Check Please

No matter how good of a time you’re having, at some point the bill comes due. I know this sad fact all to well. Soon, the people of KC will learn that if you build it, they might come but the tab will definitely arrive . . . and sooner than you think.

The Business Journal reports that Kansas City must boost tourism and conventions or face a huge shortfall.

Revenue from Kansas City's convention facilities covers just 41 percent of their operating expenses, and the city needs to boost both tourism and convention business as the bills begin to come due for billions of dollars in new facilities Downtown

In retrospect, the relentless building boom/ponzi scheme undertaken by this town not only seems overly optimistic but also mismanaged. Similar efforts in other cities did not incur the price tag that has accumulated in KC.

In a comparison of revenue and expenses in nine markets, Kansas City's $4 million in revenue against $10 million in Convention Center operating expenses ranked worst.

Currently, Kansas City desperately waits for the money to come rolling in now that we are deeply in debt. City Manager Wayne Cauthen noted that “City Hall could face tough choices in cutting basic services if downtown improvements don't generate more tax income for the city.”

Does a town with streets full of potholes, a nearly bankrupt city government, in the midst of a murder rate crisis seem like a tourist destination? Actually, it seems like most people could save the trip and stay home and play Grand Theft Auto in order to get the KC experience. If this town desperately needs money, I’d like to suggest putting Mayor Kay “Condo” Barnes out on the street and have her hustle the cash. If the manner in which she has pimped herself out to condo dwellers is any indication of her enthusiasm, she could make up the shortfall in no time.