The former owner of the Arizona Coyotes’ plans to revive NHL hockey in the Valley come to fruition will likely hinge on whether he gets the city of Phoenix and Maricopa County to create a special taxation district for his new development.
However, members of the state Legislature are trying to carve Phoenix out of that process and create a path for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to create the district on its own.
The plan to provide tax breaks through a “theme park district” designation for the proposed entertainment district that would house an NHL arena in north Phoenix is already getting opposition. Activists who opposed public subsidies for the Coyotes’ proposed arena and entertainment district in Tempe — which failed in a public vote in May 2023 — gathered outside the State Capitol on Tuesday to oppose the bill they say strips local control.
