Yes, you are supposed to read the title like Jerry Seinfeld doing a bit. (I met Keith Hernandez at an event in St. Louis recently, so obviously Seinfeld is on my mind now.)
Youth sports centers have been exploding around Missouri for two decades and, unfortunately, tax subsidies seem to go hand-in-glove with them. Let’s make one thing clear at the start: these aren’t parks. These aren’t public facilities where any kid or family can go and play or picnic or fly a kite with a delightful, singing nanny. These are businesses aimed at youth travel sports clubs, which are private, expensive teams. I like club sports (if my kids’ coaches are reading this, please don’t bench them). I just don’t think they fit any definition of a public good. These private facilities have no business being subsidized by taxpayers; if there is a market for them (there is), then they will succeed on their own.
Here is a brief listing of some of the major youth sports facilities that received taxpayer funds of various types (grants, incentives, special sales taxes, etc.) by various governments:
- Springfield heavily subsidized the Sports Town project.
- St. Louis County had trouble deciding which of multiple youth sports projects to ultimately fund (it eventually subsidized both).
- A baseball complex in Lake of the Ozarks has seen multiple battles over tax incentives.
- O’Fallon just rejected subsidies for another complex (yeah!), but then turned around one week later and approved them (boo!).
This is just a short list. I am sure there are more. The first policy change we need is to remove the ability of cities to make these decisions. At a minimum, counties should make all of these tax subsidy decisions. County officials are at least answerable to the voters for their choices. Municipalities routinely grant tax subsidies to businesses where the immediate impact to the city is limited but the harm to the school district, library district, and other entities that rely on tax revenue is substantial. Yet voters in those other districts often don’t live within the municipality and can’t hold anyone responsible with their votes.
Beyond that, we need local municipal officials to better understand basic economics and think both long term and regionally. I am not holding my breath.
