San Angelo Voters to Decide on Convention Center Expansion Funding

SAN ANGELO, TX – The San Angelo City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to designate the McNease Convention Center as a venue project, setting the stage for a potential expansion funded by a 2% increase in the Hotel Occupancy Tax.

The resolution now heads to the Texas Comptroller for review. If approved, San Angelo voters will decide in November 2025 whether to enact the tax increase to finance the project.

The proposed project would expand the convention center from 35,765 square feet to 83,065 square feet, adding a 20,000-square-foot exhibit hall, seven new breakout rooms, a larger lobby, and additional storage and loading areas.

“This isn’t, of course, a final design,” said Al Torres, Construction Manager for the City of San Angelo. “This is just something that could happen.”

City officials estimate the venue tax would generate $850,000 annually, supporting a bond issue between $15 million and $25 million. The final cost will be determined once formal design work is completed.

San Angelo’s Hotel Occupancy Tax currently sits at 7%, with an additional 6% collected by the state, bringing the total rate to 13%. If voters approve the 2% Venue Tax, the city’s portion would increase to 9%, making the overall Hotel Occupancy Tax 15%.

“This does not impact property taxes at all,” said Finance Director Tina Dierschke. “As long as the venue tax and other financing sources are at a level that are able to fund the debt service on the project, yes, we would not expect any property tax impact at all.”

Officials say the expansion is needed to attract larger events and boost local business. Sidney Walker, Civic Events Manager, said San Angelo has already lost potential conventions due to space limitations.

“One of the things that does hold us back is not having the proper space that’s needed to be able to bring in these conventions,” Walker said.

Jeremy Bartz, Director of the Destination Marketing Organization, said space limitations have been a deciding factor in event planners choosing other cities over San Angelo.

“Without that additional exhibit space, there are limitations on the numbers of groups that we can get here,” Bartz said. “We’ve already lost at least two major events in the past year because we lacked sufficient meeting rooms and breakout areas.”

City officials visited convention centers in other cities to study how similar facilities are structured and funded.

“We visited Wichita Falls, Abilene, Midland, and I mean, just going to those facilities, we just noticed that we’re definitely behind, and we need to get up to speed,” Walker said.

Dierschke said many comparable cities already have a venue tax in place to fund their convention centers.

During the meeting, Councilmember Tom Thompson suggested exploring additional funding options, such as a tax on rental cars or airport parking fees.

“I just don’t want to cut ourselves short,” Thompson said. “If there’s ways to shorten [the funding gap] or provide us additional income … we need to explore those options.”

If the Texas Comptroller approves the resolution, the City Council may call for a special election. Voters must approve both the tax increase and the convention center project in the same proposition.

The bond issuance must be completed within one year of voter approval.

The council voted 7-0 in favor of the resolution. The final decision now rests with the Texas Comptroller and San Angelo voters in November 2025.