Cameron County voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in a Constitutional Amendment Election and a county election where they will decide whether they want an arena built in the county.
Other elections on the ballot include the Point Isabel Independent School District’s Bond election, the City of Los Fresnos’ general election and a Cameron County Drainage District No. 6 election.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In an email, Remi Garza, administrator of Cameron County’s Election and Voter Registration Department, said “Overall, this election surpassed the November 2019 Early Vote (in person) turnout of 3609 by 259 voters for a total of 3868. It appears the final days of Early Voting saw an increase in turnout as the public became more aware of the issues under consideration. We are hopeful that Election Day will see the same level of interest and we will have more than 6,000 additional voters.”
Early voting numbers indicate 3,868 early ballots were cast in the Constitutional Amendment and the Cameron County Project Venue elections, 382 in the Cameron County Drainage District No. 6 Election, 739 in the PISD Bond election and 237 in the City of Los Fresnos General Election.
Cameron County officials say a new arena for hosting graduations, sporting events, concerts and other events would be good for the county’s communities, residents and the local economy.
If voters approve the proposition, it would also authorize the county to use the existing hotel occupancy tax at the rate of 2 percent of the price of a hotel room booked in the county, and the existing short-term motor-vehicle rental tax at the rate of 5 percent on gross rental receipts from car rentals in the county, to finance the arena project. An admissions tax of no more than 10 percent would also be added to each ticket sold for an event at the new arena in order to help finance it.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. in an earlier interview said county taxpayers would not foot the bill for the project but rather visitors to the county who stay in hotels/motels and rent cars in the county. Prop. 2 will present voters with the opportunity to add the arena project to those projects that can be funded at least partially through these “venue taxes,” he said.
For information on your polling location, contact the Cameron County Election and Voter Registration Department at (956) 544-0809.
The complete list of Propositions can be found at: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/about/newsreleases/2021/072921.shtml
Brownsville Herald reporter Steve Clark contributed to this report.
