Now is not the time to spend $36 million on Sporting KC soccer park in the Northland
The Kansas City Council is nearing a vote on a final agreement to build and operate a scaled-down youth soccer complex in the Northland.
Unfortunately, this is precisely the wrong time to spend millions in taxpayer funds for a soccer park. The council should wait until the full financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis is fully addressed before proceeding with the agreement.
The council first approved the soccer complex plan in April. Since then, the size of the project has been reduced, from 12 soccer fields to 10. The cost has been cut, from $43 million to $36 million. The Kansas City Parks Department, concerned about funding for other projects, is no longer part of the funding blueprint.
But the concept is intact. Sporting KC, through a subsidiary, would build and operate the facility on the northwest corner of Platte Purchase Drive and Missouri Highway 152. The operator would keep all the revenue from the fields and use the money for ongoing costs.
Taxpayers would provide most of the upfront design and construction cash, including borrowing that would be repaid over time from the capital improvements sales tax. The rest would come from extending an expiring economic development incentive and a different public sales tax fund.
“We’re trying to build something for Kansas City,” said Councilman Dan Fowler of the Northland’s 2nd District. “It’s for kids.”
He and other supporters on the City Council insist the project would be an anchor for further development on what is now undeveloped land: apartments, retail and the like.
Sporting KC thinks it will help build interest in soccer. “There’s a huge need in the Northland for sports complexes,” said Jake Reid, Sporting KC’s president and CEO.
This may be true. But it’s also true that this part of the city needs paved shoulders for its roads, and sidewalks, and flood abatement projects, and dozens of other capital improvements. Money that might go to those projects in future years would instead be diverted to a soccer complex.
Quinton Lucas foresees $70 million budget gap
Moreover, Kansas City faces an enormous budget challenge at this very moment. City officials recently learned that half of their $100 million cash reserve has been spent to fill the budget gap caused by COVID-19.
Mayor Quinton Lucas now believes that budget gap is $70 million in the next fiscal year.
The new city budget will likely include further spending reductions. Lucas has already suggested retaining earnings taxes from private employees who worked outside Kansas City limits in 2020, a plan that will almost certainly end up in court if it happens.
The money for the soccer complex isn’t coming from the general fund, so postponing this borrowing wouldn’t solve the city’s immediate budget crisis. But it would send a terrible signal to city workers — police and fire department personnel included — if raises are reduced or pension contributions are cut back while the city borrows for a sports complex.
In just a few weeks, Kansas City voters will be asked to extend the 1% earnings tax for another five years. There appears to be solid support for extending the tax, but that enthusiasm could wane if voters think City Hall is being profligate with their money.
And it’s a safe bet few people who voted to impose the capital improvements sales tax believed it would fund soccer fields.
Sporting KC’s Reid and Councilman Fowler firmly reject the idea that a soccer complex would cater to elite athletes, or provide recreation for some Kansas Citians and not for everyone. They promise to provide opportunities for all Kansas City kids to enjoy the park.
We don’t question Sporting KC’s good faith in pursuing this project, or the genuine desire of Fowler and his colleagues to provide an amenity that is lacking in the community. In flush times, the project would be more supportable.
That time is not now. The proposal should be shelved until City Hall is on firmer financial footing.