The Royals have received nearly $17 million of taxpayer money over the last five years for the purpose of paying for stadium repairs, but according to Sports Radio 810 WHB, the team has only used 9 percent of that money on the repairs.
Most of the money, it appears, has instead gone towards paying for other things, such as employee salaries, utilities, phones and even payroll taxes. According to the report, the taxpayer money was supposed to be put aside in order to “bear interest over time to accumulate large sums to fund major Kauffman Stadium repairs and maintenance through 2030.”
The radio station uncovered documents indicating that the team only needed a little north of $1.5 million for actual repairs, with the team all the while pocketing the difference and using it wherever it was needed.
As Deadspin points out, however, the money wasn’t used the one place where the taxpayers might not mind — by actually paying for the team to get some good players.
