Arlington Voters Deciding On New Baseball Stadium
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Arlington voters are answering the billion dollar question on Tuesday.
Should the city spend $500,000 in sales, parking and ticket taxes on a new retractable roof, climate controlled baseball stadium near the site of Globe Life Park?
A "yes" vote would not only mean a new stadium, but it would assure the Texas Rangers stay in Arlington for at least 30 more years.
A "no" vote would keep the team in Globe Life Park until the lease expires in 2024 with no guarantee the team will stay in Arlington after that.
"Yes," vote volunteers at the polls Tuesday reflected the numerical advantage the "vote yes" campaign has enjoyed over its opponents.
The campaign has far exceeded the "Save Our Stadium" number of workers, its cash donations and its outreach to voters.
The campaign has enjoyed widespread backing from elected officials, police and fire organizations and business leaders.
Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams has been the lead on building a new ballpark. The city has inundated people with flyers. But even so, they're saying its a race they'll need every voter to win and they're at the polls until they close to encourage people to vote "yes."
Those campaigning for a "no" vote, focused their attention on voting locations like a senior recreation center in sSouth Arlington, and other locations where they believe likely voters who have yet to cast their ballot might turn up.
"Vote no" campaigners call building a brand new billion dollar stadium wasteful and they challenge the opposition's claims that there are no new taxes involved in the new stadium deal.
As a reflection of the grassroots efforts, they admit they're working with a much smaller budget than the opposition. They've run out of lawn signs and asked supporters to bring their own to polling locations and to take a minute to talk to voters outside of polling locations if they can, a last minute push in what they said could be a close race.
Globe Life Park opened as the Ballpark in Arlington in 1994.
In 1991, voters approved a half-cent sales tax to help construct the Texas Rangers' current home. That sales tax went away after the City's $135 million debt on the ballpark was paid off in 2001, a decade earlier than scheduled.
Then in 2004, voters approved a half-cent sales tax, a 5 percent car rental tax and a 2 percent hotel occupancy tax (venue taxes) to help publicly finance the Dallas Cowboys' $1.2 billion AT&T Stadium.
The city says its stadium debt is scheduled to be paid off in 2028 but is projected to be paid off at a faster pace.
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