By Jennifer Theurer

According to a recent article by Zane Irwin, Kansas News Service reporter, Kansas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about the economic viability of leveraging public money for a multibillion-dollar sports franchise.

The Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds promote themselves as a financing method that does not create new taxes as private investors are expected to buy the bonds that will provide up to 60% of the stadium’s construction costs.

Those investors won’t start seeing returns until after 2031, when the Chiefs start playing in their new facility. Those returns will come in the form of additional sales tax revenue generated around the Wyandotte County stadium.

Democrats and Republicans alike worry whether that revenue will be enough to cover the final tab. Both sides emphasized that the stadium deal is still a good move and that they feel odd about actually agreeing on an issue.