Park Hill School District, K.C. unite over KCI

By Ray Weikal

Park Hill School District and the city of Kansas City appear to have reached an agreement over property taxes on about 11,000 city-owned acres adjacent to Kansas City International Airport.

When that agreement might be formalized is less clear.

A meeting between district and city officials on Friday, May 9, to hammer out the details of an accord between the two entities did not occur, district spokeswoman Nicole Kirby said.

Superintendent Dennis Fisher did not receive any word from the city about when the meeting might take place, Kirby said.

The city’s attorney handling these negotiations could not be reached for comment.

At the heart of the agreement is a 10-cent per square foot payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, for developments at the airport.

Sparks developed between the city and district after a move earlier this year by Liberty Rep. Tim Flook and Platte City Rep. Jason Brown to allow developers to build around KCI without paying any local property taxes in perpetuity. The bill was designed to spur new business at the airport.

The measure was a problem for education officials because local property taxes account for about 80 percent of school district revenue, Fisher explained.

Talks between the city and school district appeared to stall after city officials balked at increasing an 8-cent offer.

“In the city’s perspective, they should get nothing under state law,” city attorney Chris Byrd said at the time.

Park Hill School District had asked for 22 cents a square foot. Millions of dollars was at stake, according to Fisher and Paul Kelly, his chief financial officer. The district’s request would draw revenue of about $1.2 million a year, versus $446,000 annually from the city’s offer.

The new, 10 cents a square foot deal will mean an estimated $558 million in annual revenue.

About a month ago, city and district talks seemed to restart after the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier announced that KCI was at the top of its list for a new factory. While the legislature set aside Flook and Brown’s bill and cooked up a tax incentive deal for the company, Fisher got the 10-cent offer from the city.

On May 7, Missouri lawmakers passed an incentive package for the Bombardier plant that includes $240 million in tax credits over eight years, according to the House of Representative’s media office. If built, the factory is expected to employ about 2,100 people making an average of $63,000 annually.

Since the state’s deal with Bombardier includes a time limit, Fisher was satisfied that it was time to take the city’s offer, which lasts 10 years.

“I think the Bombardier plant could be the impetus for strong development in the Northland,” Fisher said. “What makes that reasonable is we put a sunset clause on the tax incentives. We think that development will benefit all the taxing entities in this area.”

Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.