Mike White offered a 30-year perspective on Kansas City’s TIF program for Kansas City Public Radio station KCUR’s Kevin Collison. During the live discussion Mike stated that “…TIF may be almost as well-known an acronym as the IRS in Kansas City.” Collison noted that “While White and his firm have been among the more successful advocates for clients seeking development incentives, Mike understands why TIF and other programs have developed a toxic reputation with many people.”
“Because it’s been abused,” Mike said. “Kansas City does a fairly good job, but if you look around the state, some cities never say no to TIF.”
Mike expounded on what he believes has become an overly broad definition of what constitutes a blighted property as a major culprit. Mike also called for a tightening of the “but-for test”, to ensure that Tax Increment Financing is limited to projects that would not otherwise be economically feasible.
Click on the link below to listen to the interview.
http://kcur.org/post/how-plaza-parking-kicked-kansas-citys-30-year-love-affair-tif#stream/0