Plano Arena Vote: What Prop A’s Five Venue Taxes Would Charge

Plano voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the city can levy up to five venue taxes to help pay for a city-owned arena at The Shops at Willow Bend, the building city officials describe as the future home ice of the Dallas Stars. The Plano arena measure, City of Plano Proposition A, appears on ballots in both Collin and Denton counties, because the city sits in both.

The City Council called the special election on Aug. 10 with Ordinance No. 2026-8-4. When finished, the arena would be city-owned. A yes vote authorizes the taxes; it does not approve an arena deal. The city’s own financing summary says a final master agreement would still need a separate council vote whether the election passes or fails, and it lists the expected revenue from the venue taxes as to be determined and under review.

What the Plano arena proposition would allow

The ballot language lets the city impose one or more of these taxes, each with a cap:

• A short-term motor vehicle rental tax of up to 5%
• An event parking tax at the venue of up to $3 per vehicle
• An event admissions tax at the venue of up to 10% of each ticket price
• A venue facility use tax of up to $5,000 per game on each member of a major league team that plays a professional game at the arena
• A hotel occupancy tax of up to 2% of the room price, which the ballot says would bring the maximum hotel tax from all sources in Plano to 15%

The ballot heading reads “THIS IS A TAX INCREASE.” In its Aug. 10 release, the city said the venue taxes would apply only to specific transactions and would not affect the existing property tax rate for Plano residents. The same release said, “The election does not determine the future of the arena.”

To make the caps concrete: at the maximum rates, a $100 event ticket could carry up to $10 in admissions tax, and parking at the arena could add up to $3 per vehicle. Those are ceilings the council could choose to adopt, not rates it has set.

One wording difference is worth knowing. The ballot and ordinance describe the use tax as up to $5,000 per game “on each member” of a major league team. The city’s financing summary shortens that to $5,000 per game on each major league team. The ballot language is what voters are approving.

How the $700 million city share would be paid

The city’s financing plan for the Dallas Stars arena and entertainment district puts Plano’s investment at $700 million of a planned $3 billion development. It calls that figure a cap and says the money would not come from the General Fund, which pays for police, fire, parks, libraries and streets.

The primary source is a tax increment reinvestment zone. Council created TIRZ Zone 6 on June 8, covering about 900 acres of non-residential property around Willow Bend Mall and the Dallas North Tollway corridor. The city puts the zone’s current base at about $1.6 billion in property value and $7 billion in taxable sales, and it projects $1.6 billion in TIRZ contributions over 41 years.

Other taxing bodies can join. According to the plan, Plano ISD voted June 23 to contribute 50% of its tax increment for 25 years, and DART offers a program that allows participation in TIRZ districts. Plano ISD homeowners who followed our story on the district’s $1.03275 tax rate and $44.8 million operating shortfall may want to note that the district has already committed half of its future growth inside this zone.

Venue taxes are the secondary source. If voters approve them, the city says it will factor the revenue into its long-term financing plan. If they fail, it says it will re-evaluate funding sources.

How Plano got to this ballot

The election is the second stage of a process council opened in June. On June 8, according to a city release, council approved a non-binding letter of intent with the Dallas Stars, an incentive agreement with Levin Holdings and Cawley Partners, the TIRZ, and a venue project resolution that state law required the Texas comptroller to review before an election could be called. The ordinance says the comptroller determined the plan would not have a significant negative fiscal impact on state revenues.

The city says the wider district would be developed in partnership with Levin Holdings, Cawley Partners and Centennial. Mayor John Muns called the June votes “a significant first step.” The city also listed traffic modeling and a mobility study of nearby roads, parking and pedestrian access as next steps.

What the documents leave open

Three points stand out after reading the ordinance, both city releases and the financing summary side by side.

• The ballot authorizes ceilings, not rates. Council could adopt some, all or none of the five taxes, at or below the caps.
• The only revenue projection the city has published is the $1.6 billion TIRZ figure. There is no public estimate yet for what the venue taxes would raise.
• Neither a yes nor a no vote settles the Plano arena. Both paths in the financing plan end with council considering a final master agreement.

Plano is not the first Texas city to try this. The financing plan lists Arlington, Dallas, Frisco, Houston, San Antonio and El Paso as cities that have used venue taxes for professional sports facilities. Never Late News covered a similar mix of arena land and tax increment financing in San Antonio’s Spurs arena land deal. Stars fans can catch up on the team’s season start in our home opener preview.

Voting details

Today, Oct. 5, is the last day to register. Early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. Applications for a ballot by mail must be received by close of business Oct. 23. On Election Day, Nov. 3, polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Plano Proposition A is the only City of Plano measure on the ballot.

How Never Late News reported this

This guide is based on City of Plano Ordinance No. 2026-8-4, passed Aug. 10, 2026, which sets the ballot language, the five tax caps and the comptroller determination (ordinance posted by Collin County). Financing details, including the $700 million cap, the TIRZ Zone 6 base and projection, the Plano ISD participation vote and the pass-or-fail scenarios, come from the city’s financing plan summary. Statements about property tax rates and the election’s limits come from the city’s Aug. 10 release, and the June 8 actions and the mayor’s quote come from the city’s June 8 release. That Proposition A is Plano’s only city item on the ballot was reported by Plano Weekly on Oct. 3. The ticket and parking illustration is a Never Late News calculation using the ballot caps. No interviews were conducted for this report. To report an error, email editor@neverlatenews.com.