the news. When it comes to covering news, issues and topics in Kansas City, Dave Helling knows as much as anybody in this town when it comes to folks who have been on the ground doing it for many years. He joins us on KCMO after we got the news late on Thursday that Kansas City was set to try to move $600 million to try to retain the Royals in Kansas City. And that would move them from of course where they're at, Truman Sports Complex, over to right by Union Station in Washington Square Park. Dave, good morning. Thanks for joining us on KCMO. What was your immediate reaction to this news when it came down late last week? Well, obviously as a reporter, the first thing you think about is can I find out some details? What was this going to work? What is it involved? And then my second reaction, Pete, was it was very curious and interesting that Mayor Lucas, Quentin Lucas, made this announcement without the Royals sort of endorsing it or agreeing to it or unveiling a plan. They just sort of said, thanks, Mayor, and we'll take it under consideration. That strikes me as very bizarre. When the Chiefs decided to go to the State Legislature's big news conference, the Governor was there, State Legislators, and of course, Clark Hunt. And so this was more interestingly managed, I guess. And then of course, we started working on the details and it's an interesting, fascinating story. So why do you think it is that the Royals just basically put out a statement saying, hey, thanks guys, appreciate it. You know, let's keep talking. Do they potentially trust the numbers? Are they questioning the math and the money? What do you think the reason would be behind that? Yeah, I don't know anything for sure, but I do get the sense that maybe, just maybe, and you can ask them about this, it's possible that Mayor Lucas and the people at City Hall wanted to give the Royals a little bit of a nudge. You know, it's been so difficult to get them to sort of agree on a final package and maybe by announcing it this way, the Royals, you know, the cards are on the table to coin a phrase for the city. And so maybe the Royals now understand in a way they didn't before that this is the sort of last train leaving the station. I don't, you know, John Sherman has talked about Kansas still being on the table. I don't see that. I don't hear that. At least in the ways that we understood it. I don't think North Kansas City remains a viable option based on the relations the team has had there. So, Kansas City seems to be it and I think maybe after the Yardings Tax vote, Mayor Lucas and others said, you know, let's give them a little bit of nudge and say, this is what we have on the table and, you know, join us and let's figure out where we're at. I could be, by the way, just quickly, I could be completely wrong. There were rumors last week that the Royals would make their big announcement this week. So that could be the reality too, but that isn't what we're going to do. So, I think we're going to have to get back to the point. I think we're going to have to get back to the point. So, as we sit here today, where we're at. Dave Hellings joining us on KCMO talk radio. So the 600 million dollars itself, when you stack that up with probably half of the bill upwards of a billion coming courtesy of the state of Missouri, what do you, when you hear that number 600 million, is that more than you would have expected for the city to be able to cross the Kansas side of the state line? Yeah, I would say that 600 million sounds like a huge number and it is. You can't discount that Pete, but remember the city's contribution would be borrowed over 30 years. And so it's just like buying a house, you know, you'd have a mortgage and so the debt service on 600 million over 30 years might be 40 million a year, 45 million a year depending on interest rates and the quality of the bonds. Kansas City can probably find 40, 45 million a year to pay its portion of the cost now. You know, what does the state of Missouri do? Do they come to the table with half a billion dollars over 30 years and how much would their contribution be? We don't know. We don't know how much the royals want to spend. We don't know what the extra spending would be on the ballpark district which they talked about forever down there. So the exact scope of the agreement remains somewhat unclear at least to me going forward and maybe this week we'll get more clarity. The finance committee takes it up tomorrow as you know and the parks board takes it up as well. We may have a little bit understanding about works, but it doesn't seem like the numbers are impossible in a way by the way that the chiefs seem much more difficult. I mean you're putting the entire county in the benefit district because the numbers are very hard over there. This seems a little more manageable for a city like Kansas City. And with that, you know, you mentioned the timing of this two days after the earnings tax passes. This comes out from the mayor. There have been reports over the last few months the city's running a hundred million dollar deficit. You know, the e-tax which has been there for 60 plus years, but it's always billed as if we don't pass it, you've got no fire, you got no cops, you got no EMS, you don't have anything yet. By the way, let's roll out the red carpet for this Royals stadium deal. The optics, the politics of this, how do you read into that side of it, Dave Helling? Well, anyone who's paying attention knows that they waited until just after the earnings tax vote, they didn't want to complicate that public decision. I wrote about that a month ago. I mean it was very clear that they were clearing the decks, no one wanted to jeopardize that amount of money. The other thing to keep in mind, and this is, I think this is so important to understand about this deal and the chief deal for that matter, the mayor talks about funding the city's portion through the new taxes, primarily sales taxes at the stadium. And supposedly there's going to be so much revenue from the people going to the games that they that it will provide enough money to cover the debt service. But remember when the new stadium opens, the old Kauffman stadium will close and all the revenue you got from the old Kauffman stadium won't be there anymore. And in fact, Arrowhead is going to close and you won't get a revenue from that facility either. So I think it's closer to a wash which just reinforces the idea that this is a subsidy, you know people owe it's taxes and the TIF and the but, you know, it's just you know, this