ST. LOUIS — Taxes will rise at ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ soccer stadium.
The ºüÀêÊÓƵ Port Authority board on Thursday approved a 1% sales tax increase to help reimburse ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC’s ownership group for a $23 million cleanup job involving contaminated groundwater at the downtown stadium.
Consumers will pay as much as 12.7% in sales taxes at CityPark, at North 20th and Market streets, and its adjacent parking and team store on items like food, beverages and merchandise. The tax will be in effect for 40 years, said Mark Spykerman, legal counsel for the Port Authority. The rate is among the highest in the region.
The new tax is expected go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, Spykerman said.
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Jason Thein, the team’s COO, said work crews discovered the groundwater contamination during the stadium’s construction. The water, known as a karst spring, is located in the lower bowl of CityPark, near the 20-yard line on the north side of the stadium. As much as 200,000 gallons flows through.
Team owners had to spend $23 million to build an extensive system to gather and clean the water before it hit the Metropolitan Sewer District system, Thein said.
The owners — the Taylor family, of car rental giant Enterprise, and World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh — will be able to recoup $12 million of the system’s construction costs and about $100,000 annually in maintenance costs through the new tax.
Although the ownership group claimed the more than $461 million stadium would be largely privately financed when CityPark was first announced, its redevelopment agreement with the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ allows the team to tap special taxes. Thursday’s approval increases the extra sales tax levy at the stadium to 3%.
The owners also have received $5.7 million of tax credits, 25 years of real estate tax abatement worth $35 million, and amusement tax abatement worth $22 million, all part of its financing package.
During Thursday’s meeting, two guests — city gadfly Gerry Connolly and David Stokes of the Show-Me Institute — criticized the Port Authority and its parent organization, ºüÀêÊÓƵ Development Corp., for not properly notifying the public of the hearing regarding the additional tax.
Spykerman, the attorney, said the notice was published per law and that the board is not required to send notices to residents.