Page 6 of 8
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 6:56 pm
by normalthings
grovester wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:30 pm
Think that's already been accounted for, still 2 million short, coincidentally the same amount as the annual subsidy to the streetcar.
How have the new Jackson County assessments affected TDD revenues? Is it possible that revenues went up enough to cover this? Either way,I do not support the removal of City funding to the streetcar.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:10 pm
by grovester
The "Anti-Progress" talking point has always been that the streetcar has been "stealing" 2 mil from the ATA.
Q is just pandering to that. Passing off heavy lifting to the council.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:36 pm
by missingkc
Taking money from the streetcar? Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:18 pm
by DaveKCMO
Y'all need to reserve until the budget actually drops tomorrow.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:24 pm
by DaveKCMO
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:42 pm
by KCPowercat
Great news from BCBS!
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:43 pm
by normalthings
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 9:02 pm
by grovester
Sure, I'll wait until tomorrow and be cautiously optimistic!
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:48 am
by smh
Hearing VisitKC is also being cut significantly. Good timing what with a taxpayer funded mega-hotel on the way. No need to sell our city.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:11 am
by KCPowercat
Q excites me and frustrates me at the exact same time.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:17 am
by earthling
Is worth a one year experiment that could... create a lot of buzz if it works, connect people to jobs, connect visitors between key areas, reduce cars on roads, reduce parking needs and potentially change development patterns for the better. Many who don't use bus will still benefit.
Kudos to BCBS. Weren't they also key to initial bikeshare kickoff?
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 12:27 pm
by normalthings
smh wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:48 am
Hearing VisitKC is also being cut significantly. Good timing what with a taxpayer funded mega-hotel on the way. No need to sell our city.
VisitKC was already underfunded but spends a big portion of its budget on marketing areas outside of KCMO. They really need to be under a bistate taxing structure.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:33 pm
by normalthings
KCPowercat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:11 am
Q excites me and frustrates me at the exact same time.
IMHO he hasn’t done anything good yet except for free transit which I think would have happened eventually anyways. Also, if free transit requires cuts to critical programs like EDC, VisitKC, and maybe streetcar in the future - is it really worth it?
That new fire tax would have had more then enough extra funds to boost funding for transit, EDC, Visit KC, and Children’s Mercy(who also lost funding).
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:40 pm
by KCPowercat
Yeah I think my excitement comes from my wishful thinking more than any concrete action to this point. The frustration is the actions so far.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:39 pm
by langosta
normalthings wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:33 pm
KCPowercat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:11 am
Q excites me and frustrates me at the exact same time.
IMHO he hasn’t done anything good yet except for free transit which I think would have happened eventually anyways. Also, if free transit requires cuts to critical programs like EDC, VisitKC, and maybe streetcar in the future - is it really worth it?
That new fire tax would have had more then enough extra funds to boost funding for transit, EDC, Visit KC, and Children’s Mercy(who also lost funding).
He is just redirecting funds to the groups and individuals who support him the most - Fire & Police Unions, Heavy Constructors Association. Free Transit is the only thing we support here but he's only doing it because it gives him a reason to cut other important groups (EDC, Visit KC) and looks really good to the urban core and casual voters. Other than that, he hasn't made a single positive move.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 6:11 pm
by DaveKCMO
earthling wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:17 am
Kudos to BCBS. Weren't they also key to initial bikeshare kickoff?
Yes.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 6:12 pm
by DaveKCMO
normalthings wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:33 pm
KCPowercat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:11 am
Q excites me and frustrates me at the exact same time.
IMHO he hasn’t done anything good yet except for free transit which I think would have happened eventually anyways. Also, if free transit requires cuts to critical programs like EDC, VisitKC, and maybe streetcar in the future - is it really worth it?
That new fire tax would have had more then enough extra funds to boost funding for transit, EDC, Visit KC, and Children’s Mercy(who also lost funding).
To be clear, the city can't cut into the dedicated fund for streetcar. They can only affect their $2.039 million annual contribution to that fund. Yes, that money is required to make the project work, but their cut can't exceed that amount.
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:44 pm
by grovester
Tomorrow is today and I'm not so optimistic!
Seriously, would this change scoring with DOT?
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:18 pm
by FangKC
...
The city also had to dip into its general fund to make up for a shortfall at the Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel. Lucas’ budget cuts some resources from economic development and incentive agencies, programs he has often criticized.
...
Kansas City will have to dip into its general fund for nearly $4.4 million to support the Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel currently under construction at 15th and Wyandotte streets.
When the city agreed to a tax incentive package to support the hotel several years ago, it signed on to pay for several management and catering contracts through revenues the city derives from a hotel-motel tax. But that revenue hasn’t been sufficient. Receipts are expected to fall by $1.1 million this year, in part, because the city has redirected those taxes as development incentives for multiple projects.
...
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 71086.html
Re: Pursuing FREE City-Wide Bus
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:17 pm
by DaveKCMO
grovester wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:44 pm
Tomorrow is today and I'm not so optimistic!
Seriously, would this change scoring with DOT?
No.