Jackson County officials override veto, sending Royals and Chiefs stadium tax to voters
Jackson County residents will have a chance after all to weigh in on the future of the Royals and Chiefs by voting April 2 on whether or not to extend the stadiums sales tax for another 40 years.
County legislators ensured that Monday afternoon by voting 7-2 to override County Executive Frank White Jr.’s veto, which would have kept the stadium tax off the spring ballot.
That result was in doubt at the end of last week when four members of the nine-member legislature said they were inclined to uphold the veto unless they had written promises from the teams resolving a range of issues.
Four would have been just enough to block the public vote. But on Monday morning, as The Star first reported, two of the four legislators Jalen Anderson and Sean Smith, confirmed in text messages that their concerns had been addressed and they would vote to let the election go forward.
That left Megan Marshall and Jeanie Lauer as the only no votes.
If approved by voters in April, the $2 billion that White says the tax would raise will go to build a new Royals ballpark, renovate Arrowhead Stadium and provide both teams with income to pay for operations and stadium maintenance.
White tried to block the tax from getting on the ballot when he announced his veto on Thursday. He said the county needed more time to negotiate agreements with the teams on how those tax dollars would be spent. The deadline for getting something on the April ballot is this Tuesday.
Smith, Anderson, Lauer and Marshall issued statements that same day saying they would sustain his veto unless certain issues with the teams were resolved before then. But there was enough progress in negotiations over the weekend to convince Anderson and Smith to override and bring the tax to a public vote.
“The County Executive deserves significant credit for achieving some great concessions from the teams,” Smith said in a written statement. “These concessions will save our taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the agreements. I also want to thank my colleagues on the Legislature who stood firm and demanded that the teams document and sign key terms.”
Anderson wrote in a separate statement that he was willing to override White’s veto now that both teams have signed documents that set out the broad outlines of agreements that protect the county’s financial interests.
Also, he said he has “received overwhelming outreach from constituents and community stakeholders, asking me to allow them to vote on this issue.”
The Royals and Chiefs ran ads over the weekend telling people to contact their legislators and tell them that “Jackson County deserves to vote.”
White also issued a statement Monday afternoon, which noted the “the escalating political pressure” that legislators had been under, calling it “a matter of concern and highlights the need for clear, informed decision-making.”
He said many issues remain unresolved.
The Royals still haven’t chosen a site for the new stadium. The Chiefs haven’t outlined how they would spend the money. Nor have the teams said how much they will invest, but they promise to be responsible for any cost overruns on the stadium projects once those budgets are set.
Also unfinished are community benefits agreements from each team in which they would promise to provide a living wage to workers and other possible benefits, such as child care for employees, transit options and housing initiatives, among others.
White wanted to get those agreements completed before taking the package to the voters, possibly at the elections in either August or November. But the teams insisted on an April vote so they could move forward with their plans and because they hope to get more funding through the Missouri General Assembly this session, which is set to end in May.
Gov. Mike Parson has promised to help get them that state aid, if the county tax passes. He will be out of office due to term limits when the next regular legislative session begins in January 2025.
What have the teams agreed to?
In a letter of intent dated Monday and signed by representatives of the teams and the county sports complex authority, the Royals and Chiefs said they would each make an unspecified “materially substantial private contribution.”
That 22-page letter builds on the foundations of their current leases at the Truman Sports Complex.
Under the current contracts, for instance, the teams split evenly all but a small portion of the money collected from the current 3/8th-cent sales tax that isn’t needed to cover debt payments.
That would continue under the new leases and operating agreements, which may not be finalized until late next month.
As before, the money could only be used for the repair, maintenance and upgrades of the stadiums as well as management and operations, yet to be finalized, according to the letter of intent signed by Chiefs President Mark Donovan and R. Brooks Sherman Jr, president of business operations for the Royals.
Sales tax funds could not be used to pay personnel costs for the teams or their front-office staff, but tax money could go to pay stadium operations staff and employees, as it can now.
The document lays out some concessions that depart from the current leases. As the teams announced previously, they agree to give up the $3.5 million they receive every year from the county’s parks property tax levy. They also agree to cover the cost of general liability, property and casualty insurance on the stadiums, which the county pays for now.
But the Chiefs did not agree to one of White’s demands, which was to promise to keep the team’s headquarters and training facility in Jackson County, should the organization decide to relocate those assets from the sports complex. The county would only be given the chance to make a first offer to keep them there.
According to the letter: “...if the Chiefs desire to relocate its administrative offices and training facility from the Sports Complex in the future, the Chiefs will provide the County the first opportunity to make a proposal for such relocation within Jackson County.”
The teams did agree to another of White’s demands, which is that the county would not be responsible for the cost of demolishing Kauffman Stadium, once the Royals have moved to a new home in downtown Kansas City. The Chiefs plan to re-purpose that site, but the letter provides no details on whether it would become parking or some other use.
Currently, the Chiefs provide the sports complex authority with use of a 46-seat suite at Arrowhead Stadium. The five members of the sports authority board get 30 of those tickets and the other 16 are handed out to officials and others who ask for them.
The Royals provide 24 tickets per game but no suite.
Under the proposed new agreement, both teams would provide suites for county use.
None of the promises in the letter of intent are binding, Marshall noted at Monday’s meeting as she read a statement explaining her reason for voting to sustain White’s veto.
“Our sports teams have agreed to a Letter of Intent. Which is nothing more than a promise. It is not legally binding. Which means nearly everything in that letter can be abandoned at any time without legal recourse,” she said.
While she supports the teams, Marshall said, “it is concerning to me when billionaires make promises that they’re not willing to be legally bound by while asking poor people for billions in tax dollars that residents will be forced to pay for the next 40 years. That doesn’t seem equitable to me. ”
The teams’ current leases, which are binding, do not expire for seven years.
But legislator DaRon McGee, who sponsored the ordinance setting the sales tax election date, said there was a need for urgency. White, he said, risked Kansas City losing its top two major league sports franchises with his veto.
“His tone deafness on this issue and the property tax fiasco that he supervised has awakened our community,” he said in a written statement emailed out after Monday’s vote. But for pressure put on county officials from residents, as well as business, labor and nonprofits groups, he said, “we stood on the precipice of losing these teams.”
At no time in the run-up to Monday’s decision had either team publicly threatened to leave Kansas City if the issue was not put on the April ballot. And neither have said what might happen if voters reject the sales tax extension.
Lauer said she has heard from many people within her district in northeast Jackson County recently who oppose extending the sales tax at this time. Many of these same people voted against the use tax, which was defeated in November, at least in part because they were stung by rising property taxes.
“I was overwhelmed with contacts, both phone and email, and in the grocery store, and everywhere else I went. that said ‘do not put another tax on the ballot,’“ she said. “They love the teams. I loves the teams. We want the teams here. We want to do whatever we can, but I cannot support putting in on the ballot.”
