Proposed update to potential $200,000,000+ tax levy for Chiefs stadium generates massive questions: Report
Patrick Mahomes is one Super Bowl ring richer, and as a de facto reward, the Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium may get renovated. The cost of such a project is unknown, but that hasn't stopped the local government from proposing a massive tax for the public to pay.
According to The Kansas City Star, the taxes imposed for the stadium will run for 40 years. The current sales taxes run through 2031, but the proposed tax would essentially factor in the current taxes into the new rate starting this year.
If the tax were approved this year, the tax would expire in 2064, assuming no additional addendum or adjustment is added.
"The current sales tax expires in the fall of 2031, several months after the current leases expire. If a new tax is approved in April, the current tax would expire then and the remaining principal owed from the 2006 bond issue (about $200 million) would be refinanced, the ballot language says." - The Kansas City Star
This means the baseline of $200,000,000 would be added on top of the new project's cost. Voters are expected to vote on the motion without knowing the expense details as "no documents" exist with those plans.
Patrick Mahomes' local fanbase faces philosophy-testing choice
Missouri, of course, is a red-leaning state that voted for the Republican Party in the 2020 presidential election. One of the core ideologies of the republican platform is cutting through excessive spending, resulting in higher taxes with no apparent need or practical plan.
So, plans to spend additional tax dollars on stadium renovation for 40 years without a written plan should be rejected by a republican voter base. That said, some people are riding on the success of Mecole Hardman and Co. in an attempt to lighten taxpayers' purses.
Some may argue that it might be the strategy behind the timing of the proposed government renovations. Back in 2006, when the last tax levy was passed, the Kansas City Chiefs were coming off their second double-digit winning season in three years since the 1990s.
Will Travis Kelce get to enjoy some improvements to his home stadium soon?