Across the country, governors and mayors are embracing a familiar pitch: high-profile development projects financed with bonds that supposedly come at “no cost to taxpayers.”
This is certainly the case with huge investments in stadiums for professional sports teams, such as Kansas’ proposal to issue $1.8 billion in bonds to help finance a new domed stadium for the Chiefs, or for Washington, D.C.’s bonds for a new Commanders stadium. The former was presented to the public by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, who emphasized it would not cost taxpayers.
The legal structure often supports that claim. The fiscal reality can be more complicated…