Dallas seeks to increase hotel tax, raise $1.5 billion for convention center, Fair Park
The Dallas City Council wants to increase the tax on hotel rooms in order to rebuild the Dallas Convention Center and make improvements to Fair Park.
DALLAS – As Dallas voters head to the polls Tuesday, they will vote on a plan that would build a new convention center and renovate Fair Park.
The city of Dallas is asking voters to approve Proposition A, which calls for a 2% increase to the city’s hotel occupancy tax to help fund a new $4 billion convention center in Downtown Dallas and pay for renovations to historical buildings at Fair Park.
Proposition A would be expected to fund $1.5 billion of the project.
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This plan was put on the ballot after being approved by the Dallas City Council in February.
They voted in favor of a $2 billion plan to build a new convention center west of Lamar Street. An additional $2.2 billion would be spent on redevelopment projects in and around the convention center.
RELATED: Dallas City Council votes to tear down Kay Bailey Hutchison Center, build a new facility
The money to fund the convention center would come from increasing the Dallas hotel occupancy tax by 2%, and a new state designation that allows Dallas to keep all of that tax money.
The city plans to keep 30% of the current convention center. The cost to demolish the rest of it is estimated at roughly $20 million.
Construction of the new facility is expected to take about six years.
