In September of final yr, the San Antonio Spurs Common Supervisor and Metropolis Supervisor met to debate enhancements to the city-owned Alamodome, the place the Spurs play residence video games. We all know this as a result of the San Antonio Categorical-Information has textual content messages displaying the GM asking to satisfy the town official to debate “facility infrastructure“. Possibly the Spurs provided to pay for the upgrades themselves? Given their historical past, the chances of which are probably by no means. This is similar possession that was given an extra $41 million dollars worth of federal subsidies when constructing the realm….and so they simply saved it for themselves. This continues the lengthy historical past of the crew milking the city time and time again for money.
Then a couple of month in the past, we began listening to experiences of the Spurs presumably wanting a brand new area. This week, a brand new story got here out by the San Antonio Express-News discussing how the crew and metropolis of San Antonio had been secretly negotiating a couple of doable new area for a lot of months, if not a yr. Primarily the town has been attempting a “secret effort to woo Spurs to a brand new downtown area” for a lot of months now.
Because of the Texas Public Data Act, the Categorical-Information received plenty of emails displaying metropolis leaders discussing with Spurs executives about the potential for a downtown area. The emails concerned the mayor, Spurs GM, Spurs attorneys and different monetary officers for either side. Whereas nearly all of the messages merely mentioned occasions and dates of conferences, the truth that main crew officers and metropolis leaders met a number of occasions reveals that talks are superior.
Nevertheless, we didn’t discover out crucial query….how within the hell is the town going to pay for it? The Categorical-Information factors out the probably situation…
“If plans for a downtown area transfer forward, they in all probability would hinge on public financing, both by a sale of bonds or a tax improve, both of which must be authorized by voters” – San Antonio Express-News, 08/19/23
Metropolis residents have to be clamoring for the brand new area. I guess persons are banging on the mayors door whereas chanting “Construct That Area!”.
“You possibly can already really feel a resistance to the notion of San Antonians paying for it. It’s the sort of resistance that unites political opposites. Progressives resent the thought of taxpayer assets getting used to profit builders moderately than deal with the numerous wants of working-class San Antonians. Conservatives see it as simply one other tax-and-spend indulgence by huge authorities” – San Antonio Express-News, 07/22/23
However I guess metropolis residents can take consolation in understanding {that a} new area may have the same financial effect on the realm as the old one did. I’m speaking tons of financial growth….proper?
“Loads of guarantees had been made approach again when these stadiums had been being funded by tax {dollars} right here regionally that we might have that financial growth, that we might have these new properties, and eating places, companies and it simply hasn’t occurred but…we’ve seen some, however however positively to not the magnitude — I’d say 20 to 25 p.c of what it might be” – KSAT, 09/09/16, District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick
“We’re at an attention-grabbing juncture. Now we have an area that the county invested important cash in, and has continued to spend money on, nevertheless it has not had the event impression that one would possibly hope for” – Axios, 06/27/23, Heywood Sanders, UTSA professor of public administration
“As soon as constructed, new sports activities amenities generate little in the way in which of excellent jobs or financial growth within the surrounding space. The Alamodome and AT&T Area have each did not generate neighborhood growth” – 04/11/16, San Antonio Report
It isn’t all dangerous. It isn’t just like the Spurs cost the town $250,000+ to make use of their taxpayer-funded area for a polling place. Wait a second.
