Arlington Voters Sue to Stop $273 Million Taxpayer Gift to the Dallas Cowboys
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — July 2, 2026 — Tarrant County, Texas
On the eve of the nation's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Norred Law is honored to represent a group of Arlington taxpayers and filed suit to stop the extension of the Rangers' sales tax to fund a $273M gift to the Cowboys before obtaining voter approval, i.e., taxation without representation. Voters' Voice of Arlington (VVA), an unincorporated nonprofit association, filed its Original Petition in the District Court of Tarrant County against the City of Arlington, Mayor Jim Ross, and City Manager Trey Yelverton, asking the Court to declare an unauthorized sales-tax diversion illegal and to enjoin the City from carrying it out.
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.
What the City Voted to Do
On April 21, 2026, the Arlington City Council voted 7–2 to authorize a Master Agreement Regarding Cowboys Stadium Extension. Under that arrangement, the City would extend the Cowboys' lease from 2040 to 2055 and begin depositing public money into a new "Maintenance and Operation Account" — starting with $50 million on October 1, 2028, followed by roughly $20 million a year through 2048. The City's own staff report values the commitment at up to $273 million in net present value.
The money would come from venue taxes — including the half-cent sales tax — that Arlington voters approved back in 2016 for an entirely different purpose: building the Texas Rangers' ballpark.
Why the Extension of the Sales Tax and Diversion from the Cowboys to the Rangers is Illegal
VVA's petition rests on a principle Texas courts have recognized for more than a century: a voter-approved tax proposition is a contract with the voters. Officials can't take a tax that voters authorized for one defined project and redirect it to a materially different purpose without going back to the ballot box.
The petition lays out the history:
- In 2004, Arlington voters authorized venue taxes to help fund the Dallas Cowboys complex, capped at a $325 million City contribution. The governing Master Agreement made the stadium a "triple-net" lease — meaning the Cowboys, not taxpayers, were responsible for maintaining the facility "in first class condition."
- In 2016, voters approved using the existing half-cent sales tax to finance the Texas Rangers Complex Development, with the City contributing "no more than $500M through bond proceeds," as City Manager Yelverton told the public. The proposition passed 70,113 to 46,754.
- Under the existing structure, once the bonds are paid off, surplus tax revenue goes toward retiring the debt early and ending the tax sooner — returning every extra dollar to the voters in the form of earlier tax abolition.
The 2026 agreement deliberately reverses that protection. Instead of letting the tax expire as promised, the City wants to continue collecting the sales tax to fund new projects and Cowboys' maintenance obligations. Note: the team is already contractually required to perform this maintenance at its own expense, and much of the funding is to just give the Cowboys money for projects it took on its own. These funds might as well be free cash for Jerry's helicopter.
As the petition frames it, the new proposal says that maintenance stays with the team, exactly as 2004 voters were promised, but now taxpayers would foot the bill for the team to do what it already agreed to do. In exchange, the City receives a lease extension and incremental rent it values at roughly $32 million — against a $273 million outlay.
The Legal Claims
The petition asks the Court for three forms of relief:
- Declaratory judgment that the venue taxes were approved only for the purposes on the 2004 and 2016 ballots, and that the April 21 resolution and 2026 agreements exceed that authority and are invalid without voter approval.
- Ultra vires relief against the Mayor and City Manager in their official capacities, restraining them from executing and implementing the diversion unless and until voters approve it at an election under Chapter 334 of the Texas Local Government Code.
- In the alternative, a declaration that committing up to $273 million in public funds to a private team — with no genuine return benefit to the public — is an unconstitutional grant of public funds under Article III, Section 52(a) and Article XI, Section 3 of the Texas Constitution.
VVA also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions to prevent the City from closing the bond refunding, depositing tax revenue into the maintenance account, disbursing funds to the Cowboys, or collecting the taxes beyond the date they would otherwise expire.
The petition notes that the Legislature already provided the lawful path for exactly this situation — Section 334.0242 lets a city hold an election on using existing venue-tax revenue for a related project. VVA's position is straightforward: if the City wants to do this, it must ask the voters.
Why It Matters Now
The petition stresses that timing is critical. Once refunding bonds are approved by the Attorney General and registered by the Comptroller, they become incontestable under state law, and once tax dollars are deposited and disbursed, they can't be recovered. That's why VVA is asking the Court to preserve the status quo before the first deposit comes due in 2028.
"Our country celebrates its 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this week," the petition opens, quoting the colonists' complaint against "imposing Taxes on us without our Consent." As Arlington prepares to host one of the largest Independence Day parades in the DFW area, VVA argues the City is proceeding with a plan that violates those same founding principles.
About the Case
Voters' Voice of Arlington v. City of Arlington, et al. was filed July 2, 2026, in the District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. VVA is represented by Warren V. Norred of Norred Law, PLLC, in Arlington.