HB 1889 -- Sports Center Redevelopment Authority

Co-Sponsors:  Foley, Hanaway, O'Toole, Treadway, Bonner, Gambaro,
Scheve, Rizzo, Bowman, Thompson

This bill:

(1)  Enables any city in the state in which a major league sports
facility is located and any county which includes or is adjacent
to the city to establish a joint sports center redevelopment
authority;

(2)  Gives power to govern any such authority to a board of
commissioners.  The board will have nine commissioners.  Two will
be appointed by the mayor of the city; two will be appointed by
the county; five will be appointed by the Governor, one of whom
will be designated by the Governor as the chair of the board.
The bill explains the term for each of the commissioners and the
powers of the board;

(3)  States that the authority will constitute a public body
corporate and politic and political instrumentality and specifies
its powers;

(4)  Allows an authority to undertake a sports center
redevelopment plan only if the city has adopted the plan by
ordinance.  Public hearings must be held, and no sports center
redevelopment plan will be adopted unless the city determines
that the sports center redevelopment area is a blighted or
conservation area.  The bill outlines the basic required elements
of a sports center redevelopment plan;

(5)  States that, for no more than 35 years, economic activity
taxes generated within the sports center redevelopment area will
be paid to the city and deposited in the special allocation fund;

(6)  Allows the state to make an annual appropriation of no more
than $7 million per year, for no more than 30 years, for debt
service.  The bill states that the net sum provided by the state
cannot exceed $100 million;

(7)  Exempts the income and all properties of the authority from
taxation in the state;

(8)  Requires any lease on a stadium to be for at least 35 years
and that the team leasing the stadium must play all home games at
the stadium during that time.  The bill outlines other
requirements of the lessee;

(9)  Requires that, if the team leasing the stadium is sold prior
to the lease-end date, the owners must pay the authority a
portion of the sales price which is attributable to the lease and
the stadium;

(10)  Requires the team leasing the stadium to make payments in
lieu of taxes annually to the city and other affected taxing
districts in an amount equal to the ad valorem property taxes
paid in a specified year; and

(11)  Gives the naming rights of the stadium to the authority.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated October 11, 2002 at 9:02 am