tk13
04-04-2006, 01:52 AM
A couple days old, but appropriate for today...
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14242743.htm
Stadiums Q&A
Here are answers to some of the dozens of questions about the stadiums issue that readers sent to The Star last week
By DEANN SMITH
The Kansas City Star
Is there an estimate of the cost per resident per year and for how many years?
The 3/8 -cent sales tax, if adopted, would cost the average Jackson County resident about $23 a year, based on federal government statistics. Campaign supporters claim the number is closer to $20.50 a year; opponents contend it is more than $40 a year.
The use tax, which would mirror the sales-tax rate, would affect fewer individuals. Businesses primarily would pay the tax, which would be levied on some out-of-state goods shipped into Jackson County. Everyone has an exemption on the first $2,000 of purchases in a year.
The sales tax is scheduled to last 25 years. The use tax would lapse once the rolling roof and revenue bonds on Question 1 are paid for.
Would the new roof be used in the winter with cold weather at Chiefs games, without obvious rain or snow?
The roof could be used for that. Chiefs officials indicate that a policy would be developed if voters approve the rolling roof, but it could be a game-by-game decision.
On a lighter note, they joked, they might not want to cover the stadium if the Chiefs are playing the Miami Dolphins on a freezing day but they might if the team is playing the Green Bay Packers.
When the original vote was taken to build the stadiums, wasn’t a rolling roof included in the plans voted on and approved by the voters? If it was, why wasn’t it built? What happened to the money?
The original vote did include money for a rolling roof, which in the late 1960s was estimated to cost $2 million. But labor strife delayed the project.
The ensuing cost overruns meant the roof was eliminated and the stadiums were completed without it. However, Lot M was constructed with the tracks for a rolling roof in mind.
What agency has been responsible for maintenance of the existing stadiums? Why did whoever was responsible allow the stadiums to deteriorate?
The Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, whose members are appointed by the governor of Missouri, oversees the stadiums. The current leases enacted in 1990 require taxpayers to pay for cost overruns, while the new agreements, if adopted, would require the teams to pay for them.
The 1990 leases did not establish cost parameters for specific projects but did require “state-of-the-art” work. Stadium costs have soared in the last 15 years, and as a result, the authority and Jackson County, which owns the stadiums, do not have the estimated $80 million to do all the work that the leases require.
Kansas City contributes $2 million, Jackson County $3.5 million and the state of Missouri $2 million for stadium work each year. The teams also contribute. (See next question.)
How much rent do the Royals and Chiefs pay?
Rent requirements would remain the same from the 1990 lease to the 2006 lease extension, said Steve Mitchell, an attorney for Jackson County. Rent is a fixed amount of $450,000 per team per year. In addition, the teams pay a percentage of their gate revenue, which Mitchell said is about $3 million per team per year.
In turn, the sports authority pays the teams $3 million each for managing the stadiums. The money goes into a fund that pays for maintenance of the stadiums. The new leases would stipulate that $500,000 of that money would go toward maintaining the common areas that both the Royals and Chiefs share.
Where would the teams play while the stadiums are under construction, and how long would construction take? When Soldier Field in Chicago was undergoing improvements, the Bears were displaced to Champaign, Ill., at a major inconvenience to fans.
Executives for the Chiefs and Royals say games would continue uninterrupted during construction, which would begin next year. Most of the construction would be done by 2009, with final work completed in 2010.
At Arrowhead, Chiefs officials say half the stadium would be done in 2007-2008, half in 2008-2009 and final work in 2009. Kauffman Stadium would be done much the same way.
I heard from a co-worker it would cost $200 million each time the roof is moved over the stadium. Is that true?
No, architects and Chiefs officials say. They say the cost to roll the roof would be hundreds of dollars, if that much.
How much would it cost to maintain the rolling roof, who would pay for it and how much would it cost to prepare Arrowhead for a Final Four?
The roof would require annual maintenance, primarily for the wheel motors and mechanical systems. Architects put a price tag of $500,000 a year on that, which the county use tax would pay for.
