Jackson Co. Counselor on push to get Chiefs back on the ballot
JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) - Jackson County is at a crossroads. One legislator wants voters to decide on keeping the Chiefs in Kansas City and the County Executive said that isn’t possible.
On Wednesday, Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca proposed two different plans for voters to vote on in November.
One of the proposals is a 40-year extension of the existing 3/8th cents sales tax, but proceeds would only go to the Chiefs. The other is a 30-year, 3/16th cents sales tax for a new Chiefs stadium that would go into effect when the current tax expires in 2031.
County Executive Frank White Jr. said on ‘X’: “The law is explicit: no proposal for a parks sales tax can be resubmitted to voters within 12 months of its previous rejection.”
On Thursday, KCTV5 spoke with Jackson County Counselor Bryan Covinsky to get further clarity on what could be possible.
The Jackson County Counselor is an attorney who is appointed by the County Executive. According to the
Jackson County website
, “He is charged with the istration of the duties of the County Counselor’s Office, including all aspects of direct legal counsel, mental health, assessment litigation, claims litigation, legislative counsel and delinquent tax enforcement.”
When asked if Abarca’s recent proposals could happen, Counselor Covinsky said not if park sales tax is included.
“The statute specifically says that once it is put before the voters it can’t be put before the voters for another year, 12 months is what it says no matter what the outcome of the vote is the first time,” said Jackson County Counselor, Bryan Covinsky. He added, “The parks statute says that it takes a year, so if there is another statute that would be used for a ballot language for tax purposes to the teams the one year wouldn’t apply.”
He said other taxes could be used such as the
Capital Improvements Tax
.
“There are different provisions involved with the Capital Improvement Tax one being the single purpose that was used in 2006 so the issues with that as it was reviewed before is the fact that the Royals were wanting to come downtown so therefore it wasn’t a tax that we thought was applicable this time,” said Counselor Covinsky.
Since the Chiefs are only involved in Abarca’s proposal, this could be a possibility if the team decides to stay at the Truman Sports Complex.
Now it is up to the County Legislature to decide on what to do with Abarca’s two proposals.
“If they asked for an opinion we would give an opinion as we’ve stated right here the legislator could ask for it I think they are all aware of it and there will be a discussion and I’m sure if it is brought up for a vote they will ask us what we think of it as well. So they can move forward accordingly,” said Counselor Covinsky.
Abarca said on Thursday he will do whatever it takes to keep the Chiefs in Jackson County.
KCTV5 reached out to the Chiefs to see if they have any response regarding this situation, they said they did not have any new information to share.
The Missouri Secretary of State’s Office did not respond for comment by the time this initial story aired.
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