By a 6-0 vote, the 足交视频 City Council approved a measure Tuesday night to be placed on the ballot in a special citywide election in May that will allow voters to decide on a $35 million renovation project for the 足交视频 Community Center.
The proposed venue tax would be paid exclusively by visitors staying in 足交视频 hotel rooms and anyone renting a car within the city. This includes a 2% hotel occupancy tax on overnight hotel room stays, in addition to the city鈥檚 existing 7% hotel occupancy tax; and a 5% short-term motor vehicle tax on car rentals.
The special election is set for May 3 and will coincide with a joint general election for mayor and city council seats in District 5 and 6. The setting of that election was also approved Tuesday evening by the council.
If approved by voters, the $35 million renovation of the Community Center would improve the venue鈥檚 capacity to host livestock shows, rodeos, concerts, recreational athletic events and larger conventions, as well as local events like church festivals, weddings and quincea帽eras.
The revenue generated by the increase in the hotel occupancy tax and the car rental tax will make up approximately $11 million of the total project cost. A release by the city also revealed that other funding sources for the project will primarily include 鈥渃ertificate of obligation bonds from the City of 足交视频鈥檚 existing capital improvement plan, sales tax from the 足交视频 Sales Texas Development Corporation and existing City hotel occupancy dollars.鈥
The improvements would include:
鈥 A new 3,000 fixed-seat covered event arena, which could be used for rodeos and equestrian events as well as concerts and other entertainment events. That could increase the seating capacity for concerts to 4,500.
鈥⒙燫enovation of the existing dome which would increase the stage and green room areas and, in turn, could attract more events.
鈥⒙營mprovements to the fair grounds, which includes adding RV hook ups, lighting and permanent outdoor restroom facilities.
鈥⒙燙onversion of the existing arena into an exhibition hall that could also be used for recreational athletic events and increase the capacity to host larger conferences or exhibitions when coupled with the existing dome.
足交视频 City Manager Jesus Garza wanted to make it clear to voters that neither the 2% increase in the hotel occupancy tax nor the 5% car rental tax would impact residents鈥 property taxes.
鈥淏oth of these two measures are very common ways to fund projects like this because normally there is a direct correlation between having an improved facility that will generate more travelers to your community. Those are the ones, in theory, that are going to be paying for part of these improvements. It will become quite clear to voters what this actually is when they see the ballot. In this instance, because it鈥檚 not associated with property taxes, we can actually be specific.
鈥淎nd so the verbiage on the actual ballot will read that is a 2% hotel occupancy tax and 5% for car rentals going toward improvements at the 足交视频 Community Center. I think that will help because people鈥檚 potential misconceptions [about where the money will come from] could easily derail the project. If there are people that begin to incorrectly verbalize that this would be an increase in property taxes, that would fester and snowball, and it would be very difficult to change people鈥檚 minds otherwise. For us, it鈥檚 important for this to be right from the get-go.鈥
Garza said that Enterprise car rental, located at 4401 N. Navarro St., is 鈥渆ssentially the only car rental company in town.鈥 It also operates out of 足交视频 Regional Airport on a limited basis.
Also during Tuesday鈥檚 meeting, the 足交视频 City Council approved an ordinance that will prevent sex offenders from living near locations where children commonly gather. A release from the city read, 鈥淯nder the ordinance, registered sex offenders who have been convicted of crimes involving minors may not live within 1,500 feet of schools, daycare facilities, playgrounds, youth centers, public swimming pools, video arcade facilities, public parks, or facilities that regularly holds events primarily for children.鈥 The ordinance will go into effect 10 days after it was adopted.
The residency restrictions include exceptions for registered sex offenders who already lived within these child safety zones when the ordinance was established, and for those who lived at their residence prior to a designated facility being established. The ordinance also prohibits registered sex offenders from inviting or enticing trick-or-treaters to come to their residences on Halloween.
Before the creation of this ordinance, registered sex offenders were only required to follow the residency restrictions established by state law, which are limited to 500 feet surrounding the designated facilities and only apply to registered sex offenders who are still on probation or parole.
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