Kansas City Chiefs

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is putting quite the spin on the recently-renegotiated deal between the state and the Kansas City Chiefs. “They were alleging that the deal we negotiated was flawed, but then they end up with the same deal we had,” he told The Star yesterday. 

Yet as Kinder knows very well, the deal he negotiated with the Chiefs -- one his own MDFB lawyer said was inconsistent with what the MDFB approved -- is not "the same deal" announced yesterday.

Most notably, Kinder's deal gave the Chiefs their $25 million tax break while only guaranteeing five years of benefits. The revised deal, which is now consistent with the team's explicit public promises to taxpayers and to the MDFB, makes sure Missouri taxpayers get their full ten years of economic benefits from a team training camp. The new deal also includes penalties for the team if they don't meet their commitments.

The Kansas City Chiefs/MDFB bait-and-switch saga looks like it may finally be resolved. The Star and News-Journal are reporting that Gov. Jay Nixon will be in St. Joseph today to announce a final deal between the Chiefs and Missouri Development Finance Board. Per the Star, here are the terms of the deal:

The Chiefs will hold their training camp in Missouri for a minimum of 10 years, help build a $13 million training facility at Missouri Western and make about $50 million worth of improvements to Arrowhead Stadium and the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City.

In exchange, the team will receive $25 million in tax credits.

If this deal sounds a lot like the original commitments from the Chiefs in exchange for the $25 million in tax credits, that's because the Chiefs originally committed to staying in Missouri for 10 years. Only after making public committments of 10 years did they attempt to rework a shorter deal in private -- without a new vote from the MDFB Board, but with the blessing of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.

The News-Press' Scott Pummell is unhappy that the Kansas City Chiefs are being asked to stand by the commitments they made to secure a $25 million tax credit. In his mind, everyone needs "act like a team" and give the Chiefs the deal they negotiated with help from Peter Kinder's office, no matter what was promised about:

It basically comes down to a technicality. The new governor says the deal should hold the Chiefs to a firm 10-year commitment to St. Joseph, and this faction says that’s what was agreed on when the tax credits were approved.

Missouri Western and Chiefs officials say the team agreed to a five-year contract followed by five one-year renewable options.

The terms of the deal were spelled out pretty clearly in the paperwork. The framework of five years plus five one-year options is how the proposal was reported in the News-Press on Dec. 13. Four days after that article, the Missouri Development Finance Board [MDFB] voted to approve the credits.

One would hope that state-appointed commissioners can research $10 million tax credit proposals at least as well as a newspaper reporter — before that much money is agreed to and approved.

For someone hoping that Board members would "research $10 million tax credit proposals at least as well as a newspaper reporter", Pummell's own research seems a bit incomplete.

In his just-released campaign finance reports, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder shows some nice checks to help pay down his considerable campaign debt from (guess who!) the Kansas City Chiefs:

• $1,000 from the Kansas City Chiefs on February 23
• $500 from Hunt Midwest Enterpriseson on February 23  (owned by the Lamar Hunt family)

Gov. Nixon made the "outrageous" statement today that the Kansas City Chiefs need to live up to the many promises they made to keep their training camp in St. Joseph for a "minimum of ten years" in exchange for $25 million in tax credits.  Here is the summary from The Star:

The Missouri Development Finance Board approved the tax-credit package last December, apparently with the understanding that the football team would hold its annual camp in Missouri for at least a decade.

Documents finalizing the deal, however, hold the Chiefs to just a five-year commitment, followed by five one-year renewals at the team's option. [emphasis mine]

Why "apparently"?  It inserts ambiguity into the story that really isn't there

That the Chiefs made the ten year commitment to the MDFB before the vote is well-documented.  The only question is whether the the Chiefs will be required to fulfill their commitment, and if the revised agreement for half the time (and all the cost) will be allowed to stand.

The Chiefs commitment and understanding of the Board is so well documented, in fact, that the MDFB's own lawyer admits that there are at least three "inconsistencies" between what was presented to the Board and what was actually negotiated by Peter Kinder's office.

This is how the controversy surrounding the Chiefs' $25 million tax credit deal is described in today's News-Press:

To recap, a Missouri Department of Economic Development official said last week that the state wouldn’t issue the credits unless the Chiefs committed to running its summer training camp in St. Joseph for 10 straight years.

