By Allison Kite
Speaking to reporters after a bill signing in Kansas City, Parson said he thought the reigning Super Bowl champion wasn’t that interested in building a new domed football stadium.
“I think they really want Arrowhead to stay,” Parson said. “I think it’s a unique arena.”
Parson’s remarks came after he spent the afternoon meeting with Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and other area officials to discuss how to keep the Chiefs and Kansas City Royals in Missouri.
Both teams have publicly considered the possibility of leaving for Kansas after Jackson County voters rejected a proposal to extend a 3/8-cent sales tax to help finance a downtown Kansas City baseball stadium for the Royals and upgrades to Arrowhead.
Last month, Kansas lawmakers expanded a state tax incentive program in the hopes of convincing one or both teams to relocate.
“I’m not too worried about Kansas at this point,” Parson said.
Parson, who leaves office in January, said he expected to see Missouri put forward a plan to keep the teams by the end of the year. Missouri’s plan, he said, could be just as good for the teams — if not better.
First, he said, information on the teams’ plans — including location of stadiums, costs of the project and details of any entertainment district or other development planned around it — needs to be made public.
With Parson’s impending departure from office, Missouri’s next governor could be left to finalize any plan to keep the teams. Two of the three top candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination say they would oppose any incentive package for the Chiefs and Royals.
Asked if that affects negotiations, Parson said the state has tools at its disposal even now while the Missouri General Assembly is not in session “if we knew what the plan was.”
“The conversation needs to be had with the Royals — where are you going to put a stadium?” Parson said. “How much money do you need? What’s it going to cost for this? How are we going to pay for this? What incentives does the city have?”
Missouri House Majority Leader Jonathan Patterson — who will likely become the next speaker of the House — told the Kansas City Star Monday that he expects Jackson County residents will wind up voting again over the stadium sales tax. He also told The Star, following conversations with both the Chiefs and Royals, that it was clear both teams wanted to stay in Missouri.
After Kansas lawmakers passed legislation designed to relocate the teams, Patterson told The Star he thought a second Jackson County vote would be successful.
“I think now with the Kansas option staring us, staring us right in the face, I think that changed the dynamic, and it would be a different vote next time around,” he said.
Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. said in a statement after meetings with Parson that the two had a “productive conversation centered on the pride these teams bring to our community and the importance of developing a fair and sustainable plan for the future.” Before White can support a new stadium proposal, he said, “it must offer clear and significant benefits to the taxpayers of Jackson County,” something he argues the sales tax does not.
White said he’s hopeful that the state will continue to support the effort to keep the teams in Missouri even after Parson leaves office.
“Together, we can find a solution that ensures the Chiefs and Royals remain a proud part of Jackson County without compromising the financial well-being of our community,” White said.
The Royals’ Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead sit next to each other and share the parking lot of the Truman Sports Complex in east Kansas City.
The teams’ plans for the Jackson County sales tax were criticized by some, including White, as vague and incomplete.
But Kansas lawmakers saw in the failed Jackson County vote a chance to lure the teams across the state line. They claimed Missouri had “dropped the ball” and it was up to Kansas to keep the teams in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Last month, Kansas lawmakers expanded the state’s Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond to help finance up to 70% of the cost for one or both teams to move to Kansas. The expanded program could yield hundreds of millions of dollars for the stadiums.
STAR Bonds are issued to help pay the construction costs and then repaid by the sales tax collected at the project site. Normally, STAR Bonds, which are meant to help build tourist and entertainment venues, are limited to 50% of the project costs.
The legislation, signed by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly last month, was criticized by Missouri officials who considered it a violation of an agreement Kelly and Parson reached in 2019 to stop using economic incentives to move companies and jobs back and forth across the state line.
Neither the Chiefs nor the Royals were available to comment.
6 comments:
Let it be so.
We spend more time and money focusing in life on such stupid things. People are so obsessed with Sports and Sports Stars, (Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, with Music and Musicians, and Social Media Idiots, like the Kardashians - they waste so much time and fail to accomplish their life's Goals, Ambitions, and Experience all the wonderful things this World has to Offer.
Living a Walter Mitty Life, "an ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs" - going through Life always being an "arm-chair quarter back", and never getting into the Game of Life.
While not realizing that Life is Short and Your Time on this Big Blue Marble is not guaranteed - so spend it wisely - and create your own Life Legacy - Not Dreaming about someone else's Legacy, who will never know your Name or Cares what becomes of you or your family.
What a sad and limited response by 523. This is old school reaction to finding purpose in life that says there's only one lane. I would submit to 523 that the world is a much bigger place where diversity in meaningful life takes place everyday. Just because it doesn't align with your life's perspective, show some respect 523, you're only a part of something larger than yourself.
Who is Walter Mitty and why do you think anyone cares about him?
Really.
This is 2024 and you need to quit yelling at people to get off your lawn!
9:47AM - Is it Sad, or a Limited Response, or Old School - When 11.5% or 37.9 People living in America are in Poverty, or when Missouri Ranks - 33th in Education in America.
America now ranks 33rd out of the 44 advanced economies when it comes to the percentage of young people attaining a post-high school degree. Plus, America now ranks 13th in overall Education in the World - Think we are spending too much time worshipping Patrick, Kelce, Taylor, the Kardashians, or on Gaming, and Social Media - and not enough becoming the Best We Can Be?
9:47AM - Maybe you need to show some respect - Get Educated, Get to Work, Stop Living off your Parents and/or the Government, and Understand that you First have to Help Yourself, before you Can Help Others.
The World is a much bigger and diverse place - but if you will not educate yourself, get a job and work hard, and support yourself - instead of wasting your Life by following people that could care less about you by wasting what time you have on this planet and only wants you to buy their Merchandise to support them - Again, you can do what you want - in your life, just do not expect the rest of us to support you and your lifestyle through our tax dollars.
Wow, 1119 most definitely has anger issues. After you take a deep breath and breathe, you might consider that we live in a very unequal economic society that limits, whether you believe it or not, opportunity to minority and undereducated communities. If it were only as easy as you seem to egregiously believe, that working hard and not idolizing successful people would equal economic success, is pure folly and demonstrates a level of knowledge that comes by living in a very small worldview.
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