Ron Labinski, an architect involved with the Truman Sports Complex when it was built and a consultant on the current project, estimates it would cost about $100,000 to fully prepare Arrowhead for a men’s college basketball Final Four. It is uncertain now if taxpayers or private corporations would pay those costs.
Would the Wizards be able to use the roof on hot or rainy days, too?
Chiefs and Wizards owner Lamar Hunt, who is working to sell the professional soccer team, says it could, but he doesn’t think it will happen.
Hunt said that by the time the rolling roof is ready in a few years, he anticipates the Wizards would have left Arrowhead to play in a soccer stadium that seats 20,000 to 25,000 fans.
Would Arrowhead be climate-controlled under a rolling roof?
In winter, there would be radiant infrared heaters — similar to restaurants’ outdoor space heaters, only longer — in the concourses while warm air would be blown through new ducts to the seating sections. The entire process of sealing and heating the stadium would take two days.
In the case of warm weather, cooler air could be pumped through the ducts.
At Kauffman, the rolling roof would cover but not enclose the field, so ducts and heaters would not be added there. It is unclear whether the rolling roof would be used on a sunny, hot day to lower the temperature inside Kauffman.
Would it be cheaper to build another stadium?
No, county and team officials say. Building a new baseball stadium could not be done for $250 million. San Antonio is looking at building a $300 million stadium for the Florida Marlins.
The St. Louis Cardinals’ new stadium, which will open later this month, will cost almost $400 million and other new baseball stadiums are costing even more, with the Nationals’ new stadium in Washington costing more than $600 million.
New football stadiums now cost between $600 million and $1 billion dollars compared with the $325 million to renovate Arrowhead. A Chiefs executive has estimated a new stadium for the Chiefs in the Kansas City area would cost $700 million in today’s dollars and could approach $1 billion if construction started in 2010 or later.
Aren’t we building an arena downtown that is supposed to attract a Final Four and other big-name events that do not consider Kansas City right now?
Yes, except the Sprint Center will be too small to play host to a Final Four, which in recent years has been played in domed stadiums. The arena could play host to one of the earlier rounds of March Madness.
The Sprint Center’s capacity will be 18,500 compared with nearly 80,000 at Arrowhead for football games. Arrowhead could hold the 40,000-plus for a Final Four.
When the roof and stadiums are used for other events, what additional revenues would the county get?
Mitchell said the county would get the revenue from the ticket and parking surcharges, but all that money would go into maintenance of the stadiums.
The county would continue to get the revenue from sales taxes levied on tickets and other items, and the state would get the revenue from income taxes levied on out-of-state athletes and entertainers.
What happens if the renovations fail but the roof passes?
Nothing. Construction of the rolling roof, or Question 2, is contingent on passage of Question 1, or the sports complex overhaul.
Is it true that if Question 2 passes for the rolling roof that Jackson County would not have to use the money to build the roof?
There was some talk of that but ultimately Jackson County officials included specific language that the use tax can only be used for the rolling roof and later for paying off the Question 1 bonds once the roof was paid for.
Attorneys for the county say that is legally binding and the use tax can only be used for the purpose delineated on the ballot.
Originally, this was to be a bistate tax. Why is it just Jackson County now?
Bistate II for the stadiums and art projects failed in November 2004. It failed in four counties but passed in Jackson County. The stadiums are owned by Jackson County and ultimately the county is responsible for the stadiums.
Officials say pulling together a bistate election is a lengthy process. The county, facing a Dec. 31 deadline, does not have the time to get approval from all the necessary entities. Some hope that if the election fails Tuesday, there will be a future bistate election to build a downtown ballpark for the Royals and a stadium near Kansas Speedway for the Chiefs.
In addition, state legislation requires that no more than half of a bistate tax go to sports facilities.
Why can’t Johnson County and others help out?
Johnson County voters rejected Bistate II. But Johnson County fans and others would pay ticket and parking surcharges to help maintain the stadiums.
How many Super Bowl, baseball All-Star Game, or Final Four tickets would be made available for purchase to Jackson County voters?
