17 Comments so far

1. Bob Asher on March 21, 2006 11:34 am

   Hey, what’s the problem? Haven’t you heard of the Mayor’s Rain Garden initiative? That’ll take care of all of KCMO’s storm water issues. Now, the standing-water-breeding-encephalitis-bearing mosquitoes problem? Well we may need a small 1-cent sales tax to take care of that…

   Don’t forget to vote for both stadium bonds, too. That way when we vote the sales tax to take care of wastewater improvements, we can all enjoy some truly “world-class” sales tax rates, some of the highest in the country.

2. Ben Dover on March 21, 2006 2:20 pm

   Hell, I am still smarting over the last tax hike…you remember, the one to pay for medical care at Truman Med Center and MAST? Yes, the same one that was SUPPOSED to already have been budgeted, but, oops, the city couldn’t find the money. Oh well, screw it, let’s raise a new tax. If you check the records, you will find that the Star has supported each tax hike that has led us to this point. This stadium tax is just the last straw. Has anyone else ever gone to the Royals or Chiefs’ media sites and looked at the players’ residences? You’ll find that none live in KCMO, few live in Missouri, and nearly all live in Johnson County. I’ve heard that the teams use a realty firm that specializes in upscale homes in Johnson County, and new players are handled exclusively by this firm. So, we will be grabbing our ankles alone on this one.

3. Hippster on March 21, 2006 3:06 pm

   Don’t forget the COMBAT tax, another wonderful scam that KCMO people voted for that would accomplish nothing even if it wasn’t stolen for other uses by the city.

   I live in OP and many of my KCMO freinds don’t believe me when I say that KCMO (and JaxCo) gov is a big reason why people stay in or move to the suburbs on either side of the state line. But stuff like this is a big reason why people don’t move into the city.

   I think crime and schools are the main drivers of suburb flight, but (relatively) outrageous taxes, terrible city services in return, and corrupt/incompetent political leadership have an effect in the aggregate.

   And regarding taxes, they matter too. Many lefties like Yael from the Star support virtually every tax that government comes up with and equate support for taxes with civic mindedness. Then they bitch when Quintiles moves to OP and people move to the Northland. It’s economic reality that high taxes will convince people and business to leave or stay out of KCMO.

4. Hippster on March 21, 2006 3:13 pm

   I forgot to mention the best part of that article: KCMO has spent $45 million planning the new sewer system.

   That sounds about right for KCMO. What a government.

5. BlogKC on March 21, 2006 3:44 pm

   Hippster, are aware that all taxes (sales, property, and income) are all generally higher in Kansas than Missouri??

   COMBAT is a county tax, only KCMO residents in Jackson County have to pay, not the ones in Clay or Platte.

6. thurston on March 21, 2006 9:23 pm

   I think this part of the KC Star story is really telling:

   “The city’s plan is to gradually inform the public in a “natural way,” said Scott Cahail, an environmental manager with the city’s water department.

   “We don’t want to drop a bomb on them,” he added.

   Translation: We want the suckers to vote for the stadium improvement fiasco before we tell them the a major portion of city’s infrastructure is fucked and they’ll be paying to fix it.

   No wonder Barnes moved north of the river. It doesn’t smell as bad up there.

   She spends $300,000 promoting her rain gardens initiative. I can go days without seeing a cop car patrol my Midtown neighborhood, and it takes at least a half-hour for them to respond to a 911 call. But we can spend $300,000 promoting rain barrels that don’t do a damn thing.

   Cleaver and his city council undoubtedly deserve some of the blame. But what about Condo Kay? Under her stewardship, the city rubber stamps nearly every TIF financing proposal and builds the now over budget Sprint Arena. All the while knowing a massive infrastructure crisis is looming. This also comes on the heels of the city asking for a tax increase for storm water and sewage system improvements. The city knew this was a problem then, and the only difference is that the federal and state governments are now forcing us to deal with the issue. How is that responsible leadership?

7. Craig Davis on March 21, 2006 10:39 pm

   SOS! Save Our Sewers!!!!

8. Bret Horne on March 22, 2006 7:49 am

   I recently had a conversation with a college scout for the Green Bay packers, catching a flight to Baltimore. He actually said the design for stadium was just ugly. He also did not understand why the owners were not putting up more money. The owner of Green Bay Packers put up almost five times as much as “Caribbean Hunt”. (It must be nice not having to actually work for a living, with that silver spoon stuck in you mouth) Also, during the fall, I traveled to New York for work. I ask how much parking was at Yankee stadium. The reply, $10. Now we can argue the Yankees buy their players and everybody takes the subway. ( Yeah, look at what this city did to light rail!) But, it is a better product that is put on both fields at the “Jackson County Sports Complex”. And another thing, living in the NE, by the old museum, you know Long Mansion, millionaires of the day lived here. My parents rehabbed a old mansion house on St John. Hoping the area would be the next Brookside, knowing full well is was more like Tijuana. The apartment building across the street is now full of prostitutes and crack dealers. We have called codes, police, and lack of action news. The home association pres said basically Mike Sandler, the county prosecutor and lame excuses, has not enforce the law as far as keeping prostitutes in jail. They slap their hand or other parts of their body and let them go on their merry way. This is a basic failure of city services. While he and Kathryn ” I wonder if I can climb the political ladder” Shields get in these political cat fights, our property values are falling.Would you buy a loft downtown, knowing you would not get a reponse from the police, even though they are across the street? Why should I pay for “welfare” to an ex CEO of Walmart and a oil tycoon?

