Plano, Texas Voters Reject Proposition A Taxes for Dallas Stars Arena at Willow Bend

Plano voters rejected Proposition A in the election held Tuesday, November 3, closing off the tax package the city planned to use for a new Dallas Stars arena at The Shops at Willow Bend. Unofficial results reported by CBS Texas and ESPN showed 56,061 votes against the measure and 46,658 in favor, a margin of about 55 percent to 45 percent. The results remain unofficial until they are canvassed.

What Proposition A would have done

Proposition A asked voters to authorize a set of venue related taxes: a tax on event tickets, a parking charge, a short term car rental tax, a hotel room tax and a facility use charge on the professional teams that play in the building. CBS Texas reported the admissions levy could have reached 10 percent of a ticket price and the parking levy up to $3 per vehicle. The money was meant to help the city pay off up to $700 million in bonds it had committed to the project.

The bonds would cover the city share of a proposed $1 billion hockey arena, the centerpiece of a $3 billion mixed use development at The Shops at Willow Bend with restaurants, shops and public spaces. ESPN reported the mall is the last enclosed mall built in Texas and is being demolished for the redevelopment. The arena would be owned by the city, and the Stars planned to lease it for 30 years.

The vote was on the taxes, not the arena

City officials stressed that Tuesday's ballot decided only whether the new taxes could be levied. It did not decide whether an arena can be built. Plano Mayor John Muns said the proposed redevelopment at The Shops at Willow Bend remains an important opportunity for the community. In a city statement reported by Front Office Sports, Plano said that without authorization for the venue taxes, the proposed financing approach would need to be reassessed before the City Council considers any further action on the arena.

The Stars have targeted a move in 2031, when the team lease at American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas expires. The team had not commented on the result when Front Office Sports published its report on Wednesday. Sports Business Journal, citing the Dallas Morning News, reported the Stars corporate entity spent nearly $1 million campaigning for Proposition A, with mailers, texts and advertisements across Plano.

Opponents organized as the Stop the Stars Arena PAC and rallied around the slogan Puck No. Bisnow reported the group argued the proposed taxes would still affect Plano residents and that the arena district could lead to future costs borne by the city.

What happens next

Particle News reported that city officials and Stars leadership said the redevelopment and arena plans remain under discussion and that they will look at other funding and planning paths now that voter authorization has failed. For Plano residents, the immediate effect is simple: the ticket, parking, hotel, rental car and facility taxes described in Proposition A cannot be used to pay the arena bonds, and any new financing plan has to come back through the City Council in public.