Tag: Wichita city council
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Wichita city hall silent on handling of ethics issue
On Tuesday the Wichita city council will hold a public hearing regarding a request by Real Development for a $2.5 million increase in tax increment district financing. While this proposal should be opposed on its merits, there is reason to give extra scrutiny to this matter. That’s because Real Development employs the services of Wichita…
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Wichita community improvement district questions unanswered
This week the Wichita city council approved the use of Community Improvement Districts. These districts are a new creation of the Kansas legislature from last year.
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Wichita economic development incentives discussed
At today’s meeting of the Wichita city council, economic development incentives were a topic of discussion.
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Wichita targeted economic development should end
Is the City of Wichita able to choose which companies are worthy of taxpayer assistance for the purposes of economic development?
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Wichita Warren Theater IRB a TIF district in disguise
On Tuesday the Wichita City Council will consider an economic development incentive for a local business. The process the city is using to grant this incentive bypasses the scrutiny that accompanies the formation of TIF districts while providing essentially the same benefit.
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Detroit, corporate welfare and Wichita’s future
Recently The Eagle printed an article by Molly McMillin, a well-respected aviation and business reporter. The question asked throughout the article is one that Wichita leaders and citizens have been asking for some time: What can we do to prevent Wichita from falling into the hole that is Detroit? A simple answer is to continue…
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David Burk, Wichita developer, overreaches
Today’s Wichita Eagle contains a story about a well-known Wichita real estate developer that, while shocking, shouldn’t really be all that unexpected. The opening sentence of the article (Developer appealed taxes on city-owned property) tells us most of what we need to know: “Downtown Wichita’s leading developer, David Burk, represented himself as an agent of…
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Businesses in Old Town Cinema district fought property taxes
As reported in the Wichita Eagle by Brent Wistrom: “Business owners in a special taxing district surrounding the Old Town Warren Theatre have fought to have their property taxes reduced, forcing the city to cover debts incurred when the city bought land, installed utilities and built a park to spur the development.” I guess no…
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Wichita city council signals possible change in economic development incentive policy
At today’s meeting of the Wichita City Council, discussion by council members and their vote may signal a change in the city’s stance toward economic development incentives.
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Wichita’s pursuit of convention business: a wise strategy?
One of the reasons Wichita city leaders say we need to provide subsidy to a proposed hotel in the downtown WaterWalk development is that the rooms are needed to support the city’s effort to gain convention business. On its face, this pursuit of convention business seems like a noble effort by city leaders. Vast streams…
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More questions surround WaterWalk hotel proposal
Yesterday the Wichita Eagle printed a letter from citizen activist John Todd concerning the proposal for City of Wichita subsidy for a hotel in the downtown WaterWalk development. This is the unabridged version of the letter. In 2002 elected city officials leased a prime 20-acre parcel of city owned downtown land known as the East…
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At Wichita city council, does the field tilt?
At the January 12 meeting of the Wichita City Council, several citizens and one council member addressed the “unlevel playing field” and its implications for development in downtown Wichita.