The State of Kansas has made a backroom deal with the Kansas City Chiefs to divert billions in public funding to build a stadium for team owner, Clark Hunt, using the controversial Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds scheme. Hunt is a billionaire himself.

STAR bonds sell public bonds to private investors to raise funds for building tourist destinations in Kansas. They designate a sales tax district around the new development where all new state sales tax revenue goes directly to paying back the bond debt. The idea is to draw tourism dollars into the state to pay for the project, and once the debt is settled, that new revenue goes to the state’s general fund, the primary funding source for state agency operations and major public services like health care and education.

It sounds good in theory: money for tourism development with no new taxes. In practice, it has had mixed results. However, past examples of the success or failure of STAR bond projects don’t give much of an indication of whether the stadium project will meet its goals when you consider the scale. Previously, STAR bond projects raised tens of millions of dollars in debt, the largest being $150 million. The Chiefs stadium will cost the state up to $2.775 billion, without factoring in hidden costs to upgrade infrastructure like highways, sewage, and water.

Such a massive debt could never be paid off with a sales tax district that only spans the immediate area of the stadium, which is why the Kansas Commerce Department, headed by Lt. Gov. David Toland, shocked Kansans by releasing a preliminary district map with an area of 300 square miles, spanning seven cities and two counties.

State leaders are asking us to accept that all future economic growth in seven Kansas municipalities will be driven by one stadium. They expect state sales tax revenue generated by that growth to be redirected from our general fund into the pockets of one billionaire.

Implicit in all of this is that much of the out-of-state revenue coming in will be cannibalized from the Missouri side of the metro area. History has shown that when Kansas and Missouri compete to attract capital across the border, we get a race to the bottom. Both states bend over backwards to appease the wealthy while the working class is left paying the bill.

The Communist Party of Missouri-Kansas rejects all handouts of public funds to private billionaires. We reject any economic schemes that divide the Kansas City community. We reject the backroom deal to build a new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs. Clark Hunt can build his own stadium without the help of hardworking Kansans.

The opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect the positions of the CPUSA.

Images: Jackson County voters overwhelmingly rejected renewal of a sales tax to help finance this proposed ballpark for the Royals in the Crossroads area of downtown, Ceilidh Kern, The Beacon News. Creative Commons.