The city of Arlington, Texas, is facing a lawsuit over the city council’s vote to extend the Dallas Cowboys’ lease of AT&T Stadium and the use of $273 million of voter-approved venue taxes to reimburse the team for stadium improvements.
According to the Arlington Report, local attorney Warren Norred, a staunch opponent of the use of taxes for Arlington stadiums, filed the suit June 2 on behalf of Voters’ Voice of Arlington, a nonprofit organization of voters created ahead of the filing.
As reported by Chris Moss, the suit alleges that the deal is not in line with the tax items that voters previously approved for the stadium’s construction. It seeks a judge to file an injunction blocking reimbursement and a permanent ruling stating the deal is not legal.
“At the heart of the case is a simple promise: when Arlington voters approve a tax for a specific stadium project, the City has to keep that tax within the bounds voters actually approved, and cannot cavalierly extend and repurpose it years later by a mere vote by the Arlington City Council,” Norred wrote on his law firm's website.
The deal, approved in April with a 7-2 vote of the city council, extended the Cowboys’ lease of the city-owned stadium until at least 2055 and committed to reimbursing up to about $273 million in stadium security and longevity improvements, Moss reported.
Ahead of that vote, Norred spoke directly to the council and urged them to not approve the new deal. “You guys can extend the lease all day long, that’s not a problem. But the idea of giving them another $200-plus million goes beyond that,” Norred said, according to the Arlington Report.
The $273 million comes from a mix of sales and other taxes created by the city and approved by voters in 2004 to build AT&T Stadium, Moss reported. In 2016, voters again approved the use of the taxes to build Globe Life Field, home of MLB's Texas Rangers.
The lawsuit alleges that the deal is an illegal use of taxpayer dollars since it did not receive voter approval ahead of the April vote.
“Plaintiff asks the Court to prohibit taxation without representation, pursuant to Texas law, Texas case law, and in accordance with the principals upon which this country was founded,” the lawsuit reads.
Per Moss, city officials have countered that argument by saying the use of the tax had already been approved by city residents in 2004. “The voters have already been heard on it, and they overwhelmingly said, ‘Sell the bonds and pay this thing back by 2048,’” mayor Jim Ross said ahead of the vote.
However, the suit alleges that the 2004 and 2016 measures do not extend to the $273 million that the council approved, Moss reported, adding that In 2025, city manager Trey Yelverton told the council that the city was making its final payment on bonds taken out for the construction of the stadium. The suit contends that the final payment signified the end of the city’s obligation to pay for improvements and maintenance under the master agreement signed by Arlington and the Cowboys.
“No elected official, City agent, or campaign proponent told the voters in 2004 that the Venue Taxes could be prolonged or redirected to subsidize the team’s maintenance obligations,” the lawsuit reads.
