Lucas says taxpayers will lose if Kansas and Missouri engage in incentive competition for Chiefs, Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The fight over the future home of the Chiefs and Royals continues.

On Thursday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he expects the state to produce an aid package to keep the teams in the Show Me State by the end of the year Missouri governor says he expects public aid plan to keep Chiefs, Royals in state.

This comes after Kansas put together a plan last week to try bring both teams to its side of the state line. Kansas is offering to pay for up to 70 percent of the cost of two new stadiums over 30 years through sales tax and revenue (STAR) bonds.

Gov. Parson did not provide specifics of what Missouri’s deal for the teams would look like, but he’s confident Missouri will win out.

“Missouri’s in a much better financial shape than Kansas is, but it depends on how much you want to tie up for a 25- to 40-year lease with a team,” Parson said. “I don’t know what that amount will be, but I think Missouri is in a much better position than what Kansas’ bonds are.”

Locally, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says the city and state never stopped talking to the teams. He is glad to see Missouri start to act at the state level.

“We’ve known all along that Missouri would continue to be competitive. The city of Kansas City will, as well,” said Lucas. “The Chiefs and Royals belong in Kansas City, Missouri.”

READ MORE: Discussions of new sales tax proposal for Chiefs stadium delayed by Jackson County legislators

Lucas thinks the state of Missouri may need to get involved in the stadium discussion as it may be an economic pool too deep for the city to swim in.

“The state of Kansas threw out some fairly extensive tools. I don’t know to what extent they are ones that could ever work objectively,” Lucas said. “I think that when we are talking about the size of particularly a football stadium, the tens of thousands of parking spots, the expense, the billions of dollars, we owe it to our taxpayers in Kansas City to make sure that conversation gets beyond just the 508,000 people in Kansas City and is something far more extensive.”

Lucas sees Kansas’ STAR bond legislation as a clear violation of the border war truce between Kansas and Missouri. He says the failed vote in Jackson County doesn’t mean the state of Missouri wants the teams to leave.

READ MORE: Pasquantino hits go-ahead sacrifice fly as Royals rally to beat AL Central-rival Guardians, 2-1

“The border war truce was about not using economic development tools to poach a business from another jurisdiction that has been there for a long time. The Chiefs and Royals have been in Missouri for years. There are economic tools being used to steal them,” said Lucas. “Jackson County alone does not speak for the entire state of Missouri or the city of Kansas City, and those discussions are ongoing.”

Now, Lucas fears Kansas’ STAR bond legislation will start an arms race of incentives to keep the teams in the metro – to the franchises’ benefit, and not to metropolitan Kansas City as a whole.

“I think what people of our community will see, for better or worse, is competing incentives,” Lucas said. “Usually when you have a battle like that, it’s only the taxpayers who lose. That’s what happens in battles like this, but we’ll still work to get to the best deals possible.”

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.