Vote on Talking Stick Resort Arena deal set for Wednesday

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- A vote on renovations at Talking Stick Resort Arena is scheduled for Wednesday.

The proposal calls for a $230 million renovation of the arena, with Suns picking up $80 million of the tab, and extend their contract to play in the Downtown Phoenix facility until at least 2032, with a possibility to extend that past 2040. In December, Phoenix City Council delayed a vote on the deal, so they could get more input from the public.

The Suns have hammered home that this is a tourist tax, using money from hotels and rental cars, and not other vital needs.

"When you look at it from the standpoint of OK, you're not taking dollars from those other services, you're actually providing dollars into the general fund to help pay for those services by operating this building," said Suns President and CEO Jason Rowley.

Suns officials say the current plan is a reversal of the original deal the city and the team made in the early 1990s.

"We put in $150 million in capital, the city has put up $80 million dollars in capital. Essentially $230 million has been put in to the building of original construction," said Rowley.

Phoenix City Councilmember Sal DiCiccio, however, is skeptical, and plans to cast a "No" vote on Wednesday.

"It's a total spin," said DiCiccio, in a phone interview. "At the end of the day, it's taxpayer money. These are all spin jobs. At the end of the day. it's either taxpayer money or it's not, and it can be used for anything. Anything in Phoenix."