The City Council voted Thursday to use $166.3 million from a special tax zone to buy land for a new Spurs arena downtown and pay for upgrades at the San Antonio Zoo, Botanical Garden and Brackenridge Park.
But after a debate over whether such zones have created privileged islands of investment in one of the nation’s poorest cities, council members said they were considering ending the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone early — turning off the spigot of money that helped make the upscale Pearl district and the area around it successful.
However, they did so as they agreed to add nearly two decades to the life of the Midtown zone, extending the end date for it from 2041 to 2060…