Kansas City’s pitch for a new Royals stadium comes with a familiar warning label.
The city is weighing a $510 million bond plan to help pay for a ballpark in Crown Center, with those bonds intended to be retired by new tax revenue tied to the project. But the Royals would not be paying down that debt themselves, which means the city is carrying the risk if the projected revenue comes in light. If that happens, the shortfall could land on other city funds and force leaders to shuffle money away from other priorities.
That’s exactly the fear hanging over the plan: another Power & Light-style outcome.
The downtown development that helped create KC Live! was supposed to pay for itself more cleanly than it did.
Instead, city documents show the general fund is still being tapped to help retire bonds, including $15.3 million in the last budget for the KC Live! entertainment district.
That history has made some officials wary of signing off on a similar arrangement for the Royals.
City Council member Johnathan Duncan of the 6th District has called the proposal “Power & Light on steroids.”
Still, not everyone sees the old downtown deal as a cautionary tale. Councilman Kevin O’Neill, who represents the 1st District at Large, pointed to the broader impact of the Power & Light investment as he backed the city’s stadium funding plan. In his view, the money helped reshape downtown, lifted property values and ultimately boosted tax revenue.
“We have one hell of a downtown because of the investment made (back then),” O’Neill said.
The stadium financing plan is set to go before the TIF Commission on Wednesday, and it would still need final approval from the City Council.
There are also some notable differences between the old downtown package and the proposed Crown Center deal. The 2004 plan wasn’t just about KC Live!; it also included land acquisition, parking garages, a hotel rehab, a new office building and the public infrastructure tied to those pieces. The current Crown Center plan, at least as written now, is much more centered on the stadium itself, team offices and infrastructure.
Even that may not be the final shape of it. The plan leaves room for future changes and says an amendment is expected to add more detail about development around the stadium, including possibilities like hotel renovations, new apartments and retail.
That kind of evolution is common with TIF plans, which can run for decades and get revised as projects change. The downtown plan itself was amended in fall 2004 to help cover parking in the area.
On the numbers, the Royals ballpark proposal is built around some striking assumptions. The stadium, which would be leased by the city to the team, is projected to produce “approximately $0” in property tax payments.
The plan also counts on $710.3 million from a “stadium impact area” to help service the bonds, though the exact boundaries and mechanics of that area are not clear. In addition, the proposal includes a special 1% sales tax district meant to generate more revenue for repayment.
Mayor Quinton Lucas has defended the structure, saying he is proud of the “creative” funding plan the city worked out with the Royals and arguing the investment would benefit Kansas City. He pushed back on critics who say the deal would waste taxpayer money at a time when the city has other pressing needs.
“I think it is an incredible fiction to suggest that by actually investing in economic development, you’re detracting from everything else,” Lucas said. “I think public-private partnership in balance is an important part of what we do, and that is what we do each and every day.”
The Power & Light District still casts a long shadow over this debate, but for city leaders, it also stands as proof that a risky public investment can leave a lasting imprint on downtown. The question now is whether the Royals stadium plan will follow the same path - or the same bill.
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