Voters Make Venue Tax Go With the Flow on San Antonio River Walk Project

DALLAS -San Antonio's famed river walk will continue to grow after voters agreed to extend a venue tax originally used to build the city's National Basketball Association arena.

Just days after an election in which voters approved $125 million for a 13-mile extension of the mile-long walkway, a Houston contractor has already been hired to begin the work on the first phase of a southern section known as the Mission Reach.

The $23.4 million contract was awarded to Laughlin-Thyssen Inc. based on its experience with similar projects. No local bond money will be used for the first phase of the river walk extension, which is a joint project of San Antonio, Bexar County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the San Antonio River Authority.

Phase 2 of the Mission Reach is expected to begin about a year from now, funded by the venue tax on hotel rooms and rental cars, said Steven Schauer, spokesman for the San Antonio River Authority.

The tax, which is levied by Bexar County, would supply revenue for debt service on bonds for the project, officials said. The city of San Antonio also expects to issue bonds for flood control on the river. In addition to public funds, the San Antonio River Foundation has set a goal of raising $50 million in private donations for amenities on the walk.

Without the extension of the venue tax, the river project would have slowed to a crawl, officials said.

"The significance of having the funds available is that it will allow us to stay on schedule," Schauer said. "It will also keep costs down because the longer you delay construction, the more expensive it becomes."

Work on the northern extension of the river walk, known as the Museum Reach, is already underway. That section will connect the downtown walk to the Witte Museum and San Antonio Zoo.

The Mission Reach, which will link to the city's four 18th Century Spanish missions, is more challenging because the river becomes little more than a drainage ditch south of downtown.

"We're going to turn it back into a river, with a more natural, urban park feel," Schauer said.

The venue tax money will supplement federal funds, providing trails, lighting, and pedestrian bridges, Schauer said. Federal funding will follow local revenues for the Mission Reach, which could be completed by 2014.

While the Corps of Engineers will manage construction of the river project, the San Antonio River Authority will operate and maintain much of the project once it's built. The authority levies a property tax to fund its work.

The venue tax, approved to build the AT&T Center for the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs, would expire when the arena was paid off next year without a voter approved extension.

In addition to the funding for the river, voters approved three other uses of the venue tax, including recreational facilities and improvements to the AT&T Center. Clearly, the river was the most popular proposal on the May 10 ballot, Schauer said.

"I think it's an indication of support when it wins 75% of the vote and the highest approval rating of any of the four projects," he said. "It gives us a strong mandate to get this project done on time."

 

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