Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. says he’s cautiously optimistic that voters will approve Proposition A — regarding the Cameron County Venue Project — on May 7.
The proposition asks whether the county’s existing venue/visitor tax revenue can be used to help build a $100 million, 10,000-seat multipurpose arena that would serve as an anchor for the 1,300-acre Madeira master-planned, residential/commercial project now under construction in north Brownsville.
Voters defeated the proposition by a narrow margin in November, although a similar proposition — to allow venue/visitor tax revenue to be used for improvements to Isla Blanca Park and construction of the South Texas Ecotourism Center — was passed by voters in 2016. Taxes on hotel/motel bookings and vehicle rentals in the county comprise the venue/visitor tax, also known as the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT).
There’s much more awareness of the venue project this time around thanks to an advocacy campaign promoting it, Trevino said, noting that he heard from many people after the November vote that they didn’t even know the proposition was on the ballot. At a reception following the Madeira groundbreaking on Feb. 23, the judge encouraged members of the business community in attendance to help promote the project in the run-up to May 7.
“Constitutional elections don’t normally get a lot of voter participation,” he said. “I think the business community and the developers realized they needed to do a little bit more, because the county cannot spend any money to market, advocate or inform. They realized that they needed to step up to the plate and inform the public. I think it’s been much more positive in that sense. … I think there’s a lot more attention now and a lot more information out there.”
A group calling itself Friends of the Cameron County Arena, formed by Madeira stakeholders, has been promoting the arena project through billboards and social media and encouraging voters to support Proposition A.
Trevino said he’s received “very positive” feedback on the project and that, despite what some people are saying, county taxpayers will never be on the hook for it. Those who believe otherwise “just have their information wrong,” he said.
“It’s an incorrect assumption,” Trevino said. “We’ve tried to make it as clear as we possibly can that the county’s involvement from a revenue standpoint is this venue tax, this visitor tax.”
Still, some refuse to believe it no matter what “because they don’t believe anything the government says,” he said.
“They think that there’s always an ulterior motive,” Trevino said. “All we can do is try our best to inform them. The venue tax is (meant) to fund a portion of the project, not all of it. It can’t, and we’ve made that clear since day one. The developer is donating the land and the infrastructure. We still have work to do, but this is the first step in the process, and a critical step, because without this we really can’t get going.”
If Proposition A fails on May 7, the county will not attempt to pursue the project using general fund or property tax revenues, he said, adding that the land and infrastructure piece is estimated to be worth $30 million to $35 million, Trevino said.
“That’s a big chunk of change that the developer’s going to front and help us in addition to our venue-tax dollars,” he said. “Get that seed money going so that we can get started as we continue to look for the remaining whatever deficit we’ve got.”
Having 40 percent to 60 percent of the funding in place is critical to leveraging the additional money — state and/or federal grants for instance — needed to make the project a reality, Trevino said, adding that members of the county’s business community who are backing the project understand its potential economic impact.
“We’ve got to be thinking about economic development and … projects that are going to help bring in the tourism, be an economic development driver, and be something that we’re going to be able to continue to use the venue tax for. This is a driver.
“The arena itself may not ever be a big money generator, but what it does, especially in conjunction with the Madeira planned development out there, it’s just going to be a huge magnet for economic development. It’ll help the development out at Madeira. It’ll help bring tourism to Cameron County.”
Early voting is underway and ends May 3. Election Day is May 7.
