DE SOTO, Kan. — Panasonic is weeks away from a grand opening celebration for its electric vehicle battery facility in De Soto. Until now, an opening date for the huge plant has not been released.
KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson confirmed with the City Administrator in De Soto the facility will start production in July.
Panasonic representatives had no comment on that date.
As the City of De Soto continues budget discussions this summer, navigating expected revenue from the Panasonic facility is a critical factor.
The $4 billion facility should bring 4,000 jobs.
It also is projected to significantly improve the city's financial situation by bringing in extra revenue, both from the plant and other sources.
In its draft budget, the city shared the electric vehicle facility's opening was delayed by six to nine months.
"I call it Midwestern conservative," said Mike Brungardt, De Soto city administrator. "We always want to be Midwestern conservative with revenue projections and project them lower."
He said while they are seeing a huge increase in sales tax revenue, franchise revenue is falling short.
Brungardt said: "The best we can do is have these discussions with Panasonic, folks building that, with Evergy to see what they expect the demand to be over the coming months and years, and tailor our projections to that."
According to the city's budget analysis, sales tax revenue has increased by around 100% since 2022.
The city attributes that increase to Panasonic construction activity.
However, the city lowered projections for franchise revenue.
Franchise fees are collected by the city based on how much power is consumed at the facility. When production starts, the building will use a lot more electricity which means more revenue to the city.
Evergy projected $2.2 million in franchise revenue for this year. However, that amount was adjusted to $500,000 because of a delay in Panasonic plant opening.
"Once they're at full production, the franchise revenues will represent 30-35% of our revenue stream, so that's significant. Also, there will be 4,000 workers at the facility and those workers will continue to visit the shops and get gas, so we expect the sales tax revenues will remain elevated," Brungardt said.
The city is ready to reap all of the benefits that come with the plant's opening.
"It's easy to just, for me, to get fixated on dollars coming in as a benefit, but we know that's a small piece to the bigger puzzle with the benefits of this economic development," Brungardt said.