City Manager Erik Walsh said Monday a new taxing designation the city fought for in the most recent state legislative session will offer an additional tool to finance renovations of the convention center and the Alamodome.The change will allow the city to designate a three-mile zone around the Henry B. González Convention Center in which the the state rebates a portion of the hotel taxes it collects within the zone back to the municipality.
Neighboring Hemisfair has also been undergoing renovations for decades, paid for by city bonds, Walsh said. “There’s going to be a whole lot of thought and financial analysis behind that and a lot of public conversation,” Walsh said. Pointing to the taxing designation, he added, “that’ll help us with the financing for major efforts like the convention center and maybe the Alamodome.”
A change to the city charter in 2018 limits the city manager to a maximum of eight years, meaning the last year Walsh could hold the role is in 2027, and his compensation is capped to 10 times the amount of the lowest paid, full-time city employee. He declined to say Monday whether he would seek to continue serving as city manager if the tenure cap was removed.