By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A little-known piece of legislation approved during the special legislative session in Jefferson City will have a big impact in St. Joseph.
In fact, the Amateur Sports Tax Credit has already had a big impact locally.
“Its economic impact just to St. Joseph alone has been over $8 million,” state Rep. Brenda Shields of St. Joseph tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
“We have used that tax credit since 2018 to bring some really great sporting events to St. Joseph,” according to Shields.
Thos events include the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame, the NCAA Division II women’s basketball Elite Eight, and the NCAA Division II regional golf tournaments.
Extension of the Amateur Sports Tax Credit was tucked inside the bill carrying incentives the state hopes will persuade the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to stay in Missouri. The tax credit was set to expire at the end of August if the legislature hadn’t acted.
Shields says the tax credit has been used successfully throughout the state.
“And it needed to be renewed because we’re getting ready to go into contract negotiations for more NCAA (events),” Shields says. “I mean, it’s been responsible for bringing the Big XII Tournament to Kansas City.”
St. Joseph Sports Commission Executive Direction, Brett Esley, calls the tax credit vital to making successful bids for such events.
“They all have a different level of revenue generation, so, being able to take an event and make it great,” Esley says of the impact of the tax credit for luring events to St. Joseph. “And so as a result of that we’ve been able to enhance those events, especially in this world of athletics, where everybody wants to know what’s in it for me and what are you doing for me to make it great, which is just reality.”
Esley confirms the St. Joseph Sports Commission used the Amateur Sports Tax Credit during the three-year run of the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic as well as landing the DII women’s basketball Elite Eight, in which the competition is fierce, according to Esley.
“The women’s basketball national championship that we hosted two years ago for two years was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last year,” Esley says. “That’s an apples to oranges comparison of communities, but that’s what we’re competing against.”
Esley says St. Joseph and other Missouri communities were well aware the tax credit was set to expire and lobbied the legislature hard to extend it.
“Our executive director, Marci Bennett, I can’t tell you how many times she’s been to Jeff City in the last six weeks. It’s been a lot,” Esley tells KFEQmmunity. “So, she’s been our representative in concert with a number of colleagues. We were fortunate to get the good news late last week that this has been extended and will be something that we get to utilize moving forward, again.”
Esley says the tax credit comes into play when St. Joseph makes a bid to host regional and national amateur sporting events. Under its provisions, the state provides a $5 credit for every ticket sold to an event or $5 per destination. While the tax credit helps St. Joseph, it becomes even a bigger factor for biggest communities attempting to land bigger events, such as the national NCAA Volleyball Tournament to be played in Kansas City this December.
St. Joseph used the tax credit to land the MIAA Volleyball tournament at the Civic Arena.
Easley calls the tax credit vital to St. Joseph’s bid for NCAA events.
“If you went ahead and took away tax credit dollars, not only is it crippling to St. Joseph, but really crippling to some bigger markets that are hosting women’s volleyball national championships.”