I think there's still one more state vote that needs to happen regarding the TIF in the spring. But I finally gave up on following the politics of this after having my brain spun around over the Philadelphia/Pennsylvania politics, the San Jose politics, the Salt Lake City/Utah politics, let alone keeping track of politics that actually have an impact on me personally here in Austin! Looking for a KC person to chime in...
State money will still be required, and that vote would hopefully come in the spring. They are looking for around 40 million in assistance for the total 1 billion project. There could definitely still be some hiccups, but if the City Council approves it tomorrow as expected, the bulk of the public funding for the project will be wrapped up.
They are talking about doing a groundbreaking before the state vote, which shows you how important tomorrow's vote is. Tomorrow's vote is the last major hurdle and with the Mayor no longer objecting I expect a unanimous vote in favor.
There is already a line-item in the Missouri state budget for TIF for a major project in KCMO (specifically, rather than allowing it to potentially go for projects in Lee's Summit, MO, a KC suburb), perhaps the quietest political step that was taken along the way, months ago.
Sorry, I was wrong. According to the Mayor at the Finance Committee meeting today, they hope to have all the State issues worked out by January 31st.
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/401551.html Front page news this morning. Council vote takes place later today.
Out of curiosity, is the stadium being pushed as development that includes a stadium or is it being pushed as a stadium with development around it?
this may have been the first purely positive piece of press about the Three Trails re-development. hopefully more good news will follow after today's council meeting.
on the radio yesterday, Robb Heineman, the Wizards president, said they want to make it an entertainment destination, like what the Legends is in Wyandotte County. Although the soccer stadium will be the main attraction, like the race track is the main attraction of the Legends.
I think the Philly people got over moving the Wizards when OnGoal bought the team. It's people like houstondynamofan that can find some other hobby when this becomes official....
Yep. Just check out the San Jose season tickets thread. San Jose hasn't played a game, and people are already griping about their poor season ticket numbers and reviving the 'move San Jose' jokes... even though those numbers almost certainly aren't the lowest in the league.
So glad houstondynamofan is on my ignore list. I'm sure they'll just set up camp in the San Jose boards.
it's only 11:30 CST. but yes, the vote should be happening any minute. hopefully someone will report the good news soon!
Live video of the meeting today at 3pm will be on here: http://kansascity.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2
Glad to see we are high on the agenda, before all the fighting about city manager starts! We want everybody in a happy mood when voting for this project....