KCK may put local money toward Chiefs stadium. What’s on the line, how to weigh in
Residents in Wyandotte County will soon have their first opportunity to tell government leadership what they think about plans to move the Kansas City Chiefs to their hometown.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, is hosting a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening to field resident input on how much, or whether, the county should pitch in to help pay for their $3 billion, domed stadium.
Team and state officials want that stadium up and running by the 2031 season, and plenty needs to happen at the local level before game day in west KCK becomes a reality.
After Tuesday’s hearing, the Unified Government Board of Commissioners plans to vote on whether to direct local sales and use tax revenues generated within a portion of Wyandotte County to help pay off sales tax and revenue (STAR) bond debt used to pay for the stadium over the course of three decades.
That vote will happen on Thursday, two days following the public hearing, according to the Unified Government. Commissioners have a Feb. 20 deadline to make their decision.
Want to participate in Tuesday’s hearing but don’t feel prepared? Here’s a quick crash course on the stadium plans and how to weigh in.
Project scope
Team, state and local officials announced in late December that the Chiefs are planning to leave Kansas City and cross state lines into Kansas. The nearly $4 billion plan consists of the stadium in KCK and a new training facility and team headquarters in Olathe.
The state has already said it would chip in $2.7 billion for the project through STAR bonds, but Wyandotte hasn’t formally made the decision if it will pitch in its local money too.
STAR bonds are paid back with sales taxes collected in a defined district, and the district state officials have in mind is different from what the Unified Government is proposing.
The state proposed pulling state sales tax revenues from across Wyandotte County and western Johnson County, whereas the Unified Government has suggested a smaller district isolated to western KCK to pull local sales tax money from.
STAR bond districts typically encompass a new development aimed at attracting tourists and its immediate surrounding area, redirecting both state and local sales taxes generated by that development to pay off the debt used to build it.
For the stadium project, the broad state district would redirect state sales taxes, and the Unified Government’s proposed smaller bond district would redirect city and county sales taxes to help pay off the bonds. A map of the smaller district shows 236 acres of property in west KCK, north of State Avenue and between 126th and 118th Streets, surrounding the new stadium.
How to participate
People who want to speak during Tuesday’s meeting will have to attend the meeting in-person, according to the Unified Government.
Participants will have two minutes to speak during the hearing, which will be held in the commission chambers at 701 N. 7th St. on the building’s first floor.
If people can’t attend but still want officials to take their thoughts on the topic into consideration, they should submit a written comment by noon on the day of the hearing.
Anyone who wants to tune in online can stream the meeting live on YouTube at @UnifiedGovernment or on Zoom.
Attendees who log into the meeting via Zoom will not be able to speak during the meeting, according to the Unified Government.
Plans in Olathe
Olathe’s City Council will also consider whether to use local sales and use taxes in a portion of the city to help pay for the stadium package.
The council’s public hearing will happen toward the beginning of its 7 p.m. meeting on Tuesday.
Like in Wyandotte, officials are also proposing a smaller bond district than what the state has pitched. They’re exploring a 165-acre spot near the northwest corner of College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road, just south of Kansas Highway 10, according to their proposed ordinance.
The Star’s Kendrick Calfee and Taylor O’Connor contributed to this report.
