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** Kansas City Area Reclaim Democracy responds to Councilwoman Nace's letter **
Several Kansas City, Missouri members of Reclaim Democracy received this letter in response to their statements of opinion on the Wal-Mart and Blue Ridge Mall project:
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February 16, 2005
To: Whom It May Concern From: Councilwoman Becky Nace
Re: Blue Ridge Mall project
I wanted to respond to your letter and let you know there may be some misunderstanding regarding who benefits from the TIF. Walmart will receive no benefit from the TIF. They will be a tenant and pay full taxes. Those taxes will be captured by the TIF and be used to pay the developer, Blue Ridge Mall Development, who has no association with Walmart, for cost related to demolition, infrastructure and road improvements etc.
Perhaps all the media attention to the fact that Walmart may be the anchor tenant has lead to people believing that they are the tax abatement recipient but that is false.
Both the School district and the neighborhoods support this redevelopment project.
The school district issued bonds to renovate the schools and add air conditioning some time ago. At the time the bonds were issued the Mall was fully occupied and paying full taxes to the district. They based their debt repayment of those bonds on those revenues. If the Mall continues to be vacant the district must take the lost revenue from education funding to repay the debt. The district has been fully funded in an amendment I have submitted to the TIF.
The surrounding neighborhoods have sanitary sewer and storm drainage issues that are too extensive to address within the city’s current budget. Sewers are backing up in their homes when it rains and their yards are flooding during heavy rains. This TIF produces a surplus so I amended it to use part of the surplus to address the surrounding areas problems.
The overall situation is that the Mall was an anchor that benefited the neighborhoods, schools and surrounding businesses. When it went under the area began to go downhill. Businesses closed or started to become blighted and less desirable businesses such as pay day loans took their place.
Please do not withhold support of the Blue Ridge Mall redevelopment in order to send a message to Walmart. That message will not be received by them as they will simply locate elsewhere. The only people who will be harmed will be the community if we fail to redevelop the Mall.
I understand you have issues with Walmart you would like to address and I encourage you to find ways to communicate your feelings to them. I do want to close by stressing that Walmart is not tax abated on this project. They will pay full taxes.
Best regards,
Beckley Nace Fifth District-at-Large