Incentives include a full exemption on sales tax for construction materials, free use of the site — state highway land just west of Union Station on Market Street — plus a 50 percent break on ticket taxes and the addition of a 3 percent sales tax on goods sold at the stadium. The resolution also recommends funneling the other half of the ticket tax into a city fund to support future stadium improvements.

The city’s development arm said the stadium proposal, which it gave a rare five-star rating, would provide an immediate influx of tax dollars — about $1.4 million a year or $41 million over 30 years.

That’s a conservative estimate, Krewson said Thursday, “based on the number of games and number of events that will be held there.”

There’s a lot the cash-strapped city could do with that money, said Reed, the resolution’s chief sponsor.

“A lot of the things we want to work on, that our neighborhoods really want us to do … all of those things cost money. Projects like this can help fuel those things,” he said after the vote.

Debate among aldermen on Friday ranged from fawning support for the stadium, to cautious optimism, to fear that St. Louis could still end up with a raw deal, even with philanthropists pouring millions into development.