Chiefs, Royals stadium sales tax vote could be two different questions
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A stadium sales tax vote for the Kansas City Chiefs and a stadium sales tax vote for the Kansas City Royals could be on two separate ballot questions in Jackson County.
That’s the word from County Administrator Troy Schulte, who attended Monday’s county legislature meeting.
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Before it started, though, he talked to FOX4 about the stadium negotiations.
Previously, Jackson County leaders have said the Royals are looking at a 40-year sales tax extension to move to the East Village of the city’s downtown.
The team’s currently under just a 25-year lease out at the Truman Sports Complex, but whether the Chiefs are on board with a new 40-year extension is unknown.
“It might take different ballot questions, but again, we haven’t gotten to those,” Schulte said when asked if the Royals and Chiefs could be on the same ballot if they want different sales tax extension lengths.
“We’ve had, to my knowledge, no substantive conversations at all with the Chiefs. And the Royals, we’ve just started those conversations, so we’re a long ways from ballot language and how the structure would work,” he added.
Democratic County Executive Frank White said the county hasn’t had discussions with either team on how they would like this done.
“The Chiefs don’t seem to be in as big of a hurry as the Royals right now,” White said. “So right now, you can’t do one without the other because you have to find out where everybody’s at because they’re both on the same lease for the same time that it ends.”
Schulte said the Chiefs are waiting to see whether the Royals decide they’d like to move to Clay County or stay in Jackson County.
“The deadline to have something on the ballot’s like the 20th of January,” Schulte replied when asked whether county taxpayers were getting close to not being able to vote on this ballot question in Jackson County in April 2024.
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In September, the county hired the Hardwick Law Firm “to provide specialized legal services related to its contractual relationships with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.”
The Royals are also considering a new stadium site north of the river in Clay County and North Kansas City. Since the team missed its self-imposed deadline of the end of September to announce where they’re going to build their new stadium, they’ve not released a new timeline for an announcement.
The Chiefs would not comment on the stadium issue and sales tax timeline length on Monday either.
