KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While all eyes are on Kansas this week as legislators consider a bill they hope lures the Kansas City Chiefs and/or Kansas City Royals across the state line, officials in Jackson County, Missouri are working on plans to keep the Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
On Monday, Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca introduced a resolution that would call for voters to consider a 3/16-cent countywide capital improvement sales tax on the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot.
The proposed ordinance specifically identified the purpose as “retaining the Kansas City Chiefs sports team in Jackson County, Missouri.”
Abarca said the county legislature has a deadline of August 27 to get a sales tax proposal on the November ballot.
He said after Monday's meeting he would introduce a bill at next week's meeting that would have two options for a committee to discuss and hammer out over the next eight weeks.
One option would be a 1/4-cent sales tax for 25 years, with revenues earmarked only for the Chiefs.
That tax could be expected to generate $2 billion over 25 years for the Chiefs.
The money would play for renovations to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, but would not pay for a new stadium.
There's also a possible proposal of a 3/8-cent sales tax for 40 years that could raise $5 to $6 billion and pay for a new stadium.
Abarca also said he did not include the Royals in his proposal because the city of Kansas City, Missouri, would have more incentives available to offer the baseball club.
LINK | Read the proposed ordinance
Monday’s ordinance isn’t the first time Abarca has led the charge in resurrecting county efforts to hold onto at least one of the two sports teams.
His first effort came in early May, less than a month after Jackson County voters overwhelmingly turned back a proposal that would have extended a 3/8-cent sales tax to generate funding for a Royals baseball stadium in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and renovations to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
That May effort drew the ire of Jackson County Executive Frank White, who said the law prohibited a parks sales tax being resubmitted for voter approval within 12 months of it being turned down.
Abarca’s latest effort appears to focus more on imposing a countywide capital improvement sales tax instead.
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