County wants more say on TIFs

Jackson County wants more of a say, and a piece of the economic pie, in all future tax increment financing projects located in any city within the county, said Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders.

Sanders presented the county’s proposed TIF policy and guidelines to legislators for review Monday.

City TIF commissions meet, as needed, when a developer applies to the city for deferred tax assistance to level development conditions on a piece of property. The commission is made up of mostly city representatives and one or more county representative, as well as representatives from affected school districts and libraries. However, county representatives hold a minority of the votes.

But Sanders said because TIF developments use county tax dollars for project funding, the county should have more input on who receives a TIF. In addition, increased development requires more county services, such as tax assessment and collection and law enforcement.

He is recommending that retail and service commercial projects receiving TIFs pay an annual payment to the county equal to 15 percent of the county’s sales tax or economic activity taxes from a special allocation fund.

“The money collected would fund the resources,” he said.

Businesses offering goods and services and desiring a TIF also would be required to prove they either offer a unique service or attract sufficient customers from outside the county. And viable businesses in one area could not relocate to a nearby area for the purpose of receiving a TIF.

“You got rid of a tax revenue that already exists,” Sanders said.

Other policy recommendations include limiting TIF repayment to 15 years instead of 25, and requiring developers to prove they have sufficient means to repay the TIF.

Legislator Greg Grounds, 5th District, criticized the state legislature’s failure to provide a “basket of tools” for economic development and retention to local businesses.

“We need to get down to Jeff City and make some changes,” he said.

While Grounds admitted that TIFS are often overused, he said cities such as Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs “push TIFs because it’s all they have.”

“The (state) legislature has not paid attention to economic incentives,” he said, leaving cities to “deal with the distorted (definition) of ‘blighted.’ ”

Sanders said the proposed TIF policy would empower the county.

“The county has never really played a role before,” Sanders said. “By asking (these) tough questions, the county is already being a player.”

Legislators will discuss the policy at the next legislative meeting, June 2.