DALLAS, Texas — Dallas officials moved quickly Wednesday to reopen the fight for the Stars after Plano voters turned down a package of arena venue taxes that was supposed to help bankroll a new suburban rink.
Roughly 55% of Plano ballots went against Proposition A on election night, short-circuiting a financing piece Plano leaders had tied to a city-owned arena planned for the former Willow Bend mall site. The hockey club still says it wants to leave American Airlines Center for that suburb.
Plano had talked about pouring as much as $700 million into an arena it would own and lease to the franchise, with a wider entertainment buildout around the shopping center counted in the billions. Venue fees on parking, tickets, hotels and car rentals were meant to help pay the bonds.
Dallas City Council member Chad West, who chairs the council’s sports recruitment committee, said negotiations with the club are not finished and called Plano’s setback Dallas’s chance to keep the team in the downtown core. He pressed the city manager to treat the math problem as urgent.
City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said the Stars remain a valued partner and that Dallas is ready to keep working with the organization. Council members Adam Bazaldua and Paula Blackmon issued a joint note saying Plano voters had spoken and were not interested in footing the arena bill.
Plano Mayor John Muns cast the Willow Bend redevelopment as still important and pledged careful stewardship of tax dollars while the city weighs next steps. City Manager Mark Israelson said the financing plan has to be reassessed before council takes further arena votes.
The Stars released a statement saying they were disappointed Proposition A failed but remain confident in a city-owned arena vision and will keep partnering with Plano while state lawmakers consider a special financing district for the site.
Opponents who organized against the taxes celebrated a grassroots win and urged Plano’s council not to chase the same deal with different tools. Their campaign spent only a few thousand dollars, organizers said, while arguing the public cost and traffic impacts were too high.
For Dallas, the immediate question is whether a fresh downtown offer can compete with Plano’s remaining options. West told colleagues the club belongs back down U.S. Highway 75 in the city that has hosted the team since 1993, and he wants numbers on the table soon.
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