Wyandotte County commissioners voted unanimously Nov. 5 to advance a negotiated settlement with Kansas over the Chiefs stadium project.
In two 10–0 votes, commissioners repealed an ordinance intended to exempt the Unified Government from portions of the state sports-authority law and amended the local tax pledge supporting the stadium.
The actions advance several priorities commissioners sought in negotiations: local representation on bodies overseeing the stadium and community-benefit funding, protections for BPU’s utility services and $135 million in state funding for Central Avenue Bridge repairs. The amended pledge also expands the area contributing local taxes.
“The collaboration in recent days has literally been a game changer,” Mayor Christal Watson said when the settlement framework was announced Oct. 23.
What Local Government Pledged
In February, commissioners voted 7–3 to commit specified sales, use and hotel taxes generated within the local project area toward repayment of state-issued Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds.
As part of the final agreement, the area covered by the pledge was increased from 235-acres to 440 acres, described in the earlier agreement announcement. The expansion follows the Chiefs’ acquisition of additional property options around the stadium site.
The amended pledge retains the original revenue sources while expanding the collection area:
- All revenue from KCK’s 1% general sales and use tax not otherwise committed by voters, collected within the pledge area.
- The UG’s 93.1733% share of the county’s 1% general sales and use tax not otherwise committed by voters, collected within that area.
- Revenue from eight percentage points of KCK’s hotel guest tax on stays within the pledge area, subject to the state’s administrative deduction.
KCK’s hotel guest-tax rate is currently 10%, leaving two percentage points outside the pledge. The extra 2% is a temporary increase that expires Dec. 31, 2028 when the rate returns to 8% unless the UG commission acts to extend it. The hotel tax itself and the stadium pledge do not expire then.
The overall tax pledge lasts up to 30 years and ends when the covered bonds, including refinancing bonds, are repaid. Its starting revenue base is zero, meaning revenue from the specified taxes within the area is pledged from the beginning.
Despite the acreage expansion, Todd LaSala, the Unified Government’s outside attorney handling the stadium negotiations.” told commissioners that projected pledge revenues remained largely unchanged. The presentation estimated approximately $448 million over 30 years, while cautioning that actual collections depend on future activity.
The agreement preserves Wyco planning and zoning authority over surrounding commercial development. The state sports authority will own the stadium, which the Chiefs will lease for $7 million annually.
Two Districts, Different Commitments
The approximately 440-acre local pledge area is separate from the much larger state STAR bond district, which includes portions of several cities in Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
Within that larger district, Kansas is pledging growth in specified state sales-tax revenue toward the Chiefs project. Those boundaries do not automatically commit local sales taxes from every community within them.
Additional shopping, dining and development outside the local pledge generated from games and just Chief related tourism, will produce increased local revenue that is not committed under this stadium pledge.
Inside the pledge area, associated development is included in the local sales-tax and hotel-tax commitment.
The state sports authority will own the stadium, which the Chiefs will lease for $7 million
The agreement preserves Wyco planning and zoning authority over surrounding commercial development. However, keeping local zoning authority over that development does not exempt it from the pledge.
Local Seats on Two Oversight Bodies
The settlement provides local representation on two separate bodies.
Watson is to take a seat on the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority board, which oversees stadium construction, financing and management.
The UG will also have representation on the five-member community impact committee, which helps determine how community-benefit funding is allocated and spent.
Those appointments remain steps to be completed following the commission’s vote. Officials said representation was secured through negotiations, allowing commissioners to remove the separate committee-representation condition from their tax pledge.
Commissioners also removed conditions requiring matching state and local district boundaries and UG approval of final project documents. Those protections must now be understood through the negotiated agreements rather than the original pledge conditions.
Protections for BPU Electricity and Water
The settlement provides more detail about the Board of Public Utilities’ role in supplying both electricity and water.
For stadium electricity, another provider—such as Evergy—cannot serve the project without a separate agreement with BPU. That provider must compensate BPU for the right to serve within its electric territory.
BPU will exclusively provide stadium water service. The settlement also establishes a contractual water-service payment intended to resemble the payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, blocked under the state stadium law. That payment is separate from the electricity arrangement.
Commercial development surrounding the stadium will pay the normal BPU PILOT. BPU and the UG remain the utility providers for surrounding development, while the UG will provide stadium wastewater and stormwater services.
The agreement preserves Wyco planning and zoning authority over surrounding commercial development. However, keeping local zoning authority over that development does not exempt it from the pledge.
State Commits Bridge Funding
The settlement puts the previously discussed Central Avenue Bridge commitment into contractual terms.
According to the presentation to commissioners, the state has allocated $135 million to the Kansas Department of Transportation for repairs, without requiring approval from another governing body.
The agreement also limits the stadium-related property-tax exemption to 355 acres, with additional acreage subject to a payment in lieu of taxes. That exemption boundary is separate from the approximately 440-acre local sales-tax pledge area.
Taxes That Still Support Local Services
Even inside the pledge area, some sales taxes remain available for their designated local purposes.
The ordinance excludes KCK’s 0.25% emergency medical services tax and 0.375% public safety and neighborhood infrastructure tax, along with other voter-dedicated taxes and specified special-district revenues.
Those excluded taxes would still be collected on applicable taxable purchases inside the stadium and surrounding development and should increase significantly. Their revenue would support designated services rather than stadium bond repayment.
Together, those two taxes total 0.625%, generating $625,000 for every additional $100 million in taxable sales. The net gain would depend partly on how much spending is new rather than shifted from existing KCK businesses.
Projected Financial Benefit
A February analysis projected approximately $92 million in net benefits over 25 years, after estimated public costs—an annual average of about $3.7 million.
Reporting on that analysis identified unpledged sales taxes, property taxes from surrounding development and other local revenues among the anticipated benefits. However, the available summaries do not establish precisely how much development or spending outside the pledge area was assumed.
The earlier estimate also predates the expanded local pledge area and should not be treated as an updated financial forecast.
Infrastructure Funding Needs Further Clarification
The stadium budget includes utilities, parking, lighting and access improvements. However, it remains unclear how much of the UG’s estimated $275 million in upfront infrastructure costs that financing covers and what local government might pay. The more covered by project financing, the greater the potential local financial benefit.
