Jeff Colyer: Moving the Chiefs to Kansas would be a huge win for the state’s economy | Opinion

Like most Kansans, I am a conservative.

I believe government should pay its bills, that government should not do for people those things they can better do for themselves, and I recognize that the private sector has a vastly superior record of wealth creation and sound investment than the public sector.

And, like most Kansans, I support proactive legislation to facilitate private investment bringing the Chiefs to Kansas.

Here’s how it would work: Legislation under consideration during the upcoming Kansas special legislative session would reform the STAR bonds initiative to incentivize the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to bring their payroll, their worldwide brand and around $1 billion of annual economic activity to Kansas — and that’s just for starters.

Let’s start with what STAR bonds don’t do. They don’t use existing tax dollars to subsidize private development, and they don’t create liability for taxpayers.

Unlike general obligation government bonds — backed by the full faith and credit of the government — STAR bonds enable an auction process whereby private investors may purchase bonds in support of a capital investment project (in this case a new domed football stadium for the Chiefs).

Private bondholders provide the capital, and they assume any risk. If a STAR bonds supported project goes sideways, it is the private bondholders, not the taxpayer, who are liable.

The state’s role is to allow that any increase in general sales tax revenue from the stadium project — revenue that would not exist without that investment — be used to repay the bonds.

This is precisely the financing mechanism used to build the Kansas Speedway, and that project has been wildly successful, repaying its initial bonding round in only seven years out of a projected 20. Forgive the metaphor, but a new Chiefs stadium would be a similar touchdown for Kansas.

The Chiefs are not a startup company. They are a dynastic franchise in the most influential popular and lucrative sports league in this hemisphere. Bringing them to Kansas is a spectacular economic and cultural opportunity.

Not only would it allow Kansas to dramatically raise our national tourism and economic development profile, but the positive fiscal effects would be almost immediate.

All non-general sales tax revenue generated by the project — such as income tax on players’ and coaches’ salaries — would be immediately realized by the state. In the first year, the project should produce tens of millions in revenue to state coffers.

And once the bonds were paid off, all of that new general sales tax revenue would be realized by the state — in perpetuity.

When we factor in not merely the bonanza of up to 10 NFL games a year, but the concerts, college championships and almost certain Super Bowl and Final Four opportunities a state of the art climate controlled facility would attract this project, becomes irresistibly sensible.

When I was governor, it was always hard to get investors to look at Kansas because they rarely saw us on the national stage, and that left a wrong preexisting impression. Every game and every concert at a new stadium would showcase the fantastic state we call home, and that dynamic image means new opportunities for every Kansan.

Like most Kansans, I’m a conservative and I’m a Chiefs fan. And I can’t wait to use good legislation to bring the Chiefs home to Kansas.

Jeff Colyer is a surgeon and former governor of Kansas.