Dec. 22 Press Conference

[beautyfromashes]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/13664001.htm

[kcdcchef]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/13664001.htm

those of you wanting this to fail, all this last minute shit should help your cause.

[kard]

those of you wanting this to fail, all this last minute shit should help your cause.

Damn right.  Maybe we have some "friends" on the Legislature who want it to fail.

[lock+load]

What happens if voters reject the sales tax but approve the use tax? The county legislature could consider diverting the use tax funds to pay for an estimated $80 million in improvements due next year so that the county does not default on the current leases. The teams could leave the sports complex as soon as 2007 if the county were to default.

They can't write it so the renovations must pass in order for this to go into effect?  More confusion will just help bring defeat  :lol:

[beautyfromashes]

This actually gives me some hope that the people putting the proposal together might be more intelligent than I thought.  They might be thinking now, "Why are we giving all this money when the teams are giving so little? We get to keep the stadiums here under the current lease, why give more than we have to."  Let's just hope.  Keep the stadiums where they are with minimum maintenance and have a guaranteed decade+ lease.  Why is this so hard.  The TSC officials should realize that they will be seen as keeping the stadiums where they are and by the time the leases are close to over they will be retired.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I can't believe the county is going so far out of its way to make it clear to the voters that they haven't got a damn clue what in the hell they are doing. 

"use tax on out of town businesses" ?????  Their making shit up as they go apparently. 

[KCMax]

use tax on out of town businesses" ?????

Time for Enterprise to begin another anti-tax campaign!

[bahua]

use tax on out of town businesses" ?????

Time for Enterprise to begin another anti-tax campaign!

Or anybody else that's going to be slammed with expense.

[aknowledgeableperson]

"Use taxes" are very common throughout government taxes.  From KC Star:

The leases propose imposing a use tax on certain goods bought out of state. Use taxes allow local governments to tax purchases ordered from out of state at the same rate as if they were bought in a local retail store.
Because of exemptions, businesses — but few individuals — pay the tax. According to the Greater Chamber of Commerce, Jackson County is the only major county in the area that does not levy a use tax.

So what else are you going to gripe about???????????????

[kcdcchef]

So what else are you going to gripe about???????????????

the fact the county is not as ignorant as the dt ballpark supporters had hoped, if they were, they would gladly pursue building a $550m downtown ballpark, and convince the voters it will only cost them $250m, and any overruns, up to $400m will come from an owner that is worth less than $600m.

they will gripe about that akp, all the way til' april 3rd, when this thing passes barely, or fails barely, and if it is the later of the two, you can count on threads like this going as long as the arena threads, until it appears on the ballot again, this time, tsc and no roof on it. then, you and i can finally focus on what we like to do........participate in this forum to have intillegent banter about the realistic direction of downtown ( realistic = not throwing away one of baseballs best stadiums )

[LenexatoKCMO]

Because of exemptions, businesses — but few individuals — pay the tax.

very misleading - there isn't an actual exemption for individuals.  Just lax enforcement.  By law you are supposed to be remitting your use tax return every year (the state of MO and the city of KCMO currently have use taxes on the books).  If you haven't filed, you are technically a tax evador.  However, MO, like most states has not had the resources to audit and prosecute individuals for Use Tax deficiancy.  This is all changing as people buy more and more stuff from remote sellers.  States are beggining to get more and more serious about collecting this from you and there is a very good liklihood that you will be paying use tax as an individual in the not too distant future.  In addition, states are maneuvering to have sales tax applied to these transactions rather than use tax so who knows about the long term viability of 100s of millions in bonds funded exclusively by use tax.  

[TheNorthlander]

The drumbeat of "a downtown ballpark is too expensive" doesn't apply to TSC.  The price tag is now roughly $4500 per household. 

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/s ... 5&hbx=e_du

Roof would push sports complex costs past $1.2B
Mark Kind
Staff Writer, Kansas City Business Journal
The 25-year price tag for renovation and upkeep of Truman Sports Complex passed $1.2 billion this week as negotiators for the Kansas City Chiefs asked Jackson County to pay for a roof over Arrowhead Stadium.

