Will Dallas get a new convention center?
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Will Dallas get a new convention center? It's a question that voters will answer at the ballot box in November, while the public relations push to convince voters is underway now.
"So, what is Prop A? Simply put: Prop A is a vote that costs our residents nothing," said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson at an event to garner support for the effort, "Yet could change everything."
It's a phrase that voters will likely hear often between now and Election Day, as supporters promise maximum development 'bang', paid for with visiting taxpayers' bucks.
"If approved, this $1.5 billion initiative will require no increase whatsoever in sales taxes or property taxes," explained Mayor Johnson. "It will be funded entirely by visitors through a 2% increase in the Hotel Occupancy Tax."
The proposed convention center district will replace and reorient the aging downtown facility, while connecting the new convention center to the Cedars Neighborhood to the south. Upgrades are also planned for Fair Park - investment made possible following a bipartisan political effort to change state law to allow the use of hotel occupancy taxes for the project.
"As trusted leaders in this city, we would not try to sell you a bill of goods as it relates to what this particular project will mean to the city," echoed State Senator Royce West. "There will not be an increase in your taxes whatsoever."
Supporters say the effort will bring once-in-a-generation development to the southwest quadrant of downtown and tens of thousands of new jobs.
"With no cost to our local community, [it] is going to change the trajectory of our city," said State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado. "We ask our community to vote yes for Prop A."
Former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison - for whom the convention center is named - added her voice to those asking for the community's support.
"What has been put together in this master plan will put us in the forefront for attracting visitors to this great city," said Hutchison - while pointing out that Dallas' facilities are in great need of improvements.
Mayor Johnson calls Prop A, which will be financed by raising hotel occupancy taxes from 15% to 17%, the "holy grail" of public policy that will allow the city to make big improvements without having to piece meal the projects or raise property or sales taxes.
"At some point you have to stop putting a band aid on a problem and solve the problem," said Mayor Johnson. "And that's what this would allow us to do."
Earlier this year, Dallas City Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, District 12, was the lone 'no' vote, opposed to moving the project forward. At the time, Mendelsohn argued that the true cost of the project was still unknown and questioned whether the convention center rebuild will deliver the promised economic growth and jobs.
"Everyone likes to say the project will spur economic development in the area, and that has been said every single time," said Mendelsohn. CBS 11 reached out to Mendelsohn's office on Thursday to ask if her viewpoint had perhaps softened, but have not received a response.
Meanwhile, other local leaders remain firm in their support.
"This will not cost you anything," said Senator West. "There will be naysayers... we can 'what if' it to death. But Dallas is the can-do city."