Kansas
What You Need to Know About STAR Bonds
The Kansas City Chiefs are in a unique position. With the current lease at the Truman Sports Complex expiring in 2031 and Jackson County voters overwhelmingly rejecting a 40-year extension of the three-eighths of a cent sales tax on April 2, could the Chiefs move from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas? Momentum seems to be swinging toward the Kansas side of the state line after comments from Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt during the NFL Draft. Shortly after those remarks, renderings of a domed Kansas stadium made headlines.
The stadium renderings that were released are not affiliated with the Chiefs but were brought forth by Kansas City-based architecture firm Manica. This isn’t the first stadium design by Manica, which was behind the design of the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium and has put forth renderings for new Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears stadiums as well. While these new stadium designs aren’t classic like the nostalgic Soldier Field in Chicago or Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the modern vibe and design is very pleasing to the eye. For the Kansas City design, the new stadium would include a glass ceiling that would keep extreme weather out of the stadium.
The renderings also show a mixed-use area outside of the stadium that would include hotels, dining options, a practice facility, green space, plenty of parking options and more. One thing the Chiefs (and the Kansas City Royals, for that matter) have never been able to capitalize on is building up commerce in the area surrounding the current stadiums at the Truman Sports Complex. This space would give the Chiefs ample opportunity to make additional revenue. A domed stadium would also be able to bring in huge national sporting events such as a Super Bowl for the NFL, an NCAA Final Four for college basketball, Wrestlemania for WWE, and more.
Why would Kansas be able to offer the Chiefs a new stadium and not need to ask its residents and taxpayers to help cover the costs like in Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri? The Kansas legislature would like to offer up to 100% of the project in STAR bonds, which is unique and a change of direction from the typical 50% given to a project in Kansas.
What are STAR Bonds?
Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds are “a financing tool that allows Kansas municipalities to issue bonds to finance the development of major commercial, entertainment and tourism projects,” as described on kansascommerce.gov. A new stadium for the Chiefs and the surrounding mixed-use area would apply here. These bonds are paid off through sales revenue generated by the district. Currently, 6.5% of every dollar spent in the district would go toward paying off the bond. Every ticket bought, food and drink purchased, hotel room rented, merchandise acquired, etc., would be taxed just as it always would, but a percentage of that tax goes toward paying off the bond. Essentially, if you are going to a game or hanging out in the district and spending money there, you’d be helping pay off the bond. If you don’t care about sports or going to hang out in the area, your tax dollars would not go toward the project. STAR bonds helped finance the Kansas Speedway and Children’s Mercy Park where Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer plays.
It will be interesting to see how much money the Hunt family will want to put into the project themselves. They were willing to put $300 million of their own money toward renovations in the initial plan that Jackson County rejected. For a brand new stadium, there’s a chance the Hunts would put more equity into that type of move. The cost of building a new stadium would likely be between $2-$3 billion. According to The Kansas City Star, a $1 billion investment would be required to get the STAR bonds, but there is potential for the entire project to be funded through the bonds. That would be a best-case financial scenario for the Hunt family and would be hard to turn down.
The Kansas Legislature’s 2024 session ended on April 30 without the opportunity to hear the legislation on attracting sports teams to Kansas. There is anticipation that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly will call a special session in two weeks to deal with another tax relief legislation that was not passed this past week. During this special session that could be called, the legislature would then have the opportunity to bring the legislation on sports teams to the table.
Missouri will most certainly try to retain both the Chiefs and Royals, but will the sour relationship with Jackson County along with a lack of interest from the Missouri State Legislature in giving money to Kansas City sports teams hold the state back? The clock is ticking, and if the Chiefs can’t get an answer from Missouri until 2025 at the earliest, it may be in their best interest to look where they are wanted and can get money now.
Read More: Chiefs Owner Clark Hunt Discusses Leaving Arrowhead Stadium After Failed Jackson County Tax Vote
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – One creator has written an anthem for Kansas City to reflect the metro’s historic summer for years to come.
An Omaha-based Afrobeat artist, Kusher Snazzy, released a World Cup song, ‘KC to the World,’ celebrating the tournament’s culture and diversity.
The song features soccer players and dancers representing multiple nations that played in the World Cup, including Germany, Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Italy. It was filmed locally in multiple locations, including a metro studio and rooftop.
READ MORE: Kansas City eyes 2031 Women’s World Cup bid after hosting FIFA tournament
Kusher Snazzy’s goal with the song was to depict the once-in-a-lifetime summer. His passion for soccer and the Midwest inspired the lyrics.
“We don’t know when FIFA is going to choose KC again,” said Kusher.
Joseph Termini is the mastermind behind the project. He took a vision and made it come to life. As a Kansas City native, he knew the importance of showcasing his city positively through a music video.
“Kansas City has been under the radar, and I feel like this is the first time we’re being put on a pedestal, and that pedestal is allowing other people to realize that this is more than just a small-town city,” said Termini.
Listeners can find the hit song on YouTube.
ALSO READ: Heart structure may stay in Kansas City after Fan Festival ends
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The pilot of a crop duster aircraft appears to have survived without serious injury after a crash on Monday in northeast Kansas.
The Jackson County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office was called around 12:30 p.m. Monday on a crash involving a crop duster aircraft south of Kansas Highway 9 near Whiting, Kansas, or about 80 miles northwest of Kansas City.
Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said that after the crash, the pilot was able to exit the aircraft before it caught fire. The pilot walked to a nearby farmhouse for help.
Several area fire departments responded to the location to extinguish the fire.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposed legal settlement with the U.S. government would require the Keystone Pipeline system’s operator to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty over a major oil spill in Kansas in December 2022 and spend about $40 million more to prevent future accidents.
The agreement would resolve allegations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kansas that South Bow, based in Canada, violated U.S. and state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.
The accident was the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years and surpassed all 22 previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The total amount of oil spilled would have nearly filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposal after a 30-day public comment period.
South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposed decree after a 30-day public comment period.
“The oil spill blanketed land and water, rendering the waterway lifeless and useless and requiring extensive cleanup and remediation,” Jeffrey Hall, the EPA’s assistant administrator for its enforcement office, said in a statement. “The substantial penalty reflects the seriousness of the environmental harm.”
South Bow officials did not respond immediately Sunday to a phone message and email seeking comment, but the company told The Canadian Press that it “proactively” began cleaning up the area before receiving directives from U.S. officials. The cleanup was completed early in 2024.
The company that built the pipeline, TC Energy, spun off South Bow as a separate firm in 2024, after the Kansas cleanup was done.
No pipeline workers or area residents were injured, and officials said public water supplies weren’t affected by the spill. However, a complaint filed Friday by the U.S. government along with the proposed settlement said more than 2,700 animals were harmed or killed. The area is home to an endangered species, the long-eared bat.
In a May 2023 report for the U.S. government, an engineering consulting firm said that a bend in the Keystone system where the spill occurred had been “overstressed” since its installation in December 2010 — likely because construction activity itself altered the land around the pipe. The complaint filed Friday in court said soil under the pipe had been “improperly compacted” and that while the company re-excavated the site in 2013, it did not replace that section of pipe.
The 2,689-mile (4,327-kilometer) Keystone system carries thick, Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas.
In April, President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for South Bow and another company to build a second pipeline from Canada to Wyoming, a smaller version of a massive $8 billion pipeline project known as Keystone XL blocked by former President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 over environmental concerns.
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