Champagne. Cookie “bouquets.” A bronze sculpture of the late Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt Sr.
These were some of the dozens of line items that a Missouri Department of Revenue tax auditor red-flagged on an inventory of purchases the Chiefs made and should have paid taxes on during the $375 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium a decade ago. Taxpayers paid the lion’s share of the project — $250 million — through Jackson County sales taxes.
While the team eventually agreed that it didn’t deserve sales tax breaks on things like sweets and bubbly, the organization went to the mat defending its right to escape taxes on hundreds of items it bought to outfit the new Arrowhead.