Rio Nuevo wants the state Legislature to loosen the purse strings so the district can start putting money toward projects other than a hotel.
Back in 2010 as part of its punishment for squandering millions, state lawmakers prohibited Rio Nuevo from spending money on any projects until a downtown hotel and arena were built.
But times have changed, said Rio Nuevo Chairman Fletcher McCusker, and the Legislature should untie the district’s hands.
“I think it’s a misplaced priority,” McCusker said. “It was written at the time when a hotel was very hotly debated . . . and was written to stop the bleeding and to focus the district on its legislative priorities: an arena and a hotel.”
So the board voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to instruct their lobbyist, former Rio Nuevo board member Jonathan Paton, to push for a repeal of the legislative requirement.
Rio Nuevo’s original plans had the district financing and operating a multimillion-dollar downtown hotel. But those ideas were ditched once it became obvious they were untenable.
While opportunities still exist for the district to partner with a developer on a hotel project, McCusker said the process is cumbersome and could take a year or more.
“And in the meantime, we have other, legitimate Rio Nuevo opportunities waiting,” McCusker said.
Some of those opportunities include developing land just west of Interstate 10, and putting about $1 million into the Mission Gardens project. Also, fixing sidewalks and other streetscape improvements downtown, a $750,000 project.
The latter two projects were part of Rio Neuvo’s settlement with the city last year.
McCusker stressed the change won’t net Rio Nuevo any extra money, just some flexibility on spending what it has.
Rio Nuevo satisfied the arena component when it approved a $7.8 million Tucson Convention Center upgrade last year.
In addition to the hotel repeal, Rio Nuevo hopes to advance the following issues during this year’s session:
- Allow Rio Nuevo to enter into contracts that extend beyond 2025.
- Give the board the access to tax forms within the district to see which businesses are, or are not, properly coding their forms. This would allow Rio Nuevo to maximize its tax dollars.
- Eliminate the requirement to have a balanced number of city and county residents on the board.
