Kansas Governor Laura Kelly declared it a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to transform the state’s economy by delivering thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in new business activity.
That was in 2022, when she announced the state would give Panasonic $829 million to build an electric battery plant in Johnson County. Her hoped-for economic transformation hasn’t come about, and it won’t, for many of the same reasons that giving the Hunt family a $2 billion taxpayer subsidy to move the Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri to Kansas.
The Kansas economy hasn’t fallen further behind the national average because of a lack of taxpayer subsidies; Democrats and Republicans alike have heaped subsidies on companies for decades, yet the state is in its fifth consecutive decade of economic stagnation.
The gap for Kansas private-sector GDP and the national average has steadily widened since 1979. In the first half of 2025, private-sector GDP adjusted for inflation grew at half the national rate.
Sadly, the trend likely won’t improve until the current or any future governor and the Legislature roll back spending and reduce the tax and regulatory burdens from today’s level. The 2024 bill reducing income tax rates was a good start. Unfortunately, property, sales, and income taxes remain higher than in many states.
Taxpayer-funded stadium deals like the Chiefs are getting don’t deliver
The Chiefs stadium deal confers bragging rights, but it will not transform the state’s economy.
In a study of the Atlanta Braves’ move from a downtown stadium to a new stadium-anchored mixed-use development in nearby Cobb County, noted sports economist John Bradbury writes, “The findings indicate a net increase in taxable sales in the county; however, the magnitude of the effect is small and not statistically significant. Though net new spending is evident, approximately one-third of the project’s sales appear to derive from crowding out other local economic activity. In total, added tax collections fall well short of covering the public subsidies provided by Cobb. The stadium’s limited economic impact, despite its favorable location and ancillary mixed-use development, further supports past findings that sports venues are poor investments as economic development projects.”
The Chiefs’ stadium deal relies on incremental sales tax collections within the designated STAR (sales tax and revenue) bond district to pay off the $2 billion debt and will suffer the same crowding-out effect. Some of the activity will come from Missouri residents, but much of it will come from Kansans and impose future costs on the state budget.
The Chief’s STAR bond district will include the stadium, entertainment venue, retail and restaurant spaces, hotels, office space, and medical facilities. Sales tax currently generated within the boundaries would otherwise continue to grow naturally and help fund schools, social services, and other government services. Those increases will now be diverted to repay the STAR bond debt.
The same is true of taxable activity that shifts from other areas into the STAR bond district: the sales tax it generates will be used to pay off debt rather than to fund government services. For instance, someone who stays at a hotel outside of the district would have ALL of the tax revenue from that stay going into the normal government coffers, but if they stay at a hotel within the district, the tax revenue is used to pay off STAR bond debt.
Where is the Legislature’s enthusiasm for property tax relief?
The super-charged STAR bond legislation was passed in 2024 with supermajorities in the Kansas House and Senate. Given a choice between stadium subsidies and property tax relief, Kansans would strongly prefer the latter, yet substantive property tax relief remains elusive despite strong public demand.
A recent public opinion poll conducted for KPI by SurveyUSA shows 75% of voters want to limit the increase in taxable assessed values, and 82% want some say over mill levy increases.
The Senate passed a constitutional amendment to limit assessed value increases, but the House shot it down, and mill levy increases didn’t come up for a vote.
In fact, 52 House members and 9 Senators who voted for the Chiefs’ STAR bond subsidy voted against the property tax assessment limit.
Now that the Chiefs received a $2 billion Christmas gift while 75%+ of Kansas taxpayers hoping for property tax relief received coal in their stockings, let’s hope the New Year brings significant property tax relief to Kansas taxpayers.
