Report: Kansas City Chiefs Considering Moving Team If Local Citizens Don’t Pay More Taxes

The back-to-back Super Bowl-winning Chiefs want local citizens to pay for the upgrades. Per Kevin Holms with KSBH, citizens in Jackson County will decide on a ballot initiative extending a 3/8-cent sales tax through 2064.

The Chiefs are threatening to move from Jackson County

The Chiefs want to use money from the sales tax to make renovations at Arrowhead Stadium and to build a new ballpark for the Kansas City Royals. Holmes interviewed Chiefs President Mark Donovan about asking taxpayers to foot the bill for the Chiefs’ and Royals’ projects.

Donovan said if voters didn’t continue to impose the tax burden on themselves or future generations who will have to pay the tax until 2064, the Chiefs would explore options to move from Jackson County.

“I can’t answer that for the Royals,” Donovan said. “I just know for us, the Chiefs, we would just have to look at all our options.”

The Kansas City Chiefs say they want to stay

Donovan said the Chiefs don’t want to leave Kansas City.

“I think they would have to include leaving Kansas City,” Donovan said. “But our goal here is, we want to stay here. And we’re willing to accept a deal for the county to actually stay here.”

The Chiefs and their owner, Clark Hunt, have plenty of money to improve their private enterprise. Tickets to Chiefs games aren’t cheap, and the taxes they want citizens to pay aren’t either.