That has not been determined yet and could wind up being very few. But Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes said last week that she believed that it would be negotiable to set aside some tickets for county voters, and she is
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14242743.htm
Stadiums Q&A
Here are answers to some of the dozens of questions about the stadiums issue that readers sent to The Star last week
By DEANN SMITH
The Kansas City Star
Is there an estimate of the cost per resident per year and for how many years?
The 3/8 -cent sales tax, if adopted, would cost the average Jackson County resident about $23 a year, based on federal government statistics. Campaign supporters claim the number is closer to $20.50 a year; opponents contend it is more than $40 a year.
The use tax, which would mirror the sales-tax rate, would affect fewer individuals. Businesses primarily would pay the tax, which would be levied on some out-of-state goods shipped into Jackson County. Everyone has an exemption on the first $2,000 of purchases in a year.
The sales tax is scheduled to last 25 years. The use tax would lapse once the rolling roof and revenue bonds on Question 1 are paid for.
Would the new roof be used in the winter with cold weather at Chiefs games, without obvious rain or snow?
The roof could be used for that. Chiefs officials indicate that a policy would be developed if voters approve the rolling roof, but it could be a game-by-game decision.
On a lighter note, they joked, they might not want to cover the stadium if the Chiefs are playing the Miami Dolphins on a freezing day but they might if the team is playing the Green Bay Packers.
When the original vote was taken to build the stadiums, wasn’t a rolling roof included in the plans voted on and approved by the voters? If it was, why wasn’t it built? What happened to the money?
The original vote did include money for a rolling roof, which in the late 1960s was estimated to cost $2 million. But labor strife delayed the project.
The ensuing cost overruns meant the roof was eliminated and the stadiums were completed without it. However, Lot M was constructed with the tracks for a rolling roof in mind.
What agency has been responsible for maintenance of the existing stadiums? Why did whoever was responsible allow the stadiums to deteriorate?
The Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, whose members are appointed by the governor of Missouri, oversees the stadiums. The current leases enacted in 1990 require taxpayers to pay for cost overruns, while the new agreements, if adopted, would require the teams to pay for them.
The 1990 leases did not establish cost parameters for specific projects but did require “state-of-the-art” work. Stadium costs have soared in the last 15 years, and as a result, the authority and Jackson County, which owns the stadiums, do not have the estimated $80 million to do all the work that the leases require.
Kansas City contributes $2 million, Jackson County $3.5 million and the state of Missouri $2 million for stadium work each year. The teams also contribute. (See next question.)
How much rent do the Royals and Chiefs pay?
Rent requirements would remain the same from the 1990 lease to the 2006 lease extension, said Steve Mitchell, an attorney for Jackson County. Rent is a fixed amount of $450,000 per team per year. In addition, the teams pay a percentage of their gate revenue, which Mitchell said is about $3 million per team per year.
In turn, the sports authority pays the teams $3 million each for managing the stadiums. The money goes into a fund that pays for maintenance of the stadiums. The new leases would stipulate that $500,000 of that money would go toward maintaining the common areas that both the Royals and Chiefs share.
Where would the teams play while the stadiums are under construction, and how long would construction take? When Soldier Field in Chicago was undergoing improvements, the Bears were displaced to Champaign, Ill., at a major inconvenience to fans.
Executives for the Chiefs and Royals say games would continue uninterrupted during construction, which would begin next year. Most of the construction would be done by 2009, with final work completed in 2010.
At Arrowhead, Chiefs officials say half the stadium would be done in 2007-2008, half in 2008-2009 and final work in 2009. Kauffman Stadium would be done much the same way.
I heard from a co-worker it would cost $200 million each time the roof is moved over the stadium. Is that true?
No, architects and Chiefs officials say. They say the cost to roll the roof would be hundreds of dollars, if that much.
How much would it cost to maintain the rolling roof, who would pay for it and how much would it cost to prepare Arrowhead for a Final Four?
The roof would require annual maintenance, primarily for the wheel motors and mechanical systems. Architects put a price tag of $500,000 a year on that, which the county use tax would pay for.
