Editorial

St. Louis vote would likely kill stadium funds

Officials in St. Louis oppose a citywide vote on plans to use $126 million of city funds over the next 30 years to help fund a new stadium for the Cardinals baseball team. They are opposed for the same reason backers of $210 million in state funding for the stadium don't want a statewide vote: They're certain voters would reject the funding plans.

While a strong case has been made for the positive economic impact of a new downtown ball park in St. Louis, there hasn't been a strong case made for convincing voters, either in the city or all across Missouri, that a big chunk of the funding ought to come from taxpayers.

There are lots of reasons why the state's taxpayers don't want their money used for this project:

In outstate Missouri, the new Cardinals stadium is seen as a project that will benefit St. Louis and Cardinals owners. A lot of baseball fans from the eastern side of the state and even much of central Missouri boost attendance figures at Busch Stadium, but they feel they pay their fair share when they buy tickets and support the concession stands at the park.

Fans in the state's other urban areas, particularly Kansas City and Springfield, think what's good for St. Louis must be good for their sports complexes too. As a result, the total proposed state bill for sports venues has grown substantially so that everyone gets a share of the pot.

A constant theme in Jefferson City this year has been there isn't going to be enough revenue to pay for all the demands on the state budget. To underscore that message, Gov. Bob Holden has increased the amount of money being withheld from state agencies as a cushion against a revenue shortfall. Even if the revenue shortage never materializes, it is against this backdrop that the governor and others are pushing state funding for a new baseball stadium in St. Louis and other sports spending elsewhere. For most Missourians, this just doesn't make good fiscal sense.

In St. Louis, the Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums has gathered almost twice as many signatures as needed on a petition to require a citywide vote on the spending support that already has been endorsed by the mayor and board of aldermen. It is likely the vote -- if held -- would be on the same day as November's general election. As the name of the group implies, the coalition isn't looking for an impartial referendum on stadium funding. It hopes -- and is pretty sure about it -- that most voters will say no. Without the city's portion of the funding package, the whole plan likely would collapse.

It's questionable whether the issue will ever make it to a vote this year, despite the petition. The legislature has yet to act on the proposed state portion of the package. If the legislature adjourns without taking action -- as it did last year -- there really won't be a pressing need for the vote in St. Louis.

Taxpayers all over Missouri will be watching closely as the legislature wrestles with stadium funding and even more closely if the need arises for the St. Louis vote. Given the near certainty of defeat from city voters, it appears the Cardinals and city officials need to be looking for a backup plan.

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