Commentary

Missouri Readers: Your Tax Dollars at Work

Stadium subsidy plan will bypass Legislature. a Missouri state agency is poised to approve $50 million in public funds for renovations to professional sports stadiums in Kansas City…last year, a Senate plan to use tax money for the overhaul died in the House amid complaints that the state had more pressing needs. But now the decision is in the hands of a low-profile panel called the Missouri Development Finance Board. The board will be asked to approve tax credits, which could be sold to raise cash for construction. The Cardinals took the same path after legislators balked in 2002 at subsidizing a new ballpark to replace Busch Stadium. The board then gave the Cardinals $29.5 million in tax credits as part of a financing package. Nothing like transparent government!