The Chiefs, in a letter of intent and public announcements this winter, had stated a pledge of five years plus five one-year renewable options to Missouri Western State University, which is building a $14 million-plus indoor stadium facility with a $10 million donation from the Chiefs.

But economic development officials contend the Missouri Development Finance Board actually voted in December on a 10-year commitment and have taken issue with the five-year deal that both sides agreed to in the camp’s final contract. The final contract hasn’t been signed by all parties, however.

That's the complete "recap." Last week, an unnamed official at the Dept. of Economic Development asked for a 10 year commitment. Last winter, the Chiefs pledged five years, plus five one-year options. "Officials contend" that the MDFB voted on a 10-year deal. "Both sides" agreed to the 5 year deal. End of "recap."

Conspicuously absent from the "recap" are some rather important details that might help readers in St. Joe understand why this isn't quite an honest dispute between two parties.

This is what I learned about Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's day yesterday:

• He celebrated National Start Walking Day.
• He got a hug from Newt Gingrich.
• And somebody told Sen. Tim Green that Kinder was "not responsible for the KC Chiefs problem," no matter what the actual documents show or the MFDB's own counsel says.

But what I didn't learn is what actually happened. 

So when did Kinder know that the Chiefs were lying? And what did he do (or not do) to address (or enable) the dishonesty?

The Chiefs are asserting that no matter what they were saying in public, in documents provided to the Missouri Development Finance Board, or at MDFB meetings, they had no intention of committing to ten years in St. Joseph. 

The football club, however, contends that it committed to just five years and that the state knew that from the start — when the Finance Board’s chairman was Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican.

When did Peter Kinder know that the Chiefs were lying?  He was Chair of the MDFB for the entire period in question.  Did he know they were lying at the December 18 meeting?  Or only after the meeting, at which point he felt empowered to negotiate an agreement completely inconsistent with the deal presented to and passed unanimously by the MDFB?

The Chiefs were unaware that they'd be held accountable for their many promises and commitments to the taxpayers who are giving them a $25 million tax credit.

Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore said Tuesday the state "still hadn’t notified the team of the need for a 10-year contract."

Moore also says, “We’ve looked at the transcript from the meeting that has been mentioned, and no representative of the Chiefs said what has been implied for 10 years.” 

Please.

Can someone at the Capitol shoot the Chiefs a quick memo?  Maybe fax them a copy of the minutes and briefing book from the meeting at which they promised "a minimum of ten years" to the people authorizing the $25 million. Throw in a few of the the news stories with the same promises for good measure.

Or maybe the Chiefs can follow up with Peter Kinder directly.

Jason Noble at The Star has more details on the Chiefs deal switcheroo:

Legal documents and confidential correspondence obtained by The Kansas City Star indicate that the football team exaggerated its commitment to St. Joseph in public statements to the board that approved the tax credit...

“There’s a difference between a statement on the record and a legal document,” [Chiefs Spokesman Bob] Moore said. “Just because it was mentioned at a meeting doesn’t mean it’s the final word.”

Read the whole article. It's some slimy stuff. The Chiefs were saying one thing and then doing another. Promises were made in public to inform the MDFB's December vote, and then a completely different agreement was crafted in private. And the whole deal ran right through the Lieutenant Governor's office.

In December, the Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) authorized a $25 million tax credit proposal as part of a deal to bring the Kansas City Chiefs' training camp to St. Joseph. The MDFB, chaired by Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, was enthusiastic about the economic activity that would accompany the team, and unanimously agreed to tax credits with the understanding that the team would (1) contribute $10 million to Missouri Western and (2) train on their campus for at least ten years.

However, the agreement with the Chiefs was not drafted as presented to the MDFB. Despite an explicit commitment from the Chiefs that they would train in St. Joseph for a minimum of ten years, they were offered a deal that only required them to stick around for five, with an additional five one-year options. Translation: taxpayers will be on the hook for $25 million no matter what, but the Chiefs can get away with half of what they promised.

The commitment to ten years was not a soft pledge.  Here are the the minutes from the MDFB's December 16, 2008 meeting:

[Chiefs' Senior Vice President Bill] Newman stated that with the $25 million in tax credits, the Chiefs are pledging $10 million for Missouri Western State University and to bring the training camp back to Missouri for a minimum of ten years with an anticipated starting date of 2010. [page 4]

Moments after hearing this pledge from the Chief's Senior VP for "a minimum of ten years," the MDFB unanimously approved the deal.