9. Hippster on March 22, 2006 8:00 am

   That’s a good point about Kansas taxes being a little higher. But the difference is that residents in Kansas are pretty happy with their governments and the services they receive. The roads are better, the schools are better, the FBI rarely investigates government officials, etc.

   So if you’re going to get hit with high taxes, why not head to Overland Park or Belton where at least you don’t feel like you’re getting screwed.

   I don’t know how to fix a sclerotic unresponsive government like KCMO’s and JaxCo’s but constantly electing and re-electing people like Shields and Cleaver isn’t a good start.

10. Bret Horne on March 22, 2006 8:48 am

    Does anyone know where I can get “Save the sewers,not the stadium” sign for my yard?

11. Mark on March 22, 2006 9:28 am

    So the Star finally puts this in the paper. The people who knew about this and wouldn’t talk about it during the last two tax elections should have a little shame. Stadiums or sewers. Which smells the most. Which can you live with out. The Star with all of its stadium flag waving should hang its head.

12. BlogKC on March 22, 2006 9:49 am

    No one is hiding anything. If you have even the slightest bit of civic involvement you should have already heard about this issue. Stadiums aside, the Star has done several big stories on this over the last couple of years. It comes up at just about any public meeting or forum that deals with infrastructure, as well as many neighborhood associations.

    The information is there for anyone that participates in civic life, but if you’ll be disappointed if you’re just sitting back on the couch waiting to get your information from a glizty TV special.

13. kcinsider on March 22, 2006 10:04 am

    unless someone is shot at a meeting about storm sewers, then all four station would cover it. Otherwise, it’s beyond their ability to understand.

    Here’s one thing that I don’t think most Kansas Citians are aware of. All of the debt service for the new capital projects is coming out of the annual maintenance fund. Now, this fund was already underfunded - it should be at least $70 million a year to maintain all of KCMO’s infrastructure.

    Now due to the debt service it is down to the low 30’s and by the time all the debt is issued, the annual maintenance fund will be at $20 million. Think about that -how much isn’t getting done annually.

    Now, the Mayor and others will argue that the new investment will bring in new revenues into the coffers and they’ll be able to put more money into the annual maintenance fund in the future. Except, that hasn’t happened yet and I doubt it will in the future.

    Basic governmental budgeting states that any time you bring on a new capital project, you need to budget operating budget to maintain the asset in the future. They aren’t doing that. They are building all sorts of nice new things, but there is no way in the existing budget to keep those assets in good shape. So, don’t be surprised in 4-5 years when the Star starts doing stories about revenue shortfalls, no money for maintenance, etc. And they’ll all be so amazed, like it’s some big secret.

    Of course, this will be the problem of the new mayor, not the current one.

14. thurston on March 22, 2006 10:15 am

    While the city and the Star may not be “hiding” the problem, they haven’t been doing much to bring it to the public’s attention. Many of the public meetings are held during regular business hours on weekdays. That certainly limits participation in “civc life.”

15. Ben Dover on March 22, 2006 4:31 pm

    The money isn’t coming in because every new glitz project is TIF’ed, and thus, does not pay into our taxes. I will agree that KCMO and Jackson County has overwhelmingly poor government, a product of the one-party system we’ve had for a long time, but the problems of this city are largely similar to problems of any big city. You can always toos out of city that is “doing it right,” but that will be the exception, not the rule. This city is poorly led, but to compare Overland Park to KC is silly. The truth is that KC is the only large city in this region of the country, so no one has anything to comapre it to. Of course it compares poorly to suburban cities, that isn’t news. Overland Park has the luxury of having dumbass KCMO to pay for it’s entertainment and house the area’s poor. What KC needs to be doing is looking at cities like Louisville and Indianapolis, which have a comparable size, urban ills, and financial need, then take away answers from there.

16. Hippster on March 24, 2006 8:09 am

    Ben,

    You’re right that it’s silly to compare a city like OP to KCMO. I just wanted to make a point that KCMO’s poor governance drives people and businesses to leave for the suburbs. Lots of commenters on this blog like to blame white flight or other reasons, but I think KCMO’s government is another reaon people and business leave.

    For example, that salsa place that couldn’t satisfy the parking nazis in the Crossroads and ended up moving to the effing Speedway. Sad.

17. Larry Thrasher on March 24, 2006 6:24 pm

    Looks like a tax for the Stadiums, sewers,and a tax for regonial transit are coming soon for Jackson County tax payers. I wonder how many of the city ,fire and police dept. empolyees will need to ride the bus after they sell their cars to help pay for retirement. Won’t be much room for a tax increase after the other taxes get voted in to fund the pension plans for our sity employees. But let’s not forget the teams give $100 million for improvments and then get $50 miilion tax credit from the state. That’s down to only 5% fo the cost for the improvments. Not much of a partnership.