When they voted in February to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies for the Kansas City Chiefs, Wyandotte County officials wanted to make sure they would not be left out of oversight for the new Chiefs stadium. Now, four months later, at least one state official is saying the county has not yet earned a spot at the table. Rep. Sean Tarwater, a Republican from Stilwell in Johnson County, said that although Wyandotte County approved its $450 million subsidy for the Chiefs, a provision in that ordinance bars the county from having representation on the newly created Kansas Sports Facilities Authority, which will own the stadium. That sports authority, created by HB2466 in April, will own the property for the new Chiefs stadium, oversee its administration and decide how to spend the $7 million per year that the team will pay in stadium rent to the state. But several elected leaders at the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, disputed Tarwater’s claim and believe the county’s contribution makes it legally entitled to a seat on the sports authority board.
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