Found this in an old brief:
Cities in Missouri generally accomplish their urban and other redevelopment under one of three statutory authorities:
1) Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (“LCRA”), created pursuant to MO. Rev. Stat. §99.330 (Supp. 2006).
2) Urban Redevelopment Corporations, created pursuant to MO. Rev. Stat. §353 (Supp. 2006). Referred to below as “Chapter 353” redevelopment.
3) Tax Increment Financing Commission (“TIFC”), created pursuant to MO. Rev. Stat. §99.801 (Supp. 2006).
The instant case concerns one project in what is known as the 1200 Main/South Loop Tax Increment Financing (TIF”) Plan. It is the same TIF Plan under which the Sprint Arena and the reconstruction of the President Hotel have occurred. The Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (“EDCKC”) is a Missouri non-profit corporation which is Kansas City’s primary economic development organization. EDCKC’s activities are partially funded by Kansas City and integrated with the City’s development activities. Available at
http://www.edckc.com/home/agenciesandprograms.htm © 2001-2205. The staffing and administration of the TIFC and several other agencies or commissions is provided by EDCKC. TIFC makes recommendations to the Kansas City City Council on redevelopment projects that would use TIF to eliminate blight and stabilize redevelopment areas.
TIF is a financing and development tool that allows future real property taxes and other taxes generated by new development to pay for costs of construction of public infrastructure and other improvements. TIF encourages development of blighted, substandard and economically underutilized areas that would not be developed without public assistance. The powers of TIF are exercised by Commissioners on the TIFC who are citizens of Kansas City, appointed by the mayor and representatives of the affected taxing districts. Id at
http://edckc.com/tif/index.htm.
In a TIFC project, generally speaking, the assessed values on which real estate taxes are received by taxing jurisdictions are frozen for up to 23 years (the maximum life of a TIF project) and the increases in some other taxes, such as sales and earnings taxes, are reduced by 50% for up to 23 years. Increases in certain city and county taxes due to new construction, rehabilitation and infrastructure improvements from the project are still collected from the property owners as PILOTS (Payments in Lieu of Taxes), for the amount of the real estate tax increment, as well as 50% of all local Economic Activity Taxes (EATS) (e.g., sales, utility and earnings taxes) generated within the project. These PILOTS and 50% of the EATS are paid to a special allocation fund. These funds are used to reimburse the developer for City-approved project costs. Any surplus of PILOTS and EATS are reallocated to the appropriate taxing districts. TIF is used throughout the country as a development tool.