{"id":981505,"date":"2026-08-05T03:50:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T03:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/981505\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T03:50:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T03:50:27","slug":"mayor-jones-lacks-votes-to-get-second-spurs-arena-vote-onto-november-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/981505\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Jones lacks votes to get second Spurs arena vote onto November ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones\u2019 buzzer-beater attempt to put the Spurs arena back on the ballot looks likely to be a brick, with a majority of council members already publicly against the idea.<\/p>\n

The $1.3 billion NBA arena planned for Hemisfair relies on the Spurs, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County all chipping in. The Spurs would pay at least $500 million, the city would pay up to $489 million and the county up to $311 million.<\/p>\n

County voters already approved the county share, funded with a tax on hotel stays and car rentals, in November<\/a>. The city\u2019s proposed financing is tied to special tax capture districts and lease payments from the arena and related development and does not require a similar vote, though the city could ask voters\u2019 opinion anyway. <\/p>\n

In a July 31 memo to her colleagues, Jones proposed<\/a> a discussion about putting such a vote on the city\u2019s share of funding onto the November ballot, saying that \u201csince they pay twice, City voters deserve to vote twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNovember would allow City voters to vote clearly informed by what they are paying, what they are receiving in return, and whether the latter is good enough,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

The deadline to order a vote is Aug. 17, and she would need at least five of the 10 other members of the city council to agree.<\/p>\n

However, when KSAT reached out to all 10 council members, the six who provided an interview or statement all spoke against the idea: Sukh Kaur (D1), Phyllis Viagran (D3), Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (D8), Misty Spears (D9) and Marc Whyte (D10).<\/p>\n

The council members said the vote would not help close the looming $158 million budget deficit Jones mentioned in her memo, and that the November vote on the county funding had already settled the arena issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew the term sheet. They knew what the city\u2019s contributions were going to be, and we voted \u2018yes\u2019 for it,\u201d Alderete Gavito told KSAT.<\/p>\n

Kaur said another election would take money and energy while \u201crepeating work we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than re-litigating an issue that we addressed last fall that is going to cost us actually more money in our budget, we should be focused on making sure that city services and programs that help all of our residents are not cut as a result of the budget,\u201d said Kaur.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s share of the funding would come from bonds backed by four sources of revenue: the Spurs\u2019 lease of the publicly-owned arena, private developers\u2019 lease of nearby city-owned land, property tax from that development within a specific area known as the Hemisfair Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), and hotel-related state taxes from a \u201cProject Finance Zone<\/a>\u201d (PFZ). <\/p>\n

Whyte called Jones\u2019 memo \u201ctremendously misleading\u201d and said the $489 million had \u201cabsolutely nothing\u201d to do with the city\u2019s budget deficit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat money cannot be used to close our budget deficit. That money cannot be used to fix streets and sidewalks all around our city. It can\u2019t be used for public safety issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The city still needs to negotiate a final deal with the Spurs, which top city staff hope to do by the end of the year. At last check in June<\/a>, the city was waiting for the results of a study on the potential costs and revenue opportunities.<\/p>\n

Spurs Sports and Entertainment CEO R.C. Buford also released an open letter to the San Antonio community on Tuesday defending the funding plan and saying, \u201cnow is the time to move forward together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vote has taken place. The commitments have been made. The work is underway,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Jones appeared on the KSAT Q&A after the broadcast version of this story initially aired. Despite having less than two weeks until the deadline to order an election, Jones said \u201cwe\u2019ve got some time to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a generational investment. Why folks would be afraid of hearing from the voters that they signed up for a $489 million contribution is beyond me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

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