Covering the Bases: Community Benefits for Public Subsidies in Kansas City

Sports stadium deals often fail to deliver promised economic growth. Research consistently shows that they provide minimal improvements to employment or wages, and also divert crucial funds from essential services. To address these shortcomings and ensure that public investments genuinely benefit the community, it is crucial to implement strong Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), which are enforceable agreements that align interests between developers and community stakeholders. Cutting edge CBAs include setting wage and benefit floors, local hiring targets, and collective bargaining rights that remain beyond a project's completion.