KANSAS CITY DISCOUNTS EPIC CORPORATE WELFARE TO WADDELL & REED AFTER COMMUNITY OUTCRY!!!



Community activism and a great deal of public frustration saved Kansas City taxpayers about 10 million bucks today.

Just to keep it cheeky and because this is TKC . . . Very much like enduring hottie Kelly Brook -- The struggle against big biz giveaway subsidies is eternal and requires tough accounting and enteral vigilance laid bare  . . .



Today's aftermath . . .

KCUR: After Compromise With Kansas City Schools, Waddell & Reed Will Get Fewer Tax Breaks To Move Downtown

Deets:

Under the deal, which passed 8-4, Waddell & Reed will receive a 15-year property tax abatement — 75% for the first six years and 37.5% for the remaining nine years. It will also receive a sales tax exemption for construction materials and other tax redirections. This deal cuts the local portion of the incentives from the original $44 million to about $35 million.

Mayor Q is touting his neogotioating skills on this deal but those of us who watched the debate know that SPECIAL CREDIT MUST BE AWARDED for two Council members on opposite sides of the political spectrum and KCMO . . .



KC Biz Journal quote:

The hearing for the project was contentious, with several council members advocating against the project.

Councilwoman Heather Hall voted against the project and called the last-minute negotiations disrespectful to council members who were not privy to the conversations and to the taxing jurisdictions, which she said should be allowed to be more involved in the conversation from the beginning.

Councilman Brandon Ellington echoed Hall, calling it a bad deal for the city and saying that questions persist about the financial state of Waddell, which has made no indications it will stay beyond the 15-year lease.

“We’re going to give away the bathwater and the baby for a company that isn’t even committed to staying here,” Ellington said.

And so, we wouldn't call this an EPIC win but a sign of the community growing increasingly frustrated with City Hall giveaways.

Developing . . .

Comments

  1. 10 million isn't chump change. That money can pay for more cops, streets, streetlights or fill potholes. Let's hope this is the end of the "border war" and local companies taking advantage of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome to Kansas City. Here's your E-tax.

      Delete
  2. They could be gone in 10 years and then Kansas City is left holding the bag on another project. It's insane how KC keeps giving money away hand over fist to whatever companies ask for it the loudest. The lease deal is one of the worst I've seen in 50 years. Any landlord in he world would never agree to those terms.

    I applaud the objections but this is hardly progress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KC Voter & Taxpayer12/19/19, 10:36 PM

    ^^ +1

    ReplyDelete
  4. A lot of you aren't seeing it but this is a rare example of compromise from the mayor and council.

    We would not have had this under mayor James. He was well known for silencing his critics and brow beating anyone who challenged him.

    Instead, what we see here is mayor Quinton Lucas working with council and coming back to the table with something better than the original deal proposed. He was following the situation and when there was "outcry" or some valid concerns he addressed them. That's more than you'd get from most elected officials.

    In the end, we have more jobs for KC and a deal that isn't as bad as many of the critics suggest. Some people on this blog will always be angry but his outcome is better than many I've seen over the years. Democracy is about compromise, not one group shouting down the other. This should be obvious from KC all the way up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ^^^ Sorry Q has you working so late.

      :(

      Delete
    2. Nobody should be ok with any part of this deal. Lucas made a mini career as a councilman opposing TIFs and deals just like this. Now he turns and supports them. This wasn’t a compromise. This was backpedaling.
      Waddell & Reed has jumped back and forth across the border three times and gotten a sweeter deal every time. Their business is shrinking. Many of their employees already pay E-tax and this creates ZERO metro jobs and a few hundred in KC proper. It actually CREATES nothing. The Council and Lucas just moved some very expensive pieces on a chess board full of pot holes. The winner of the game is Waddell & Reed. Check mate for KCMO.

      Delete
  5. They should get nothing!!!!!!





    ReplyDelete
  6. I’m sure Mayor Lickass will celebrate this at his favorite gay bar in Lawrence.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 35 mil is the same as 45 mil. WADDELL should have gotten zero. That money would go a long way to help revitalize Troost and other areas of the City. It is a bad deal, where the average salary is $160,000. They can pay for their own relocation. Just wait until those assholes get mugged.

    ReplyDelete
  8. KC = Detroit.
    Bankrupcy here we come. It's nice that some people spoke up but it might be too little and too late. Seems like Kay Barnes, Cleaver and Sly put us on the road to financial disaster.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What about the e-tax? No mention of that. If they leave their 1 % at the door too, I'm OK with the reduced rates after 6 years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They'really paying etax. W&R hates their employees.

      Delete
    2. Is there an official list of what scumbag companies are not paying the full e-tax?

      Delete
  10. Or we can spend it all on making the hoodie Rats flourish, which we already do.

    ReplyDelete
  11. But the snowflake liberals are forgetting about the enlarged carbon footprint being created by the the large cars and SUVs being driven further each morning from Kansas to Missouri.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mayor Q @QuintonLucasKC
    1 hour ago

    Any of y’all in #ChiefsKingdom going to the @ Bears game?


    Haaaaaahahahahahahahahahaha

    Ooh (sorry)

    He's learning how to spin and deflect!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Come on over to our wonderful crime infested pot hole ridden vibrating city.

    We will even pay you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lucas is corrupt! Check his campaign finance reports and see money he got from David Frantze, Michael Merriman and others involved in this horrible deal! Lucas is just as corrupt as Slie!

    It is time for Hong Kong style protests!! Revolt against KC Corruption!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm so glad the border war is over.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Can W&R back out. They have all the leverage since there's no real incentive to move to KCMO over overland park? people bitch about corporate welfare but it's really the only way to get decent jobs in the city. Most people prefer the convenience of working in the suburbs and the environment of JOCO over KCMO and it's easy to see why

    ReplyDelete

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