Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — St. Joseph residents will not see a bond measure at the polls this year to help finance a large-scale youth sports complex on the campus of Missouri Western State University, but key discussions and project planning will continue.
City officials have elected to push back their timeline by at least one year to decide whether to pursue a general obligation bond measure to finance the complex, a potential $85 million to $105 million joint project between the city and university. The city had previously set a May deadline to make its decision with the St. Joseph School District also pursuing its Proposition 2 bond measure in April.
“There is a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure that council has enough information to make an adequate decision,” said Clint Thompson, director of planning and community development. “However, as a result of moving that issue further out in the timeline, there is still work ongoing on the project.”
Additional information on cost projections and a plan for how bonds would be repaid still have to be determined before city officials elect to pull the trigger, among other factors to weigh. The complex is being targeted for a 70-acre plot of land on the northern portion of Missouri Western’s campus adjacent to Faraon Street.
With a timeframe on a decision now pushed back, Thompson said one goal over the coming months is to explore additional economic activity that could be paired with the complex, activity that would generate additional revenue and limit how much a bond measure and its tax increase would impact residents.
Just as important, additional time will be used to evaluate all of the community’s existing needs and determine the extent to which added debt would impact services, taxing entities and infrastructure like sewers and roads.
“That’s one thing that I think this council will be looking into is: How is that debt paid back? What’s the cost to the resident?” Thompson said. “How can we ensure that those costs are met before we go out and take on additional debt that may be serviced by the taxpayer?â€
St. Joseph is several years into the process of developing the complex, a potential dual indoor and outdoor project capable of hosting dozens of tournaments and events while boosting community sports growth through new programs and state-of-the-art facilities.
Early plans have called for a variety of courts for volleyball and basketball, fields for baseball and softball and a host of additional amenities for fitness and training.
A common tool used by governments to fund major infrastructure projects like bridges, parks and public buildings, general obligation bonds — which the city intends to use to finance the complex — are backed by a government’s pledge to use general and tax revenues, typically in the form of property tax increases to repay bondholders. In most cases, the bonds are repaid over 20 years.
GO bonds differ from other financing tools like revenue bonds, which are attached to revenue generated from the project itself or other income sources.
“The city has not issued debt previously through that type of mechanism in the past,†Thompson said. “The youth sports facility would be a great community benefit. However, is it a benefit that would be in line with other potential needs in the community? I think that’s what we’re going through the process right now.â€
City council members previously approved a $129,500 contract on Dec. 9 with project developer/consultant Sports Facilities Development to ramp up preliminary planning and analysis following earlier feasibility studies.
SFD, a Florida-based developer, has helped create and manage indoor and outdoor facilities like the AdventHealth Sports Park in Shawnee, Kansas, and the Cooper Sports Complex in Springfield, Missouri.
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