KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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The City of Olathe on Tuesday night approved the first step in a $300 million Chiefs headquarters and training facility.
The project will be near College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road, just south of Kansas Highway 10. It will also include mixed-use development.
City council members approved Olathe's participation in STAR bonds to help repay some of the loans. But it didn't come without some push back from the community.
"I am against using taxpayer funds to be on the hook for this training facility," resident Jerry Christianson said at Tuesday night's meeting.
There was a bit of confusion after Tuesday night's meeting about who's paying for the 165 acres of land and how Olathe taxes tie into that deal.
City council members told KSHB 41 News Johnson County reporter Isabella Ledonne there are specific guardrails in place to keep Olathe off the hook from repaying the bonds in case the deal doesn't work out.
Dozens of neighbors brought up concerns at Tuesday night's meeting about use of taxpayer dollars and why Olathe was providing incentives for a multi-billion-dollar franchise.
"What are the Hunts bringing to the table?" resident Darlean Washington asked.
KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne asked city leaders how the proposal benefits Olathe, and not just the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I think it's like $800 a year in property tax is what that ground is generating," City Councilwoman LeEtta Felter said. "Nothing really in the grand scheme of things."
Mayor John Bacon agreed with Felter.
"Today, we're getting zero sales tax off of [the] land, so anything that comes from there is going to be because of this development," Bacon said.
Olathe sales tax will repay only a part of the $300 million in STAR bonds for the training development. That money will come from only new dollars spent inside the training facility district, not anywhere else in the city.
However, no financial studies have been published that state the estimated sales tax revenue from the area.
Councilwoman Felter explained why she voted yes for the proposal.
"It's not just the headquarters, it's practice fields, hotels, it's an entertainment district," Councilwoman Felter said. "It's going to be like a magnet that draws all sorts of other economic activity."
She explained the city is expected to benefit from the boost in tourism and revenue.
"The project is going to go to the benefit of Olathe right away because our street and maintenance sales tax and our parks sales tax will be generated off of this property," she said.
The rest of the bonds will come from private investors. Olathe will have no financial obligation if the project fails, according to the ordinance.
"The loss will be on the bond holder, which is not the city," Councilman Jeff Creighton said. "We're not raising property taxes. We're not increasing sales taxes in other areas."
The deal isn't done yet. Olathe still has to approve zoning, site plans and possibly more tax incentives.
"The Chiefs asked us if we would like to dance," Councilman Creighton said. "But the orchestra hasn't started to play."
Which has some neighbors wondering why Olathe went forward with making a decision when the deadline is still two weeks away.
"This gives us an opportunity to fix something if we need to," Mayor Bacon said. "If there's a council member that wanted to change their position, they would have an opportunity to do that."
Commissioners in the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas are expected to vote on the UG's participation in STAR bonds on Thursday evening.
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