San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones speaks during an interview with the Current. Credit: Michael Karlis

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is calling on the San Antonio Spurs’ ownership to cover infrastructure upgrades around downtown’s Hemisfair that would lay the groundwork for the team’s new publicly funded arena.

Without the NBA franchise’s help, the city would have carve that money out of an upcoming bond issue, which Jones told the Current would leave it with less money to cover other vital projects such as sidewalks, road improvements and parks.

City officials want to devote at least $220 million from the $450 million bond that’s expected to go before voters in May 2027 toward the first phase of infrastructure improvements at Hemisfair. The planned upgrades are part of the broader Project Marvel sports-and-entertainment district, which would include the Spurs arena.

“I continue to believe the Spurs’ owners would well serve the community by investing their own capital into these projects, because that is money that comes at the expenses of other infrastructure projects that our community is in desperate need for,” Jones said during a sit-down interview last week with the Current. “And, as you know, our bond capacity right now — if we don’t raise property taxes — is only $450 million.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, City Manager Erik Walsh told members of council that San Antonio’s bond capacity for the upcoming fiscal year has been slashed from $625 million to $450 million.

Further, Walsh said the planned Hemisfair infrastructure improvements will now be “well south” of the $220 million figure. However, he said city staff won’t release a total for the Hemisfair infrastructure package until October — after the City Council scheduled Sept. 17 vote to approve the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

That raises questions whether members of council will have the full picture on whether to raise taxes to cover more bond projects, including the proposed Project Marvel infrastructure improvements, until after they vote on the budget.

Jones emphasized that the Hemisfair infrastructure improvements are just “the first phase” of upgrades around the downtown park under Project Marvel — meaning taxpayers could be on the hook for future improvements.

During Wednesday’s meeting, District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, District 4 Councilman Edward Mungia and District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo all said they want a bond program of at least $1 billion to cover community improvements in their districts, which are historically economically disadvantaged. They said the city may need to raise property tax rates to make that possible.

However, Jones, District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito, District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte have all expressed staunch opposition to any property tax increase. Instead, they want to cut spending where possible.

At the same time, the city still faces a $158 billion budget deficit. As of press time, the council has no consensus on how to deal with the coming crunch.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...