For Immediate Release: Dec. 23, 2025

Contact Jodi Widhalm: 573-751-3074

Taxpayers Built Arrowhead, Government Lost It

For more than 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs called Arrowhead Stadium home. That didn’t happen by accident. Jackson County taxpayers paid to build and maintain that stadium through bonds and taxes, year after year. Generations of Missourians invested in Arrowhead long before the Chiefs became the team we know today. Fans stayed loyal through decades of ups and downs. We filled the stands during the rough years, packed the parking lots, and built the best tailgating experience in the NFL. We supported the team with our time, our money, and our hearts.

Let’s be clear: as much as we love the Chiefs and the NFL, they are businesses that pursue deals that best serve their bottom line. As a former small business owner, I understand that reality. I don’t blame the Chiefs for acting in what they believe is their best interest, but understanding the business decision doesn’t erase the frustration felt by me and thousands of other Missouri taxpayers. Many lifelong fans feel a deep sense of loss and betrayal—even if the team is moving just a few miles across the state line. 

Losing the Chiefs didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen in a vacuum. In my opinion, it’s the result of years of warning signs being ignored, taxpayers being squeezed, and elected officials choosing political games over real relief for the people who actually foot the bill.

For years now, Jackson County residents have been very clear: enough is enough. Homeowners are still reeling from a property tax crisis that sent assessments skyrocketing, often with little explanation and even less accountability. Families who did nothing wrong suddenly found themselves paying hundreds or thousands more just to stay in their homes. This year, commercial businesses got hit with the same increases.

When the idea of new taxes or extensions came up — even tied to beloved teams — taxpayers pushed back. Not because they don’t value the Chiefs or the Royals, but because they are already stretched way too thin. Families were already struggling to pay their mortgages, afford groceries, and stay in their homes. The pushback wasn’t anti-Chiefs or anti-sports, it was about survival. People who were being taxed out of their homes were not going to approve any additional tax, even a renewal. The vote failed because taxpayers drew a firm and justified line.

When the governor called the Missouri General Assembly back for an extraordinary session to incentivize the teams to remain in Missouri, I was not part of any negotiations with the Chiefs. No one from their organization ever contacted me, visited my office, or came to the Capitol to lobby for the stadium legislation that passed. Throughout the session’s stadium debate, I made it clear that I would not vote for a stadium bill unless we delivered real property tax relief for Jackson County homeowners. This relief never came.

This silence was telling, and it strongly suggested to me that the Chiefs were never committed to staying in Missouri. The president of the team’s response made it clear to me during a recent meeting that the organization was more concerned about a billion-dollar, state-of-the-art stadium rather than remaining loyal to the people of Jackson County and renovating the place that helped put them on the football map - Arrowhead.

I truly believe losing the Chiefs is the predictable result of failed leadership at the city and county level, runaway taxation, and a Legislature that allowed politics to block real relief for the people who are paying the bills. It’s more than sports pride, it’s about jobs, tourism, economic growth, and the signal we send to families and employers deciding whether Missouri is a place worth investing in.

This fight is not over! Property tax reform will be my top priority during the 2026 legislative session. I've filed Senate Bill 919 as a vehicle for that change. This proposal puts a 5% cap on property tax liability increases, ensures transparency in property reclassifications, places a 15% cap on residential assessment increases, and lowers the valuation threshold from 90-110% to 75-100%.

Missourians deserve a government that works for them — not one that prices them out of their homes, ignores their concerns, and then asks for more. If Missouri wants to keep its teams, its jobs, and its people, it must start by respecting the taxpayers who make all of it possible. Because when taxpayers are ignored long enough, they don’t just vote “no.”  They leave.  And that's a bigger loss than any stadium.

Please visit Sen. Nicola’s official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Nicola for more legislative and constituent resources.

Senator Joe Nicola proudly serves the citizens of Jackson County in the Missouri Senate.