Ollie Gates' plan to make Kansas City's east side a duty-free zone has run into a stout opponent: the Missouri Constitution.
Gates belongs to the Intra Urban Economic Council, a group pushing for the elimination of sales taxes in a 20-block area between Prospect and Troost. Gates likes to call the proposal "an inverted TIF." Instead of letting developers feast on the taxes their projects generate, which is what tax-increment financing accomplishes, the duty-free zone would give the tax break to customers. People who live in or visit the Black Heritage District, as the area is being called, wouldn't have to pay a 7.725-percent sales tax on goods and services.
The plan has enthusiastic support from Mayor Funkhouser and the city council. Jefferson City is a tougher nut to crack. In fact, the proposal is illegal under current law.
Article X of the state constitution says taxes must be uniform within the territory levying the tax. For the city and state to make an exception once someone crosses 29th Street seems to fly in the face of that provision.
State Sen. Yvonne Wilson of Kansas City has proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow for the creation of tax-free zones for the purpose of economic development. The status would last 23 years, which is, incidentally, how long TIFs last.
Speaking at a luncheon in Kansas City last Wednesday, Attorney General Chris Koster said the amendment could appear on a ballot in 2010, provided the General Assembly doesn't shoot it down. (To win support, the original bill was written to allow any city to establish a tax-free zone.)
If the law passes, the barbecue at the Gates & Sons at 12th and Brooklyn will taste all the sweeter. Arthur Bryant's fans wouldn't be left out of the action, either, as the 17th and Brooklyn location also sits within the Black Heritage District.
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That�s some racist shit!
How come these guys don�t understand that we NEED that, what they call it, �inverted TIF�? I mean, shit man, I used to get me enough cabbage from a car jacking to keep my clip full of brand new hollow points. Now�s I barely get enough un-cashable Justin Kendall checks to keep my clip half full of reloads.
Then, they gotta go and name it Article X�an obvious crack on my man, Malcolm. That�s some bullshit.
All I�m saying is if they don�t start bringing some honkeys up in here, in nice cars, trying to save 7%, more than that legislation is going to get shot down�Ima invert a cap in someone�s ass�that�s all I know�
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