community is being asked to subsidize professional sports and that's how you can look at this I think as the discussion goes full. Have you been surprised? I mean, you know you've obviously done this for years in this town. You're writing about it at Kansas City Stack on Substack. Have you been surprised by the lack of I don't want to say criticism because that's not really the job if you're just a true journalist and you're not a you know commentator but just the lack of questions around this over the last few days because I haven't seen as much of it from TV media and some other media sources as they would have expected where people are just looking at it with a critical eye. I've heard a lot more and seen a lot more cheerleading than anything else. Well, I mean, I invite your listeners to go to Kansas City Stack because I wrote two columns last week with about 15 unanswered questions about this deal. We don't know you know the parks board is going to control the stadium. Well, what does that mean? Do they will it become in essence the stadium authority? If so, do they have any expertise in running a baseball stadium? What about I don't I haven't heard anybody talk about the escalating costs of these facilities. If you're building a major football stadium and a major baseball stadium at the same time, the cost for materials and labor don't you think is going to go up? I mean they're talking about three billion. Maybe it's more than that. Maybe inflation will hit both of these projects. Those are just a couple of the questions that I think are still out there. The state's participation the kind of participation that the state involves itself in. Will it give tax credits? Will it give cash money? Will it borrow money? What role will the state play in governance? We don't know that at all. And again, we don't know what the Royals want to do and how much they're going to pay and whether the team is willing to make a 30 year commitment to paying for a new stadium when the current ownership will be long gone 30 years from now. I mean, you know, they're they're not going to last forever. Unlike, for example, the Hunt family owning the cheese, which I think is you know, will go on for many, many decades, but this is a different deal. So, uh, you know, I don't want to judge my colleagues work, but there are a lot of unanswered questions. Then of course, the whole idea of the referendum or initiative petition that hasn't been decided yet. And I've been talking about that for many, many months that that, you know, there is a petition process in Kansas City. So we met you and may yet get a vote on this deal. So there are a lot of things we just don't know. Okay, so I was going to go there next just on the vote on the idea of a vote. Where do you think that that ends up? Because it does seem like the Royals are partially motivated by not going to a vote, which is why that Clay County site may be out of the equation. They don't want to deal with it. The politics of it are not good right now for either side of the political aisle. So where do you see the idea of a vote going right now when Mayor Lucas has said, obviously he does, he does not want to vote and he wants to get this thing through without any kind of a vote of the people. Yeah, I have to chuckle at the Mayor. This thing has been hanging out there for 10 years and all of a sudden it has to be finished in two weeks. That's pretty funny. But I think that as I said repeatedly, there is a mechanism for opponents of this proposal to require a vote at some point if they want to pursue it. But whether the pressure that will be put to bear by the Royals and the Mayor and the heavy constructors and the downtown council and the Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council, all the groups that are involved, whether that pressure will tamp down any enthusiasm for a vote remains to be seen. You know, you could gather petitions to put something on the ballot or the council could put something on the ballot on its own if it wanted to for August. And it would be pretty simple, Pete. All you'd have to do is say, shall the you know, City of Kansas City allow construction of a baseball stadium with public support, blah, blah, blah, and go at it that way rather than hold a referendum on this specific ordinance that the Mayor is proposing this week. And that could be fairly easily done, but whether it is done or not remains as we suggested an open question. Anything, last thing, anything political on this from the Mayor's perspective? You know, a week after he decides he's not running for Congress, e-tax pass this comes out. Do you think there's any political calculation here from the Mayor's office? Well, maybe. I mean, there always is with Clinton and Lucas. I mean, politics are never far from his mind, but on the other hand, it isn't clear what his path is after he leaves office next year. And in fact, you know, I've covered City Hall since the 80s, you know, a long, long time and there's always there are always rumors about Mayors taking higher positions in government that don't turn out to be true. You know, Kay Barnes ran for the House and Sly James was going to get a federal job. None of that took place. So I don't think it's completely political, but I do think that the Mayor, you know him well maybe better than I do and could answer this, but I do think the Mayor had a sense that he if the chiefs and the Royals left town that that would be a real mark on his time in office. You know, and I think he was worried about that. I mean, and the people around him were worried about that and thinking pretty hard about what can we do to make sure that the best offer we can come up with is on the table for the Royals and now it's up to the Royals really and we'll see what happens. Yeah, absolutely. Dave Helling, of course, longtime reporter, columnist, anchor here in Kansas City. He is now writing at Kansas City Stack on Substack. Find him there and make sure you are subscribed. Dave, thanks for the time here on a Monday morning. I appreciate it and we'll be in touch as this story unfolds. You bet Pete. Thanks for calling. You bet. Dave Helling, good job there on KCMO Talk Radio 95, 7 FM. Check engine, ABS or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASC certified master technicians. And if you need help, we could recommend a shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. O'Reilly Auto Parts Auto Parts Auto Parts Auto Parts Anything, just not everything. Afford anything. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
