The Plano, Texas city council has approved a plan to allow the local public school district to contribute up to $250 million in tax money for a proposed project to build the NHL’s Dallas Stars next arena.
The school board previously approved the agreement over the summer and the Plano City Council gave the green light at a Monday night meeting.
Plano Independent School District (ISD) officials say the tax contribution will be offset by its recapture adjustment, which refers to a state program aimed at moving local property tax revenue from wealthy school districts to those in need of funding. Instead of giving money back to the state to be redistributed among poorer school districts, Plano ISD will instead give up to $250 million for the proposed NHL arena.
‘That is going to flow back into the district,’ ISD board president Lauren Tyra said of the proposal in June, as quoted by The Dallas Morning News. ‘That’s a massive win for the district and a massive win for students.’
The city of Plano had already earmarked $700 million in funding for the $1 billion arena project.
Meanwhile, the Stars are not expected to fund any of the project directly. Instead, the team has financed a campaign for the proposal and has offered to engage with the school district, which plans to hold graduations at the arena when it’s constructed.
The Plano city council approved a plan to allow its public school district to contribute up to $250 million in tax money for a proposed project to build the NHL’s Dallas Stars next arena
Plano would own the arena and enter into a 30-year lease with the team.
Proponents of the plan say it will bring economic growth to the Dallas suburb, while critics have pointed to traffic, noise, crime and financial reasons in their opposition to the arena.
Currently the Plano ISD projects a $44.8 million deficit in next year’s budget, according to deputy superintendent Johnny Hill, who insisted the proposal will become a financial boon for the schools.
The project still faces considerable opposition, both nationally and in Plano, where four school campuses were shuttered after the 2024-25 school year amid declining enrolment and budget concerns.
‘A lot of the citizens are having a hard time understanding in a situation where we’re closing schools due to attendance … [and] the budget’s challenged,’ Plano resident and Stop the Stars Arena group member Gary Cary told The Morning News. ‘I don’t understand why we want to spend our tax dollars that should go to our schools and our kids.’
Online, the proposal was widely slammed for prioritizing hockey over education.
‘HOT TAKE,’ one sports fan wrote on X. ‘Public school funds should go to the actual schools and not a sports stadium.’
Known as the Minnesota North Stars from 1967 until 1993, when they moved to Dallas, the club is off to a 3-3-1 start in 2026-27 after Wednesday’s shootout victory over Colorado
A season ticket holder for the rival Colorado Avalanche was particularly disturbed.
‘Ever thought about using that extra money for things like, I don’t know, paying the teachers more and increasing the quality of the food for the kids?’ read his post on X. ‘I mean, I’m a massive hockey fan, but this is just disgusting.’
‘So the Stars and owners dine from money meant for poorer schools,’ another critic added. ‘Got it. God save us from billionaires.’
Others tied the move into the larger national debate over money in politics.
‘This is so insanely corrupt,’ one X user posted. ‘There is no part of this country oligarchs won’t loot.’
Another critic referred to billionaires as ‘the real welfare queens.’
In a statement to The Morning News, Stars President and CEO Brad Alberts vowed to build a partnership with the school district that would include internships.
‘We’re committed to doing extensive work with the PISD,’ Alberts said. ‘It’s going to be way more than just having a few graduations over at the arena, and a lot of that’s going to get worked out over the next five years.’
The latest proposal calls for the hockey arena to be built alongside a surrounding mall. Engineering consultant firm HNTB was named as the lead designer in August.
Currently the Stars play in downtown Dallas at the American Airlines Center, which they share with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
