Cameron County voters on Election Night narrowly rejected Proposition A, which would have allowed existing venue-tax revenue to be used to help finance construction of the Cameron County Venue Project, a proposed $100 million, 10,000 seat, mixed-use arena.
According to unofficial results, the final vote with 100 percent of county precincts reporting was 4,754 in favor of the project and 4,829 opposed, or 49.6 percent to 50.4 percent.
Venue-tax revenue comes from hotel occupancy taxes (HOT) and vehicle rental taxes generated in the country. It wouldn’t have been the first time in recent years that voters approved the use of venue-tax revenue for county projects. In 2016 voters approved the use of venue-tax revenue to help finance the Cameron County Amphitheater and Event Center, which opened two years ago in Isla Blanca Park, and the South Texas Ecotourism Center, which is nearing completion in Laguna Vista.
County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. had argued that the arena project would impose no additional property tax burden on county residents since the revenue is already provided through the HOT/vehicle rental taxes. The Brownsville City Commission, noting that fact, endorsed the project at a meeting last month. After the votes were counted Tuesday night, however, Trevino said by phone that he doesn’t think that message got through sufficiently.
“I think (voters) clearly believe it’s going to affect them and unfortunately a lot of people didn’t know about it,” he said. “We can’t utilize any funds to promote it and a lot of people didn’t know about it. It’s a shame. … Hopefully we’ll try it again in May.”
The county gets about $1.7 million each year in venue tax revenue, 68 percent from hotels and motels and 32 percent from vehicle rentals. Nearly half is generated by South Padre Island, while Brownsville contributes 24 percent and Harlingen 20 percent. Trevino said he thinks the arena would have grown the county’s venue tax by attracting more tourism and overnight stays, and would have enhanced the entire county’s quality of life.
The arena would have hosted concerts and other entertainment, sporting events, hunting and fishing expos and community events such as graduation ceremonies. Trevino said a common complaint he’s heard over the years as an elected officials is that no such facility exists in Cameron County and that it’s necessary to travel to Hidalgo County to attend large-scale, indoor events. A particular problem is that the county has never had a suitable facility to host graduation ceremonies in the event of inclement weather, he said.
The fact that Hidalgo County has two arenas — the Payne Arena in Hidalgo and the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg — is no reason Cameron County shouldn’t have such a facility of its own, Trevino said. A study commissioned by the county that looked at similar venues in the Texas border region and five other states concluded that county’s project is financially feasible, he said.
The arena would have been the central feature of the Madeira master-planned residential/commercial development planned for 1,330 acres in the northeast corner of I-69E and S.H. 100, just north of the South Texas Academy for Medical Professions. The developer, Madeira Development LLC, also plans to build a full-service hotel, which is likely to attract more investment in the form of restaurants, bars and other businesses, Trevino said.
“I knew it was going to be close,” he said. “It’s disappointing, but hopefully we live to fight another day. We’ll give it another chance. This is disappointing because this is paid for by visitors. Unfortunately people didn’t understand or still felt this could impact their property taxes, which it wouldn’t have. We’ll have to do a better job of informing.”
