Kansas City Cash Party Never Stops: City Hall Soon To Take On More P&L District Debt To Pay For Mounting Pension Payouts!!!
The fun fact from otherwise boring City Hall finance propaganda/news reveals that Kansas City is paying dearly to finance the ongoing money losing party @ The P&L District AND the pension debt that's also crushing this town:
Council committee endorses Power & Light District refinancing to help with pension reform
The headline is misleading because there is ABSOLUTELY NO SUCH THING AS PENSION REFORM IN KANSAS CITY and we're really talking about more of a political compromise.
The real story is simple: City Hall is facing increased payments for a pricey party in the P&L district AND the bills for pensions are spiking beyond a level that this town can sustain. Meanwhile, all of those promises of economic development have yet to take hold as debts continue to mount . . . And THIS is how Kansas City slowly turns into Detroit.
No, not "slowly". CK is becoming Detroit on a much more rapid track.
ReplyDeletePensions aren't the problem. The City would be able to pay what they promised were it not for all the harebrained eco devo schemes.
ReplyDeleteThese City Hall incentives and backstops for economic development projects are essentially a transfer of wealth from working class City employees who provide residents with services to wealthy developers and their politically connected servants and mouthpieces (attorneys, general contractors, et. al.). Fuck them.
ReplyDeleteFuck Cordish. Default on the payments and tell them to go elsewhere- right after we find out if we have the privilege of paying millions for the Republicans to come to town.
ReplyDeleteIt actually is, exactly what happens all over the US in cities like Detroit, Baltimore etc etc .
ReplyDeleteBrutal.
Very much like running up your credit cards to fund your 401K. Doesn't make any economic sense but when the city files bankruptcy the retirees won't take as big of a hit.
ReplyDeleteThere are 2.3 million people who live in the metro and most of them wouldn't go downtown except on very specific dates to visit very specific places like the Kauffman Center. And even then, mostly during the day.
ReplyDeleteHundreds of millions of tax dollars have been poured into downtown, including many millions of long-term debt which will suck money out of the general fund for decades.
So KCMO has a publicly-funded amusement park and commercial buildings being converted to apartments, neither of which will bring more of the 2.3 million folks downtown, and will take on another $300+ million of long-term debt for the streetcar.
Meanwhile, the murder rate doesn't change, the streets continue to deteriorate, and actually get worse with maintenance money being siphoned off for the streetcar, water pipes continue to burst, and the city faces a multi-billion dollar sewer upgrade mandated by the feds.
Is there a plan here that we're missing, or is the idea to just spend money until one day it's all gone?
I consult for several REIT's and have sat in a few meetings that involved economic development incentives and I was sincerely amazed at the lack of basic understanding that the so called experts displayed. They were like 5 year olds watching the magician do balloon animals.
ReplyDeleteThe EDC folks, depending on who you talk to, can be knowledgeable, but they wont do much without the city people signing off on almost everything.
Let me tell you, because someone knows now to process a permit does not make them a business expert in real estate. I have walked out of meetings and have heard smart guys say, do you believe what we just heard?
Downtown is the worlds premier destination not only for tourists, but for creative talent seeking . . . .
ReplyDeletenever mind
Maybe we can have a donkey show with Theresa and Cindy at the P&L. That would be a tourist attraction.
ReplyDeletethese fucking grifters..
ReplyDeleteits all about padding the resume with some fancy projects, no one wants to do their job or be responsible. it happens at every level and its a major reason was corporate totalitarianism is such an ineffective form of governance.
Simple fact: government at any level cannot produce wealth. Rather, it can only transfer from one pocket to another. Eco dev is simply one of those pockets. Once a city or state develops a reputation for incentivizing economic development, eco dev tends to cease to occur without it. A far better scheme would be to create a business-friendly environment for all business (not just the select few that chum up to the system).
ReplyDelete7:04 Don't forget our fine KCMo schools.
ReplyDeleteDetroitification.
DAMN!!!
ReplyDeleteTKC got a hold of some strong coffee today, as he's firing away on all cylinders from his TRUTH revolver.
Please keep it up! Call out the corruption at City Hall, because most of the other media in town certainly aren't!
Good comments today. Nice to know I'm not alone in what I know.
ReplyDeletecall us peasants and call us plebs call is cordish with a face like cream cheese
ReplyDeleteAnother gift from former Mayor Kay Barnes. If you think paying for the P&L is now a problem, wait tell the Light Rail starts to draw down more tax money like Piac and other funds. I suggest we will have trouble selling bonds in the future.
ReplyDeleteAnd the band played on.
cream cheese face, lola
ReplyDeleteThank you Kay Barnes
ReplyDelete