In a community with many needs, San Antonio and Bexar County are prepared to commit roughly $800 million in public dollars to an overall $1.3 billion Spurs basketball arena.

Critics argue that public resources should be spent addressing more pressing concerns for the average resident — like flood control, affordable housing and transit.

Meanwhile city and county leaders contend that most of the arena’s public funding would come from taxes on new development that wouldn’t exist unless it’s built, plus some state dollars and visitor taxes that can only be used for projects like arenas, stadiums and convention centers.

At the heart of the issue is a complicated funding scheme, or structure, that both critics and supporters agree hasn’t been thoroughly explained to the public.

It’s also re

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