H. L. Mencken Was Right: Look At Arlington, TX

While Texans gag over increased taxes to fund public education and the demagogues who pander to them cry: "No New Taxes," the citizens of Arlington, TX voted to increase their taxes to fund a stadium for the Dallas Cowboys. The owner of the Dallas Cowboys—Jerry Jones—is a billionaire. Duh? Why does he need public funding ($650M) for his chamber of horrors? The Dallas (er, Arlington) Cowboys will be the fall and winter alternative to 6 Flags Over Texas. If this is (fair & balanced) lunacy, so be it.

[x Dallas Morning News]
Arlington to help fund Cowboys stadium: Voters approve tax increases for $650 million venue
By JEFF MOSIER

The Dallas Cowboys scored their biggest victory of the season Tuesday as Arlington voters approved a $325 million proposition to help build the team a new stadium.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thanked supporters on Tuesday. Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck joined him. With early voting and more than three-quarters of the precincts reporting, the pro-stadium side enjoyed a healthy lead Tuesday night, and the opposition conceded the election. The proposition authorizes tax increases to pay for half of a $650 million stadium for the Cowboys.

"We had a dream," Mayor Robert Cluck told supporters at the Wyndham Hotel in Arlington. "We all had a dream, and that dream is now reality."

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the crowd they would get a stadium they deserved.

"When that stadium is built, it will be iron and cement," he said. "The thing that we will bring is the emotion."

Bruce Deramus, chairman of Concerned Taxpayers of Arlington, called the defeat a disappointment but noted that they kept the race close despite being outspent. A political action committee funded almost entirely by the Cowboys spent $4.6 million on the campaign through the end of October compared with at least $118,000 raised by a coalition of opponents.

The exact site of the stadium, scheduled to open in 2009, hasn't been determined, but city officials have said it would be in the area bordered by Collins and Sanford streets, Randol Mill Road and Johnson Creek. City officials said they would use eminent domain to acquire the land as a last resort.

The proposition, which has dominated political debate in Arlington for months, will raise the city sales tax by a half-cent, its hotel occupancy tax by 2 percentage points and its car rental tax by 5 percentage points. A tax of up to 10 percent on tickets and up to $3 on stadium parking could also be levied, but those funds would be used to help pay the Cowboys' portion of the debt.

Supporters said they were confident that voters would see the value in attracting the team to a site just south of Ameriquest Field in Arlington, where the Texas Rangers play. They estimated that the 75,000-seat retractable-roof stadium would provide the city an additional $5 million in rent and sales tax revenue from spending at the facility, plus other economic activity throughout the city.

Stadium backers pointed to a city-commissioned study by Economics Research Associates projecting that the venue would pump $238 million into Arlington's economy each year.

Opponents of the stadium say the project would cost far more than it injects into city coffers and would hamstring efforts to attract other businesses. They also said that other economists have criticized the city-commissioned report for being unreasonably optimistic.

Most academic research has concluded that major sports facilities typically do little to boost local economies.

Less than two weeks ago, the Cowboys and Texas Rangers announced that they were working on a master planned development, similar to Southlake Town Square, for the area near the football stadium. The planned retail center would use the football and baseball stadiums and Six Flags Over Texas as anchor tenants.

Dr. Cluck said he doubts that announcement had much effect.

"Everybody knows we are pushing for a town center, but we didn't promise that," he said.

Opposition groups have scoffed at expectations that the stadium would be a big draw except on game days. They pointed to plans for an amphitheater and a San Antonio-style riverwalk that were expected to accompany Ameriquest Field. Those never materialized.

Arlington officials said the addition of the Cowboys is a critical piece that was missing from its entertainment district. Its main tourist attractions – baseball and amusement parks – are mostly open in the spring and summer. There is little to attract out-of-town visitors during the fall and winter.

Staff writers Jim Getz, Toya Lynn Stewart and Julie Elliott contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2004 Dallas Morning News