Kansas leader lays out ‘worst case scenario’ for Chiefs stadium
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas City Chiefs are coming to Kansas City, Kansas, after state and team leaders announced the plan Monday.
Kansas is issuing Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR Bonds, to pay for more than half of the $3 billion project. The government issues STAR Bonds to private investors and pays them back with new tax revenues.
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Republican State Senate President Ty Masterson, as Chairman of the Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC), said one of the conditions for approving the stadium deal was that it did not lead to higher taxes. Masterson spoke to FOX4 while in Andover on Tuesday, just one day after arriving in Topeka for the big announcement.
“Nobody. In the worst case scenario, nobody buys the bonds, the bonds don’t sell, the project doesn’t happen,” Masterson said when asked who is in that situation unless there is a private interest in purchasing those bonds.
When asked if that concerns him and if it’s a possibility, he said: “Not at all, I’m excited.”
“I think there will be general excitement. I even think they’ll get a good rate on their bonds.”
FOX4 forwarded this comment to Washburn Professor of Political Science Bob Beatty in Topeka. He says the nearly $2 billion STAR Bonds to be issued is an experiment of sorts with the Chiefs stadium rising near I-70 and I-435 in Wyandotte County.
“That said, there’s basically an adage floating around that you don’t bet against the NFL,” Beatty said.
“This has become a global phenomenon, and judging by the salaries, the cost of the stadiums, and the amount of money generated, and yes, even now with the cache of Taylor Swift and celebrities, it’s not necessarily a rational economic decision.”
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Two and a half hours after the Beatty interview, Kansas Department of Commerce Marketing and Communications Director Patrick Lowry sent a statement to FOX4.
“The excitement of bringing the Chiefs to Kansas and the new economic opportunities the stadium, facilities and mixed-use developments will create are solid reasons to be confident in the success of this project,” Lowry said.
The STAR Bond District appears to cover all of KCK as well as Western Johnson County.
“I can say in all humility that bringing the National Football League to Wyandotte and building the facility that we’re going to build will accelerate development,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan told STAR on Monday in response to a question about the Bond District.
