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KCMO leaders advance 'border war' truce proposal

Ordinance goes to full City Council Thursday
KCMO City Hall closed Wednesday due to water line break
Posted at 4:29 PM, Dec 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-18 17:29:23-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, City Council committee advanced an ordinance Wednesday that aims to resolve a sticking point of an economic "border war" truce adopted by both Missouri and Kansas several months ago.

The ordinance, which Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced in September but has since been on hold, establishes a 10-year term limit for property tax abatements offered for jobs relocating from Kansas counties across the state line into KCMO.

The proposed legislation followed a truce Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson agreed to in August to end the economic border war.

Despite the truce, local incentives have remained a concern for officials in Kansas, because cities and counties there can only waive property taxes for up to 10 years. In Missouri, cities and counties can waive taxes for up to 25 years.

Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor David Alvey issued a statement Wednesday ahead of the committee meeting, calling on KCMO leaders to take “a necessary step toward addressing a clear disparity that is jeopardizing the hard-fought truce signed by Governor Kelly and Governor Parson in August.”

Lucas said in a tweet that the full Kansas City Council will take up the ordinance at 3 p.m. on Thursday at City Hall.

The Associated Press contributed to this report