The Missouri state house wrapped up its special session yesterday by voting 90-58 to set aside around $1.5 billion in state money over 30 years for new or renovated stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. (Missourinet called this a “30-year tax break,” which isn’t really right: The state won’t be rebating taxes paid by the teams, but rather setting aside taxes collected on spending at the stadiums and on income by team employees and then using that to pay off state stadium bonds.) With the state senate already having approved the bill last week, the measure now heads to Gov. Mike Kehoe, who will undoubtedly sign it since it was his proposal in the first place.
Chiefs and Royals officials immediately responded to the prospect of $1.5 billion in state cash being dumped in their laps, and did so with a That’s nice, keep going:
From the Royals: “As we said from the beginning of the Legislature’s deliberations, their work is a very important piece of our decision-making process. Now that both houses have voted and the bill is headed to the Governor’s desk, we look forward to evaluating the plan in full detail.
“Our focus remains the same: to prioritize the best interests of our team, fans, partners and regional community as we pursue the next generational home for the Kansas City Royals.”
From the Chiefs: “We are grateful to Governor Mike Kehoe and the Missouri Legislature for taking this significant step forward. The passing of this legislation is an important piece of the overall effort. While’s there’s still work to be done, this legislation enables the Chiefs to continue exploring potential options to consider remaining in Missouri.”
Lobbyists for both teams have already said they will want additional state and county money on top of what the state is providing; this would likely require a re-vote on the Jackson County sales tax subsidy plan that was rejected last April, though such a vote — or votes, if the county decides to hold separate ballot measures for each team — is unlikely to happen this year.
That leaves Royals owner John Sherman and Chiefs owner Clark Hunt with a decision: Accept the state funding on offer from Kansas before it expires at the end of this month, or roll the dice on getting county money approved in Missouri. The Kansas bill would pay up to 70% of stadium costs, while the Missouri one is capped at 50%; however, city and county money in Missouri could bump up that figure to more than Kansas’s offer. (It’s also unclear if Kansas’s sales-tax-based plan would be able to generate enough money to cover 70% of what the teams want.) Also complicating things is that the teams haven’t even finished evaluating potential stadium sites in each state — Hunt says if the Chiefs stay in Missouri they will renovate their current stadium, Sherman says he wants a new stadium regardless, but hasn’t decided where — so it’s going to be a hard call which multibillion-dollar offer to accept.
Or, Hunt and Sherman could go to the Kansas legislature and ask for an extension on their deadline so they can keep weighing both offers. There’s nothing saying Kansas legislators would have to grant it, but the way things have been going, nothing is going to stop either state from continuing this bidding war until agreements for stadiums for both teams are signed, sealed, and delivered. What seems all but certain, barring an epic unexpected collapse of these deals as very occasionally happens, is that taxpayers in one state or another are going to be on the hook for a billion or two dollars in private stadium costs — all that’s left to decide is which side “wins” the race to be the ones to cut the check.