Village West snafu: problems hit the front page of the Star

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 4:28 pm

The Star ran a front page story detailing how Village West will be unable to collect over $1.5 million a year in revenue because a new law gives taxes to where things are delivered rather than bought.

Where is the great Marinovich and her team now?

[quote]
Posted on Mon, Nov. 10, 2003

Tax change complicates Village West bond plan

By JOHN A. DVORAK and MARK WIEBE The Kansas City Star

The change in Kansasâ€™ sales tax law could cost Wyandotte County as much as $1.5 million a year.

The county was counting on the revenue to pay off bonds used to finance construction of a retail area that includes Nebraska Furniture Mart.

The county is not in danger of defaulting, but unless state lawmakers find a way to fix the law it could take much longer than hoped to pay off the so-called STAR bonds, costing the county millions of dollars in additional interest.

â€œI think itâ€™s certainly a concern,â€

ShowME · Post by **ShowME** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 8:42 pm

So if you have furniture delivered and you live in KCMO is the sales tax paid to KCMO instead of KCK's coffers? It is true all they had to do is read the Star bonds legislation. Or were they do busy being fleeced by all the out-of-town retailers?

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:48 pm

We bought a bunch of stuff at Benchmark in Olathe and payed MO sales tax, thank god.

Good2Great · Post by **Good2Great** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 11:16 pm

It's like buying a car...you pay the tax of where you live, not where you bought it.

Post by **dangerboy** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 11:46 pm

This law is by no means limited to Village West, it impacts all businesses and cities. The story makes it sound like a problem with Village West, when in fact this is just one example of the bigger problem. Typical of the Star's failing to provide adequate context for a sensationalistic story.

The business community is so upset that Gov. Sebelius has indifinitely delayed enforcement of the new law and asked the legislature to reconsider it in the next session. This article doesn't mention it, but the Star has already covered this law extensively, as has the Biz Journal and the suburban newspapers.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 2:26 am

I get the "Star sucks" point you're trying to make, but it affects Village West more than many other places because that tax revenue was built into its infrastructure and they did nothing... too busy moving the Christmas tree.