By R.J. Morales | tx3dnews
PLANO — Plano residents will begin voting on taxes to help pay for a proposed Dallas Stars arena before they see the city’s full traffic analysis of the project.
Early voting on Proposition A starts Oct. 19. The complete report from the first phase of the city’s traffic study isn’t due until Oct. 31, three days before the Nov. 3 election. A second phase has no completion date.
‘We need data’
“I was kind of expecting more data today,” Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Vidal Quintanilla Jr. told consultants from Fehr & Peers, the city’s traffic firm, on Monday. “… I’m being asked questions from the community and I still don’t have answers to a lot of that.”
“All of the data that you could possibly want is in there,” Josh Peterman of Fehr & Peers said of the roughly 130-page report.
Quintanilla pressed for a date. “I need a concrete date because I’m being asked questions and I still can’t provide answers,” he said. “We need data.”
Council member Shun Thomas said residents want to know more. “We are operating based off of assumptions, and that brings about concern,” she said. “We need more concrete answers.”
Peterman said the study’s land-use assumptions “are not based on actual proposal from the developer.” City Manager Mark Israelson said the city asks the developer for that information “weekly.”
Park Boulevard
The preliminary model assumes a sold-out hockey game of 18,000 people, all parking on site and no new transit. “We’re trying to be as conservative as possible,” Peterman said.
John Gard of Fehr & Peers said most problems can be handled with modest fixes such as longer turn lanes, except on Park Boulevard from Plano Parkway to Parkwood. There, he said, the fixes help “but not to the degree we want.”
Asked whether he anticipated a date for finishing the second phase, Peterman said, “I do not. Not at this time.”
Who pays
The city’s share of building the arena is capped at $700 million, Deputy City Manager Doug McDonald said. Road and traffic work beyond the site “is subject to ongoing discussions and negotiations with the developer and the team,” he said.
The bonds would be repaid from the Willow Bend zone, the venue taxes and possibly a state project finance zone. “They’re not a charge against the credit or the general taxes of the city,” said Greg Schaecher, the city’s bond counsel.
Israelson said Collin County will not join the Willow Bend zone or any future tax increment zone “at this point.” “That’s a policy decision that was made within the last two months,” he said. TX3DNews has not independently confirmed the county’s decision.
Plano ISD would contribute half of its captured increment, up to $250 million or 25 years, under an agreement the council approved 8-0 at its regular meeting Monday.
One speaker, who said he is a member of DSA North Texas and Revolutionary Front DFW, opposed it. “If you support educational equity in the state of Texas, vote no on this agreement with PISD,” he said.
What Prop A would tax
Proposition A would authorize five taxes on car rentals, hotel stays, event parking, admissions and venue use, raising an estimated $700 million to $900 million over 30 years, McDonald said.
The ballot calls it a tax increase, as state law requires, but it “is not a property tax increase,” he said.
A “no” vote would not stop the city from moving forward, McDonald said, though the city would rethink its financing.
Council member Steve Lavine asked whether the hotel tax would apply citywide. “So it’s not just within the TIRZ area, but it covers the land area of Plano,” he said. “Yes, sir,” McDonald said.
Council member Chris Krupa Downs asked whether the council could skip the car rental tax if it hurt “Plano residents who might need to rent cars because their cars are in the shops.”
“The council will have the ability to enact any of those taxes if the voters authorize them,” McDonald said.
Closing the discussion, Mayor John Muns said only arena users would pay the taxes. “I don’t want anybody to be confused that it’s any more than that,” he said.
At the regular meeting that followed, the speaker who opposed the Plano ISD agreement disputed that. “People use hotels, motel, and rental cars for non venue related reasons all the time,” he said.
‘Without knowing these answers’
Jack Lagos, the only speaker at the preliminary meeting, urged voters to reject the measure. “I believe Proposition A is a Trojan horse,” he said.
Five speakers criticized the arena or Proposition A at the regular meeting, and none spoke in favor. One returned to the timing: “I don’t think we should be voting yes on this without knowing these answers.”
What’s next
The Willow Bend Redevelopment Advisory Committee will take public questions tonight. The council’s next arena update is Dec. 8, a month after voters decide.
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