There will be no proposal to fund a new baseball stadium or football venue renovation in 2024.
It appears for now, that lawmakers in Jackson County, Missouri are not going to be able to present a financial two-stadium plan to the owner of the National Football league’s Kansas City Chiefs’ franchise Clark Hunt and to the owner of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals franchise John Sherman. That could leave open the possibility of Kansas swooping in and getting the two sports owners to move operations across the border to an area near Kansas City, Kansas. Jackson County lawmakers rejected a proposal to have local residents vote in November on whether to extend a sales tax to help fund a Chiefs’ stadium renovation. Unless Missouri lawmakers come in with a plan, Kansas is in the lead in getting the two sports franchises.
Kansas lawmakers are mulling over a proposal that would see STAR bonds used to help pay 75% of the cost of building two stadiums in Kansas. Additionally, sports gambling and lottery gaming and sales tax revenue from businesses in the stadium development districts would cover bond debt. Another source of revenue to pay off the debt would come from a liquor tax. Kansas lawmakers could use a mechanism that would allow up to 100% of sales tax revenue on alcoholic liquor sales within a stadium district to pay off bonds for the structures. That is the initial plan for the construction of the two stadiums in Kansas but there is a long way to go before shovels are put in the ground. On April 2nd, Jackson County voters said no to continuing a stadium sales tax with the revenue going into a stadium building bank account. Had Jackson County voters said yes to extending the sales tax, Sherman would have been able to build a downtown Kansas City ballpark and Hunt would have had the money to renovate his present football facility.
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