With the coming of Fresno State's Save Mart Center, there could be trouble between the city and the university.

During Fresno budget hearings this week, City Council Member Brad Castillo quizzed Police Chief Jerry Dyer about services, like traffic control after events, that are provided to Fresno State.

Can the city, Castillo wondered, recover those costs?

Dyer said that would be tough. After all, they are city streets.

But it was the subplot that really mattered, and Castillo gave voice to that:

With the Save Mart Center and maybe a hotel coming to the campus, he said, the school is "in direct competition with downtown. ... Fresno State is no longer just in the education business. They're also in the entertainment business."

Council Member Tom Boyajian echoed Castillo, though he was not as strident.

Castillo said conventions downtown feed city hotels, which feed the room tax, which helps the general fund, which funds police. He said Save Mart Center could hurt that.

Peter Smits, vice president for university advancement, didn't like Castillo's comments.

"I would advise him not to try and make political hay on a project that so many people are excited about," Smits said.

He cited a 1999 study showing the arena would generate 1,444 construction jobs, 220 to 270 full-time jobs, and $269,000 to $325,000 a year in occupancy and local sales taxes.