Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders said he will dismiss a lawsuit filed against Kansas City after the council adopted an ordinance that increases the number of members on the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission.

The lawsuit, filed last Friday, would have forced Kansas City to uphold 1997 state-mandated changes to TIF, enlarging the commission from its original six members to 11.

Despite the mandate, the city commission, which makes recommendations to the city council regarding proposed developments, has continued in its historic six-member form, said Jeph Burroughs Scanlon, the county's public information officer.

County officials said the current make-up of the commission excludes some taxing entities, which would gain from taxes on developments, from the discussion process, which is not fair.

However, the council's action late Thursday afternoon, a unanimous vote, makes the lawsuit unnecessary and it will be dismissed once the proposed changes are effective, according to the county statement.

"On behalf of the citizens of Jackson County, I want to commend the City Council for taking an historic step towards implementing TIF reform in our community," Sanders said in a written statement. "It is imperative that all of the taxpayers of our community have a voice in how their tax dollars are spent, and the Council's actions will help ensure that the TIF process is both transparent and accountable to the public that it serves."

The commission's new structure calls for six members representing the city, two representing the county, two from area school districts and one from a smaller taxing jurisdiction, which, historically has been held by a member of the Kansas City Public Library, Burroughs Scanlon said.

The City Council waived its usual procedures in order to rush the ordinance through, said Councilman-At-Large Ed Ford. Proposed ordinances typically are referred to a committee, where they are discussed and debated prior to formal city council vote.
Ford said he favors the slower, more deliberate process.

"Basically, what we did was, we passed a very important ordinance without any public input," Ford said.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser said he also favored a swift resolution to the issue. "But, I sure do think there was a whole lot of drama that brought us to this point," he said during the council meeting.

There was yet another reason for the city council's swift action. Ford said he and other council members feared the financial repercussions of a pending legal battle. He said the dispute could jeopardize the re-financing of bonds and could potentially hinder development throughout the city. In addition, the council wanted to act before the suit's Feb. 26 circuit court date.
"This would be such a cloud...hard feelings would be extended," he said, referring to the relationship between the city and county.

Council member-At-Large, Deb Herman expressed concerns, during the council meeting, about taxing jurisdictions outside of Kansas City receiving an equal voice on the commission.
"Ninety percent of new development is occurring in Clay and Platte counties," she said.

In an interview after the meeting, Ford said he agrees that the new system, as established by the ordinance, has some flaws. He's especially concerned about how taxing jurisdictions will divide the votes, given their new role, granted in the ordinance in which they now will vote on administrative and other such mundane matters.

Taxing jurisdictions always have been granted votes for proposed development projects, but were exempt from voting on administrative and clerical matters, such as naming the commission's advising attorney, or voting to accept TIF applications.

"I don't know if this will work because there's no mechanism...we didn't dictate that," he said.
Although TIF historically has acted as a six-member body, tension arose over a request for information by a member of the Kansas City Public Library, one of the smaller taxing jurisdictions that has input on the commission, said Burroughs Scanlon.

Historically, input from such small jurisdictions was limited and up to the discretion of the chair, causing them to be treated as "second-class citizens." The library member requested information about a proposed development at 43rd and Main, Burroughs Scanlon said. The commission's then-chair said her request would only be accepted in writing and must be submitted under the Sunshine Law, which is intended to provide citizens and the press with access to government information.

Ford said he agrees that treatment of the library system official at the commission meeting was unfair.

"That (the Sunshine Law request) is ridiculous...I agree with them. They should have been treated better than that."

However, Ford said he was still perplexed when he learned of the lawsuit, adding that he and other council members had offered to make informal changes to the commission based on county demands, but the county refused their offer.

Ford said, "What was unacceptable to Mike Sanders a week ago is acceptable this week. I think Jackson County, for whatever reason, moved quite a bit from its position last week