Oct. 30–A new Chargers stadium, whether it's located in Mission Valley or downtown San Diego, could not be financed with any taxpayer funds under a revised initiative to be publicly released Friday by its author, attorney Cory Briggs.

The new stadium language is among a number of key changes made by Briggs, just a week after unveiling plans by his clients to seek an increase in the hotel tax to help finance tourism promotion, a possible convention center expansion and parkland in Mission Valley. The measure was also crafted to offer a backup plan for a stadium project downtown, which the Chargers favor over Mission Valley.

Briggs and the initiative's backers say the changes were made based on considerable feedback they received from the public and various stakeholder groups since releasing the measure. Briggs expects to formally file the new initiative with the City Clerk's Office in the next 10 days and will begin signature-gathering in three weeks in hopes of putting the measure before voters in June.

"After hearing the initial feedback, we were persuaded by those who took the time to reach out that there's a better way to describe what we're doing that's even more inclusive than what we were doing before," said Briggs, who spent the last nine months crafting the measure. "There is no reason to not improve on something when you have the opportunity to do so, and we always allowed ourselves enough time to build that in."

Among those changes is the name itself. Formerly known as the "Pay Their Own Way" initiative, it now bears the title, "Citizens' Plan for the Responsible Management of Major Tourism and Entertainment Resources." Toward that end, Briggs also has rewritten the measure's statement of purpose and preamble, underscoring tourism's importance, especially as one of the city's top industries and revenue generators.

Although the now 77-page document seeks to address a number of different civic issues, Briggs insists that it is all about one goal: preserving and better managing the city's many natural and man-made assets that make it a major tourist destination and a draw for its residents.

"People will now have a much better idea of the narrow focus of this initiative, which is the responsible management of the city's major tourism and entertainment resources with the goal of protecting the single biggest attraction for tourists and residents, and that is their connection to the Pacific Ocean, our beaches, bays, our harbors and our tributaries," he said.

Previously 28 pages, the initiative has grown, in part, because it includes more extended explanations of existing state and local regulations referenced in the document.

Part of the thinking behind the measure's revised language relating to a possible Chargers stadium is to give the Mission Valley and downtown locations equal footing when placed before the voters, Briggs explained.

In the original initiative, it prohibited spending any public monies on a downtown stadium but included no such prohibition for the site where Qualcomm Stadium currently sits.

Under the revised language, no taxpayer money could be spent in Mission Valley either, even though a current city and county plan to keep the Chargers from moving to Los Angeles calls for substantial public funding.

Briggs said he also added a provision — which already applied to a downtown stadium site — that would exempt a Mission Valley sports facility from lengthy review under the California Environmental Quality Act. That change, which Briggs said was based on feedback from the offices of Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, would avoid costly delays related to potential litigation.

Mayoral spokesman Craig Gustafson said Thursday that "We are not working with Mr. Briggs on this measure."

Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani, who has previously had positive things to say about the Briggs measure, said Thursday he could not comment on the latest changes because had not seen them.

The team is still pursuing plans to build a new stadium in the city of Carson that would be shared with the Oakland Raiders.

While the initiative has drawn considerable attention because of its references to a new NFL stadium, a key focus remains generating increased hotel tax revenues to finance tourism marketing, an offsite convention center facility, and possible university-related expansion and parkland on the Qualcomm stadium site.

The measure's proposed increase in the hotel tax's effective 12.5 percent rate to 15.5 percent would allow San Diego hoteliers to deduct up to 2 percent for tourism marketing — the equivalent of $36 million annually — and another 2 percent for financing tourist-related infrastructure, such as an "off-waterfront" convention center. And 1 percent, which translates to roughly $18 million a year, would go into the city's general fund to help pay for city services and infrastructure needs.

Hotel guests currently pay a 2 percent room surcharge approved several years ago by a vote of hoteliers seeking to raise money for tourism promotion.

Briggs is challenging in court that levy because it was never voted on by the public.