Roswold Law Group Blog

Civil War Averted (JACO to drop lawsuit against KC)

In response to the lawsuit filed by Jackson County against Kansas City, the city council has passed an ordinance that gives KC TIF members full voting rights. Previously, Kansas City was unresponsive to requests by the county to have a larger voice concerning the distribution and expenditure of TIF money. Council member John Sharp was quoted as recognizing that all members of the TIF commission should have an equal voice in light of the fact that the tax dollars are both city and county. County executive Mike Sanders, who brought the Jackson County lawsuit, praised the TIF reform development as making the TIF process transparent and accountable to the public and issued a statement advising of the county's intention to drop its lawsuit as soon as the new Kansas City ordinance becomes effective.

It would seem that the parties are in agreement that those who provide tax dollars should have a say in the way those tax dollars are spent. In any event, civil war averted is good for Kansas City development.