Olathe city leaders want public money for the Great Mall of the Great Plains site.
The council votes Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a public hearing to decide if STAR bonds will be applied to form a redevelopment district.
STAR bonds expire at the end of next June, unless state legislature decides otherwise. That's why the city wants to act now.
The old mall is a pile of rubble, and the city doesn't have any plans yet. They want to set up the STAR bond district in case a good project comes along.
"[STAR bonds] are earmarked for projects that are truly special, destination projects that are gonna draw in visitors to the state of Kansas and the region. So it simply gives us that option if we find a responsible way to use that," city spokesman Tim Danneberg said.
He says the Olathe city council is very interested in getting the land redeveloped.
"The goal with economic development is you bring in new investments so you can keep taxes low," Danneberg said.
This is similar to a new project Wyandotte County leaders recently announced. STAR bonds would be used to fund up to half of a $160 million project to build a new American Royal complex near the Legends.
STAR bonds use state sales taxes and local taxes generated by the attraction to pay for up to half of a project's debt.
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Sarah Plake can be reached at Sarah.Plake@KSHB.com
