Comments on: Bistate III – Back to basics http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/ A Weblog for Kansas City, Missouri. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:56:38 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Olathe Resident http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-191263 Olathe Resident Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:17:51 +0000 http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/#comment-191263 As a JoCo resident, KC gets plenty of my money, in the form of a 1% payroll tax, for which I get NOTHING. Heck, they can't even get the traffic lights timed correctly on NW 112th St. where I work, so I get to sit at a red light for two minutes with no traffic around at midnight each evening leaving work. JoCo residents pay more than their fare share for what little resources we use in KC. As a JoCo resident, KC gets plenty of my money, in the form of a 1% payroll tax, for which I get NOTHING. Heck, they can’t even get the traffic lights timed correctly on NW 112th St. where I work, so I get to sit at a red light for two minutes with no traffic around at midnight each evening leaving work.
JoCo residents pay more than their fare share for what little resources we use in KC.

]]> By: Wayne Flaherty http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-191250 Wayne Flaherty Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:06:25 +0000 http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/#comment-191250 Ed is right on target with his thoughts about KCMO taxes not reaching the designated source. Only recently the police chief discovered the city had been taking money from him. Every KCMO tax has a part of it reserved for TIF payments. Bi-State II would have seen Johnson County put in $440 million and get back only $40 million. Hell, we can do better than that down at the casinos. KCMO is only interested in the suburbs for the money they can get out of them. Now they are talking about a billion dollar light rail project at the same time they are trying to figure out how to provide assistance for those people who won't be able to pay their water/sewer bills. For the price of just one mile of light rail they could buy 250 to 300 ultra-modern BRT buses. The proposed 3/8 cent light rail tax will only net them $23 million per year to build a light rail line costing $50 to $70 million per mile. That means it could take 2 to 3 years to build a single mile of light rail and then there is no money to operate it. Lets get real. Ed is right on target with his thoughts about KCMO taxes not reaching the designated source. Only recently the police chief discovered the city had been taking money from him. Every KCMO tax has a part of it reserved for TIF payments. Bi-State II would have seen Johnson County put in $440 million and get back only $40 million. Hell, we can do better than that down at the casinos. KCMO is only interested in the suburbs for the money they can get out of them. Now they are talking about a billion dollar light rail project at the same time they are trying to figure out how to provide assistance for those people who won’t be able to pay their water/sewer bills. For the price of just one mile of light rail they could buy 250 to 300 ultra-modern BRT buses. The proposed 3/8 cent light rail tax will only net them $23 million per year to build a light rail line costing $50 to $70 million per mile. That means it could take 2 to 3 years to build a single mile of light rail and then there is no money to operate it. Lets get real.

]]> By: Ed Roberts http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-191246 Ed Roberts Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:12:42 +0000 http://blogkc.com/archives/2008/03/bistate-iii-back-to-basics/#comment-191246 KC has so disenfranchised their citizens with these "pay for X" taxes that it's a wonder how these things have a chance of passing any more. Seriously... it seems like 75% of these initiatives get absorbed into KCMO's continuing debt, reallocated to another project, and the original program VOTED ON never gets it's funding. With bistate III, I don't know if I'd trust that my tax dollars actually make it to the place I voted to send them. KC has so disenfranchised their citizens with these “pay for X” taxes that it’s a wonder how these things have a chance of passing any more. Seriously… it seems like 75% of these initiatives get absorbed into KCMO’s continuing debt, reallocated to another project, and the original program VOTED ON never gets it’s funding.

With bistate III, I don’t know if I’d trust that my tax dollars actually make it to the place I voted to send them.

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