Steve Kraske
speaker
756 appearances
15 recordings
2 series
first heard Jun 2026
last heard 8 Sep
Steve Kraske’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 15 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 6.
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Kansas City Today · Did Kansas City cut itself a bad deal with the Royals? Probably · 26 Aug 2026
podcast
This has been kicking around when it comes to stadium construction around the country for any number of years.
You know, as things stand now, Thomas, Kansas City and the state of Missouri together would fund $1.1 billion of stadium costs, or about 60% of the total construction cost here.
It rises even further once other tax breaks and sales tax exemptions get tossed into the mix.
The Royals would pay about $760 million.
How does that combined $1.1 billion contribution towards stadium construction compare to what other cities around the country have done?
In other words, interest costs are really going to have to be part of the mix here, obviously, going forward.
You talked to one expert who pointed out that Kansas City already is carrying $5 billion of total bond debt, and the stadium bonds would only add to that.
This expert, John Mosens of the Central Economic Accountability Group, said that number deserves more debate.
Tell us more about that.
What was he talking about?
On the plus side for taxpayers, Thomas, the Royals would cover annual stadium maintenance and operations expenses, including insurance.
But the team might have a way to reverse that using something called targeted taxes, which
What is that and what are the concerns surrounding targeted taxes?
There's also a provision that would allow the Royals to pay less on stadium maintenance in the years before it would move out, I guess at the end of the lease.
What's that about?
One of your experts described that provision as simply nuts.
What's his concern?
Exactly two days after you published this story, again, quoting economists and these concerns about this deal, the city council signed off on this 30-year lease.
What's the council argument for proceeding when there are so many economists and experts like the ones you've interviewed saying,
expressing these concerns, Thomas?
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