to add measures to the Nov. 3 ballot, the council will hold a special meeting to decide whether to seek voters’ support for a $489 million contribution to the overall $1.3 billion basketball arena.
The move isn’t legally required, and most council members considered the spending a done deal after voters approved Bexar County’s portion of the funding in Props A and B last November.
The Spurs' owners spent more than $9 million campaigning for that election, and the arena funding reached just under 52% support among voters who live within city limits.
But Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones says the county vote was taken before taxpayers had a clear picture of the city’s tough financial straits and put her call for a separate city vote on Monday’s agenda.
A draft of the potential ballot language was posted online Tuesday evening.
“Last November was the county’s vote on the county’s $311 million [arena contribution], but the city’s separate contribution, I think, is also deserving of a vote by city voters,” Jones said on TPR’s The Source this week.
“… Last November we were not talking about raising property taxes, and now we are, with $158 million dollar [budget] deficit,” Jones said. “We are looking at raising property taxes not just once, but potentially twice if we also want to raise the bond capacity, and that is top of mind for folks.”
In order to put the idea before voters, Jones would need six votes from the council. At least six of 10 members have already expressed opposition so far.
Previously Jones had requested another ballot initiative for the meeting, one that would shift funds from Ready to Work, the city’s voter approved job training program, to other portions of the city budget, which is in a deficit.
But this week a letter from city staff indicated that only about $4.5 million of the program’s $120 million could be reallocated to the city budget, and Jones said the council should consider reimagining the program instead.
That issue is not on the agenda for Monday’s special meeting.
Jones’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
A third potential city ballot item for the November ballot, extending the funding for Pre-K 4 SA, will be voted on at the council’s regular meeting on Thursday.