Ron Labinski, an architect involved with the Truman Sports Complex when it was built and a consultant on the current project, estimates it would cost about $100,000 to fully prepare Arrowhead for a men’s college basketball Final Four. It is uncertain now if taxpayers or private corporations would pay those costs.
Would the Wizards be able to use the roof on hot or rainy days, too?
Chiefs and Wizards owner Lamar Hunt, who is working to sell the professional soccer team, says it could, but he doesn’t think it will happen.
Hunt said that by the time the rolling roof is ready in a few years, he anticipates the Wizards would have left Arrowhead to play in a soccer stadium that seats 20,000 to 25,000 fans.
Would Arrowhead be climate-controlled under a rolling roof?
In winter, there would be radiant infrared heaters — similar to restaurants’ outdoor space heaters, only longer — in the concourses while warm air would be blown through new ducts to the seating sections. The entire process of sealing and heating the stadium would take two days.
In the case of warm weather, cooler air could be pumped through the ducts.
At Kauffman, the rolling roof would cover but not enclose the field, so ducts and heaters would not be added there. It is unclear whether the rolling roof would be used on a sunny, hot day to lower the temperature inside Kauffman.
Would it be cheaper to build another stadium?
No, county and team officials say. Building a new baseball stadium could not be done for $250 million. San Antonio is looking at building a $300 million stadium for the Florida Marlins.
The St. Louis Cardinals’ new stadium, which will open later this month, will cost almost $400 million and other new baseball stadiums are costing even more, with the Nationals’ new stadium in Washington costing more than $600 million.
New football stadiums now cost between $600 million and $1 billion dollars compared with the $325 million to renovate Arrowhead. A Chiefs executive has estimated a new stadium for the Chiefs in the Kansas City area would cost $700 million in today’s dollars and could approach $1 billion if construction started in 2010 or later.
Aren’t we building an arena downtown that is supposed to attract a Final Four and other big-name events that do not consider Kansas City right now?
Yes, except the Sprint Center will be too small to play host to a Final Four, which in recent years has been played in domed stadiums. The arena could play host to one of the earlier rounds of March Madness.
The Sprint Center’s capacity will be 18,500 compared with nearly 80,000 at Arrowhead for football games. Arrowhead could hold the 40,000-plus for a Final Four.
When the roof and stadiums are used for other events, what additional revenues would the county get?
Mitchell said the county would get the revenue from the ticket and parking surcharges, but all that money would go into maintenance of the stadiums.
The county would continue to get the revenue from sales taxes levied on tickets and other items, and the state would get the revenue from income taxes levied on out-of-state athletes and entertainers.
What happens if the renovations fail but the roof passes?
Nothing. Construction of the rolling roof, or Question 2, is contingent on passage of Question 1, or the sports complex overhaul.
Is it true that if Question 2 passes for the rolling roof that Jackson County would not have to use the money to build the roof?
There was some talk of that but ultimately Jackson County officials included specific language that the use tax can only be used for the rolling roof and later for paying off the Question 1 bonds once the roof was paid for.
Attorneys for the county say that is legally binding and the use tax can only be used for the purpose delineated on the ballot.
Originally, this was to be a bistate tax. Why is it just Jackson County now?
Bistate II for the stadiums and art projects failed in November 2004. It failed in four counties but passed in Jackson County. The stadiums are owned by Jackson County and ultimately the county is responsible for the stadiums.
Officials say pulling together a bistate election is a lengthy process. The county, facing a Dec. 31 deadline, does not have the time to get approval from all the necessary entities. Some hope that if the election fails Tuesday, there will be a future bistate election to build a downtown ballpark for the Royals and a stadium near Kansas Speedway for the Chiefs.
In addition, state legislation requires that no more than half of a bistate tax go to sports facilities.
Why can’t Johnson County and others help out?
Johnson County voters rejected Bistate II. But Johnson County fans and others would pay ticket and parking surcharges to help maintain the stadiums.
How many Super Bowl, baseball All-Star Game, or Final Four tickets would be made available for purchase to Jackson County voters?
That has not been determined yet and could wind up being very few. But Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes said last week that she believed that it would be negotiable to set aside some tickets for county voters, and she is