SAN ANTONIO — If voters approve Propositions A and B, it would raise $311 million for a new Spurs arena and $191 million to revitalize the Frost Bank Center.
How this money is raised and where it could be spent was all discussed today during a special roundtable attended by Trish DeBerry, the president and CEO of Centro San Antonio and former councilman Greg Brockhouse at the KTSA Alamo Lounge.
“Im here to talk about the fact that I do think a vote for Prop A and B could be transformational,” said DeBerry.
“It is a vote for what we feel are our priorities as a city,” said Brockhouse.
Propositions A and B would raise the venue tax from 1.75 percent to 2 percent, impacting visitors who stay in hotels.
“Those monies can only be used for convention business tourism arenas and convention centers,” said DeBerry.
DeBerry adds if the funds go unused, they would be absorbed by the state. But Brockhouse says raising the venue tax could be used for other projects and funding for infrastructure related to building the arena would have to come from somewhere else.
“It is also 250 million dollars in infrastructure bond,” said Brockhouse.
But one of the most important topics they discussed was the future of the Spurs in San Antonio.
“We may lose the San Antonio Spurs franchise, there may be others Greg that may not say that, I will say yes,” said DeBerry.
“There’s no way it is one and done if it is then the Spurs were never with us to begin with,” said Brockhouse.
Both were happy to have a healthy discussion on the issue that will no doubt impact our city. Bexar County voters will make the final decision at the polls on November 4th.