TIF stands for Tax Increment Financing, a program which lures investors to renovate areas which they might not normally develop. The program attempts to mix altruism with economics by bearing in mind that even the most generous investors would like a tax break.

This is how TIF works: first, investors find a location that they would like to renovate or develop. Then the investors petition the TIF council regarding eligibility for funding.

If the council determines that a) the project would not succeed without the help of the TIF grant and b) the project would occur in an underdeveloped area, the request for TIF is approved.

For approved projects, property taxes are abated for a set period of time and other taxes associated with the project are fixed at the current level for the same set period. In the short term, the city loses revenue. In the long term, small businesses develop and blight is avoided.

TIF-eligible projects ideally intend to develop poorer sections of town and rebuild dilapidated areas. For example, a home buyer might be encouraged to buy a fixer-upper in a poor neighborhood and use the tax abatement as extra capital to improve the home.

Alternately, someone looking to open up a business may not be able to afford property in a well-developed commercial district, but with TIF funding, the would-be entrepreneur could open up shop in a less developed area.

Finding highlights, according to reclaimdemocracy.org, are as follows:

88 percent of TIF plans are in four Council Districts (1, 2, 4, and 6), which contain the two-thirds of the city’s population who are the most affluent, best educated and least likely to be members of a minority group.

The two Council Districts (3 and 5) with the third of the population who have the lowest income and the highest rates of poverty and unemployment receive only 12% of TIFs.

The lack of an overall policy to guide the use of TIF means that TIF is not necessarily being used either in a responsible fiscal manner nor to achieve the best outcomes for the City’s scarce resources.

There are problems in the current rules governing the TIF Commission which involve conflicts of interest, disclosure, and access of the public to the process of decision-making.

The public does not seem to know what is happening with the TIF commission, and virtually none of the money is going to areas east of Troost, areas which are in most desperate need of TIF funding.

Doug Gamble, the first of five at-large candidates for fourth district (which includes Penn Valley), is currently invested in a TIF project: a $9.6-million hotel renovation just north of Country Club Plaza. He purports to encourage relocation of TIF funding to small businesses and impoverished areas, but his business ventures have led to debate about his possible conflict of interest.

Gamble did not return phone calls from Spectrum until long after deadline.

Beth Gottstein "will be an advocate for the responsible use of tax incentives for continued economic growth and redevelopment of our neighborhoods." Gottstein's website offers nothing more specific, though she told Spectrum that future TIF projects need to focus more on "meaningful job development." Gottstein points out that Troost, not Stateline, is the "Great Divide," and she hopes to build "something sustainable" in the third district.

Deth Im often mentions "fiscal responsibility," but does not specifically address the TIF program or any other concrete economic plan.

Neither John Tancredi nor Rita Valenciano include TIF as part of their platforms, though Tancredi has community-serving plans on how to spend the TIF-diminished city revenue. When asked, Tancredi informed Spectrum that he approves of such TIF projects as the ones in Ivanhoe and Blue Hills, but "we need to slow down the freight train (TIFs) when it comes to giving the maximum allowed tax abatements."

Tancredi also said, "It will be very difficult for me to support any TIFs in the 64112 zip code (Plaza) unless neighborhoods are supportive of such projects."

Valenciano has directed her campaign at benefiting the local Latino population, most of whom live in under-funded districts, though she did not directly mention TIF. Upon further inquiry, Valenciano noted the audit by Reclaiming Democracy. She said, "I agree with his recommendations, particularly with involvement from the community in the TIF process."

With five choices and primaries on February 27, voters are still waiting for a definitive stance on this pivotal issue.

For links to each city council candidate's website, see: http://blogkc.com/2007-city-council-candidates

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