County legislators disagree on putting stadium tax on agenda before future Royals site determined

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Jackson County legislator said Friday he was skeptical of a proposal before the governing body to put the Royals’ stadium tax on the April ballot.

County chair DaRon McGee added the agenda item to Monday’s meeting. It calls on voters to decide whether to extend the three-eighth cent stadium sales tax for the next 40 years.

Legislator Manny Abarca said the ordinance is premature. He said authorizing ballot language before knowing the terms of a lease or community benefit is unfair to taxpayers.

“We need to see that a lease and community benefits agreement is in place if not for any reason to make sure union workers are going to be there on site,” county legislator Manny Abarca said. “We’re going to prevailing wage and that there’s no games playing like we see at the jail.”

The Royals have yet to announce where they plan to build a new stadium.

In a statement to KCTV5, McGee said “the purpose of the proposal is to facilitate discussion and build consensus with all parties regarding the ballot language.”

The full statement is below: