The EDC Gets It Wrong
Last week we published a blog post in which we explained how Kansas City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) benefits from...
“For It Is in Giving That We Receive.”
The quotation above, attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, might make a good motto for Kansas City’s Economic Development Corporation...
Progress on TIF Reform
Last Wednesday, Governor Jay Nixon signed into law HB 1434, a measure that—effective August 28—could deal a blow to Missouri’s...
TIF in a Flood Plain–A Recipe for Trouble
High noon approaches as the Saint Louis region awaits Stan Kroenke’s development proposal for Maryland Heights. For those unfamiliar with...
The Negative Impacts of Development Subsidies
The Kansas City Star’s Joe Robertson has written recently about the closure of the Kansas City office of the National...
Session Notes: TIF Reform Gets Approval, But More Needs To Be Done
In a victory for good governance, the Missouri legislature passed important tax increment financing (TIF) legislation, which I wrote about at...
TIF Reform Legislation Races Into the Homestretch, But the Clock Is Ticking
Thanks to robust bipartisan support and assisted by a strangely-timed development proposal, the Missouri legislature is on the verge of...
Economic Development? Schools Shorted in Belton
Mike McShane calls for more transparency for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) deals after a TIF in Belton cost the school...
Brenda Talent on Donnybrook
On February 4, Show-Me Institute CEO Brenda Talent appeared on Saint Louis Public Television's Donnybrook to discuss TIFs in Maryland Heights,...
Taxpayers Shouldn’t Have to Subsidize Parking in Upscale Central West End Redevelopment
Last week the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission voted to approve Koman Group’s $4.5 million TIF proposal for 32 N....
Property Taxes Will Not Save the Saint Louis Stadium Plan
Recently, the Post-Dispatch reported on a study done by Harvard Business School graduates (one of whom is from Chesterfield) on...
“This Time It’ll Be Different”
I’ll bet that’s what Phelps County officials are thinking as they set out to create a new tax increment financing...
Saint Louis Property Taxes, Part 3: The Tax Breaks
In my previous two posts on Saint Louis City’s real property tax base, I discussed how various government bodies and...
City Should Reject Central West End TIFs
Recently, the Saint Louis Business Journal reported that Koman Group, a real estate developer, plans to add to two apartment...
The Lake Loves Local Subsidies
It seems you win some, you lose some. Just as soon as I was about to pop open a bottle...
And the Top State Is . . .
Well, it wasn’t Missouri. CNBC recently released its annual America’s Top States of Business ranking. The ranking is based on 60...
A History of Kansas City’s Convention Pursuits
Consultant suggests convention-center expansion. Expansion disappoints. Consultant suggests 1,000-room hotel. No one questions consultant about previous suggestion. Instead, city officials...
How Will the Convention Hotel Help Taxpayers?
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the planned convention hotel in Kansas City does increase convention business. How...
Convention Hotel: Power & Light District v. 2.0?
Just in case you thought the city actually had learned its lessons from the Power & Light District debacle, recent...
The Convention Hotel’s Tax Breaks and Gimmes
Reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city of Kansas City and the developers who want to build a...