That's in addition to renovations and a quarter-century worth of repairs sought by both the Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.

At a Friday meeting of the Jackson County Legislature, financial adviser Jack Holland said a proposed use tax to pay for a roof over Arrowhead would raise $9 million a year, or $225 million in 25 years.

The Legislature also is considering a 25-year, three-eighths-cent sales tax that would raise an estimated $850 million to pay off at least $425 million in construction bonds as part of a $575 million renovation plan at Truman Sports Complex.

Proposed 25-year leases with the Chiefs and Royals would require the city, county and Missouri to contribute $8.5 million annually for maintenance, for a total of $212 million.

"This proposal is unfair because the entire requirement is placed on the taxpayers of Jackson County," said Kansas City resident Craig Davis, who said he leads a group called the No, I Can't Afford It Committee.

The teams have agreed to contribute a total of $100 million to pay for expanding and renovating the private seating areas of the stadiums that generate the highest ticket prices.

The teams also have agreed to cover construction cost overruns and the excess costs of future stadium updates, County Executive Katheryn Shields said.

The Legislature has until 5 p.m. Tuesday to write a sales tax question and a use tax question and submit them to the Jackson County Election Board for inclusion on the April 4 election ballot.

The Legislature appeared unwilling to approve a ballot question, however, until the teams have signed their lease proposals. Mike White, attorney for the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, said that would be done by Monday morning, a week later than the teams promised in December.

The use tax would finance construction of either a retractable roof for Arrowhead or a rolling roof that also could cover Kauffman Stadium.

The Chiefs have been seeking a roof as part of stadium improvements since Nov. 17, when NFL owners said they would give Arrowhead a Super Bowl game sometime between 2012 and 2021 if the stadium has a climate-controlled enclosure by 2010.

Two stadium tax questions would appear on the April 4 ballot if the Jackson County Legislature approves ordinances scheduled for consideration Friday morning.

[shaffe]

so if a 3/8 cent tax over 25 years raises 850 mil, is the other 425 going towards interest payments?

[Robafurd]

1.2 billion is how much the BRAND NEW yankee stadium is going to cost.  not a direct relation on any level but, interesting nonetheless. 

Also, what is the benefit of having a rolling roof, really?  I've been to a lot of Chiefs games, a lot of them in REAL shitty weather, and they are still packed.  Would the roof allow Arrowhead to be used for other events like concerts more often?  Why do we need this?

[TheNorthlander]

Also, what is the benefit of having a rolling roof, really?  I've been to a lot of Chiefs games, a lot of them in REAL shitty weather, and they are still packed.   Would the roof allow Arrowhead to be used for other events like concerts more often?  Why do we need this?

The roof is just that, a roof.  It will stop rain and snow.  Climate control would be brought in on a per event basis.  The estimate by the architects is that climate control would cost $10-20 million per event.

[skim82]

THIS PROJECT IS A DEAD DOG GO DOWNTOWN !!!! CHIEFS TO KANSAS!!!!

[Maitre D]

The roof is just that, a roof.  It will stop rain and snow.  Climate control would be brought in on a per event basis.  The estimate by the architects is that climate control would cost $10-20 million per event.

Oh come on.  Where did you get that figure?  I don't believe that for a second.

[aknowledgeableperson]

so if a 3/8 cent tax over 25 years raises 850 mil, is the other 425 going towards interest payments?

Yes, just like any other project that is initially paid for with bond money.  Taxes collected are used to pay principal and interest costs.

Think of it as buying a house or car with a loan.

[AF]

Grid-

Is the renderings you have on kc-photos of the bistate renovations the same as what they are proposing now?

[GRID]

Grid-

Is the renderings you have on kc-photos of the bistate renovations the same as what they are proposing now?

I think so for the most part.  They are not real specific though.