KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas and Missouri. A viewer emailed him after the Chiefs announced they were moving to Kansas, asking for an explanation of how STAR bonds function. Share your story idea with Charlie.
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The state of Kansas plans to use STAR bonds to pay for its portion of a new stadium and headquarters for the Kansas City Chiefs, who agreed to move from Missouri to Kansas before the 2031 NFL season.
STAR is an acronym for sales tax and revenue. The state sets a baseline for how much sales tax businesses within a particular boundary — or STAR bond district — generate.
The state redirects any sales tax over the baseline amount to pay off the bond.
“I’m OK with the fact of actually paying the tax to bring the Chiefs to Kansas,” Nelson Young said while shopping in Wyandotte County.
In this particular deal, the state will redirect that incremental sales tax for 30 years or until the bond is paid off. At that point, the state can use the money for regular governmental services.
The city of Olathe and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, will decide whether to set aside their incremental city sales tax for the project. The stadium will be in Wyandotte County, and the Chiefs said they'll build their new headquarters in Olathe.
“Honestly, I’m not really happy about it because I think that money should go to other things,” said shopper Hayley Madrid.
The stadium and headquarters project will not change the tax rate. It should generate enough money to cover 60% of the project costs, more than $2 billion combined for the stadium and headquarters.
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