Plano voters question tax election for Dallas Stars arena funding amid early voting

Plano’s mayor and the Dallas Stars CEO are making their case for the ballot measure’s added funding while city officials seek to answer residents’ concerns.

“The day an arena fits in a suburb area like Willow Bend is a day pigs fly,” Karen Dubrow said into a microphone, hiking up her pants to reveal sky-blue socks dotted with winged pigs.

In rows of a Plano church sanctuary one recent Tuesday night, dozens of residents gathered to hear Dubrow and other leaders of the Stop the Stars Arena committee make their case against Proposition A.

The local ballot measure asks voters to approve a menu of venue taxes to help fund a city-owned arena Plano plans to lease to the Dallas Stars for the next three decades when their lease in Dallas expires in 2031. The hockey team is preparing a move out of the American Airlines Center to the current site of The Shops at Willow Bend.

As the start of early voting for the venue tax election approaches, some voters see more questions than answers.

“Self-funded sounds swell, and it sounds like a thrill. But the dome gets the gold, and you get the bill,” Jody Venturoni recited to the church audience in a Dr. Seuss-style poem she authored.

Click here to read more on this report from our partners at The Dallas Morning News.