Jackson County chair proposes Chiefs, Royals stadium tax extension be put on April ballot

It's official: Jackson County voters won't decide sales tax extension for Royals ballpark in August - Kansas City Business Journal

KCTV, Kansas City, Missouri – Although the location of the Kansas City Royals’ future home has not been announced, the Jackson County legislature is already considering alternatives for the 3/8-cent sales tax, which is set to expire in 2031.

Daron McGee, the chair of Jackson County, has added a request to extend the 3/8-cent sales tax, which has been in effect since 2006, to the weekly meeting’s agenda for Monday.

Here is the text of the resolution:

“AN ORDINANCE allowing Jackson County, Missouri, to impose a countywide sales tax of three-eighths of one percent for a forty-year period, with the goal of building stadium park improvements to retain the Kansas City Royals,” will be presented to eligible voters in a special election scheduled for April 2, 2024.

The Jackson County Sports Authority stated in September that the Royals and Chiefs are requesting different conditions when it comes to the extension of the 3/8th-cent sales tax that funds the Truman Sports Complex. To remain in the county, the Royals want to impose a 40-year sales tax. The Chiefs are in favor of extending the sales tax for another 25 years.

According to John Sherman, the owner of the Royals, the team wants the sales tax to stay in place and anticipates that it will be put on the ballot in the spring. The plan is to use the $350 million that the tax currently raises for Kauffman Stadium maintenance toward the building of a new stadium.

Sherman had stated in July that the team would reveal its new home by late September, but they have since retracted that statement.