The Rio Grande Guardian
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., has made the case for a “yes” vote on the Cameron County Arena project.
In an in-depth audio interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Treviño points out that property taxes will not be used to fund the project. Rather, he said, much of the money will come from an existing venue tax source.
“Let’s go back. In the November 2016 election, the voters of Cameron County approved what we call the venue tax. But I think it should more aptly be named the visitor tax,”Treviño said.
“Basically, that visitor venue tax is paid by anyone who stays in a hotel or short term rental or rents a motor vehicle here in Cameron County. That visitor taxes is collected by the short term owner and/or vehicle rental company, so that 2 percent is a visitor tax, it is not a property tax.”
Treviño gave two examples of projects that have come about as a result of the venue tax – the Isla Blanca Amphitheater on South Padre Island, and the South Texas Ecotourism Center Project at Laguna Vista.
He said the tax can only be spent on economic development or tourism related projects. “That’s it. You can’t use it to fix your potholes. You can’t use it to fix drainage. You can’t fix it to do anything that’s not tourism or economic development related.”
Treviño said there has been a lot of “misinformation put out there” that a yes vote is going to impact property taxes, etc.
“The resolution that the County Commissioners Court approved sets out that this particular project, while it may have other funding sources, the property tax will not be the source of that.”
Asked why the new arena is needed, Treviño said: “The reality is Cameron County is growing at a very, very extreme rate right now, thanks to the development and the expansion of SpaceX, thanks to the commitment at Starbase. And then now you’ve got the LNG industry taking full force at the Port (of Brownsville), along with other potential projects, steel industry related projects, other economic development projects and master planned development. Cameron County as a whole is growing by leaps and bounds.”
Treviño said a new arena in Cameron County will have the potential to be more of a destination venue than the two arenas in Hidalgo County – State Farm in the city of Hidalgo, and Bert Ogden in Edinburg.
“The difference we’ve got here is it would be part of a master planned development. The plan is to develop hotels, restaurants, retail, commercial in that area, kind of a mini La Cantera-type situation, so that if you want to go to an event, a concert… and you don’t want to be driving back and forth, you want to be able to have a few drinks… you can stay on site at a hotel or whatever, or you can walk to the restaurants before or after a particular event. That’s what I think is going to set this project apart.”
Treviño said that in addition to misinformation about property taxes being used to pay for the arena, some people are saying the county commissioners are going to benefit financially from the project.
“That’s disappointing, because that’s not how I run my life. I would never be in public office, and certainly not for any long, extended, period of time, if that’s how I did things,” he said.
Treviño added that he has been in touch with UT-Rio Grande Valley and its leadership is interested in being part of the arena. He said building a new arena would make it more likely that UTRGV would hold its graduation ceremonies in Cameron County.
To read entre article, click on link: https://riograndeguardian.com/trevino-the-case-for-a-cameron-county-arena/
14 comments:
People can't afford a venue
We don't want to pay $12 for a 24 oz. beer
We can't afford $100 tickets
Place will be empty
They no take lone star
"so that 2 percent is a visitor tax, it is not a property tax.” A TAX IS A TAX - LIKE THE COLOR BLACK IS BLACK AND BULL SHIT IS BULL SHIT!!!!
If the commissioners want it then that means there's something in it for them or their families. Don't trust them . Do your homework and research this issue. Then vote .
Hasn’t Trevino stolen enough money that he wants more?
Sorry, the answer is NO. We've learned not to trust our local politicians. You all built your own reputation, and it is not a good one. TODOS!
Trevino stands to profit from this deal big time.
Never trust Eddie Trevino. Vote him out and replace him with another corrupt democrat.
Use the 2% hotel tax and help hotels, motels represent Brownsville. Help create a beautiful entrance, plants, signage, and agreements with restaurants and taxis to provide good service to tourists. The 5% tax on rental cars: improve service, to and from hotels, to and from airport, offer guide service or driver service. Also use the taxes for visitors to create jobs for students that can guide the people around the city in a professional manner. Tours for best restaurants with free transportation to and from hotel. Transportation with a fee to the airport but in a safe manner. Tourists arrive and need help, time for City of Brownsville and Cameron County to help the tourists use what we have. Beach, playhouse, downtown, museums, restaurants, parks, etc
Anything these local politicians approve should not be approved by the voters. Local politicians already made money selling Boca Chica. Now they want a kickback from the private promoters of this project. Vote NO!
So little eddie is supposedly making his case? Why didn't he say that the other two times that this was on the ballot? Whether it comes out of the venue tax or not? We won't know till either it passes? Just any politician and in this case, a democrat. The taxpayers of Cameron County have to rely on their gut whether this snake of a politician is lying or being on the "up and up." I'm voting against it only because this lying politician has stock in that new subdivision next to South Texas ISD. Or, he has made promises that he can't keep? Either way, we don't need a convention center just for UTRGV can hold graduation ceremonies. I voted against it because Cameron County doesn't have the locations to house all these supposed attendees. Let's build the hotels and restaurants first, then concentrate on a convention center for little eddie.
So does this mean that we are going to try to be like Las vegas? As you know if you are a Las Vegas resident, you get all sorts of discounts because the tourists are paying a premium price. Is Brownsville in Cameron County trying to be a huge City when it is a medium sized city with mediocre tourist sites. My question is why hasn't anyone thought to purchase little Graceland and make it a tourist attraction. Clearly the gentleman who owned this property had a lot of people swing by to see the place. It had a lot of potential and now that the man is gone the place is just crumbling to the ground.
Well, you are a smart one. Yes the commission is making some money off of this somehow. People need to really look into more than just who they know and how they know them. Sorry that's how we ended up with Sophia Benavides and as we all know the only reason she got elected was because her husband Pete Benavides and what he did a lot for the community that he was representing..
My question is why aren't more people challenging them?
Vote No!
"Visitor taxes" are being collected now. What are they being spent on? When that money is diverted to an arena where is the money for the former project coming from? While that previous project be funded from property taxes?
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