ST. LOUIS • A committee of city aldermen unanimously passed a tax incentive plan for a proposed Major League Soccer stadium here, a first step that came more quickly and with less debate than some feared, suggesting the team ownership group may have a relatively swift path through City Hall.

The aldermen spent Wednesday morning publicly dissecting the proposal, inside a city hearing room packed to the doors with scarf-wearing soccer fans. The room’s unused balcony even was opened.

Aldermen grilled the ownership group, represented by Enterprise Holdings Foundation Executive Director Carolyn Kindle Betz, on stadium financing, maintenance, construction worker pay and the as-yet-unknown costs of stadium ownership. Kindle Betz and other team representatives said repeatedly that the city would not be on the hook for extra costs.

“I don’t know any other way to say it,” said Thompson Coburn attorney Bill Kuehling, who is working for the owners. “The team will be responsible for all costs under that lease.”

The proposal passed on Wednesday is just a first step. It must win approval by the full board, perhaps as soon as Friday. And, as a resolution, it outlines only a plan — it doesn’t create the laws required to secure tax incentives. Aldermen will have to vote on those later.