A bill to authorize a sports authority to own the new home of the Kansas City Chiefs in Wyandotte County brought out energetic testimony both pro- and con-, befitting a Chiefs game on a Sunday afternoon.
The Joint House-Senate Commerce Committee considered House Bill 2793, setting up the proposed authority that will own both the stadium in Kansas City and the team headquarters and practice facility in Olathe in the estimated $4 billion deal.
Proponents of the legislation establishing the sports authority mostly restated their positions from the debate late last year over bringing the Chiefs across the state line.
Jason Watkins is a lobbyist with Scoop N’ Score:
“Football players, coaches, team personnel, certainly make great money, and subsequently, will pay significant income taxes. Fans across the country will come to games, concerts, other events, spending literally millions of dollars in Kansas. But this, the largest economic development deal in the history of our state, is also an economic income boom for folks that wear different uniforms. From our skilled trade workers, to logistics folks, the economic opportunity associated with a $4 billion stadium project, is going to create enormous income opportunities for all Kansans, especially in the area of the stadium.”
Attorney Korb Maxwell said a sports authority is commonplace in the NFL:
“Across the National Football League, public ownership is the standard structure. 26 of the 30 NFL stadiums in this country operate under public ownership. And 29 of 30 operate with a public or functionally equivalent framework. That model exists because it aligns public investment with public protection. while allowing teams to operate and activate the facility. The authority proposed in this bill follows that established approach. and places Kansas squarely in line with how NFL markets structure their stadiums. But today is not just about structure. It is about momentum and execution. This partnership represents a powerful public/private commitment between the state of Kansas and the Chiefs organization.
“A modern dome stadium is the ability to compete for Super Bowls, Final Fours, college football playoffs, and other premier national events. It creates a year-round destination for community gatherings, championships, concerts, and conventions. It signals that Kansas is ready to compete at the highest level in the nation. We are excited about what lies ahead.”
Labor leader Ty Dragoo talked about jobs:
“You should be very proud of the fact that you as policymakers have brought, what we consider, a jobs bill to the state of Kansas. There are estimates that there could be 20,000 jobs associated with this stadium project. Not only are we talking about building and construction, but we’re talking about what happens after it’s here. Transportation workers, service workers, hospitality workers, anywhere to be associated with this project, stand to make a good living from this project, and that is something we are strongly behind and very proud of to be part of.”
Sports authority opponents express concerns
But opponents of the stadium relocation and now the sports authority, given a chance to study the STAR Bond deal in the intervening months, are asking probing questions about its “fine print”.
Joseph Taylor is an Overland Park resident concerned about the financial forecasts of the deal:
“What does it mean to serve the public purpose? What is the evidence that it serves a public purpose? We have that evidence because the law requires a feasibility study, and the feasibility study has to include a net return on investment analysis. I don’t think we have seen that. It has not been published; it has been embargoed by the Department of Commerce. And I do not see how we can go forward with this until we can show that it is actually for the public purpose, via the study that we paid for.
“We can talk about ‘economic impact’ all we want. But the reality is that this STAR Bond is going to punch a hole in the general fund worth about $150 to $200 million. And for those of you who live in the outstate, how are we going to cover that? It’s either got to come from increased income taxes or some kind of special increase in a sales tax.
“The legislation (STAR Bond Agreement) also allows that you can join the sports authority, and it goes on to say that when you join the sports authority, the sports authority can transfer all obligations and responsibilities pertaining to such sports facilities, including, but not limited to, outstanding debt. Now, let’s think about what that means.
“So currently, there is a U.S. Soccer National Training Center, which we haven’t talked about. It’s a fairly small project. In 2015, they issued $65 million in STAR Bonds. Today, according to the Department of Commerce website I checked this morning, they owe $95.4 million. Not a very successful project, I would say. And others have talked about the Kansas Speedway as being highly successful. Those bonds were issued in 1999 for $24 million. 26 years later, they still owe $12.6 million. I would suggest that you should not be able to join up, you might say, with a sports authority until you’re debt-free. Otherwise, what happens to that debt?
“The other thing that I want to address is the question of the size of the STAR Bond district, because this is a great myth that people have talked about. On Page 1 at the bottom of the Monitor 2.0 document (STAR Bond Agreement), there is a clause that says that the secretary can expand the size, change the size of the STAR Bond district, to finance the STAR Bonds. What does that mean to you? You can expand, the size, scope, and location of the STAR Bond district…after the fact. So we wonder how big the STAR Bond district is. You can’t know. Because the secretary has been given the specific authority to expand it as necessary to finance the STAR Bonds. No time limit.
This is a problem, people. So, effectively, if we don’t get this tax revenue that we expect, the secretary can just say, ‘Well, we’re going to make the STAR Bond district bigger.’ Welcome to our group Overland Park, Leawood. You know, and there’s nothing that even says it has to be contiguous anymore.. But now it can be any size or location. Hey, Wichita? You got some tax money you can contribute, right?”
Dr. Brenda Scruggs Andrieu is a resident of Wyandotte County:
“It seems like public officials are always looking for more ways to spend money. Money that Wyandotte County residents don’t have.
“First, the Kansas City Chiefs are wooed away from Kansas City, Missouri, by violating a no-compete agreement signed by Laura Kelly in August 2019. Then, the conditions of our contract are made secret for the next 60 years. But what we do know is the Chiefs will keep 100% of all stadium activities, tickets, concessions, sponsorships, naming rights, personal seat licenses, et cetera. Kansas will own the stadium with the Chiefs paying $7 million in rent annually, but the money does not go back to the state, it goes into an account the Chiefs can use for renovations, repairs, and operational expenses. Because the Chiefs won’t own the stadium, they won’t have to pay property taxes, nor bonds for the stadium. Homeowners, within 290 square miles of the stadium, will be taxed for the STAR Bonds, $4-6 billion.
“Now the government wants to form a public sports authority to manage it. You can’t form a public sports authority without hiring people to do the work. How many people will need to be hired? How much will their salaries cost?
Kansas 10th District Senator Mike Thompson is not a fan of the sports authority legislation either.
In an extensive post on his Facebook page, Thompson lists some of his arguments against the legislation:
- The bill codifies the terms set forth in the agreement reached between the State of Kansas and the Kansas City Chiefs back in December. They cannot be changed to give the Kansas taxpayers a fair shake, or a better deal.
- This bill grows government to accommodate any deal that the authority decides to make in the future, including educational, cultural and commercial activities.
- Although they benefit from it, the Chiefs will have a seat on the Authority. A blatant conflict of interest.
- The Sports Authority will be exempt from a number of laws, including some open records act provisions, competitive bid processes, and fair hiring requirements.
- The Authority always wins when in conflict with other laws.
- The Sports Authority will become an unaccountable “Shadow Government” similar to the Mid America Regional Council that has expanded its scope into areas beyond its original founding with no oversight nor restriction on its actions.
Sen. Thompson concludes his post:
“This bill is not good for Kansas for all the reasons I stated above. I could have dived even deeper, but the bottom line is that this bill, if passed, ensures that the Chiefs will get EVERYTHING they asked for in the lopsided STAR BONDS deal. These unelected, unaccountable authorities can never be reined in once they are established. In my opinion, the opportunity to vote this down represents the last free exit on the turnpike to perdition!”
