By Maria Carter
Kansas City, MO – The final version of the long-discussed Kansas City TIF audit came out yesterday. The details were similar to draft versions, but as KCUR's Maria Carter reports the audit still sparked criticism from some City Council members.
Tax Increment Financing, and a postponed audit on the city's use of the tax break for developers, became a hot topic in the recent mayoral election. A draft of the audit was released after bloggers filed an open records request. The final version was released yesterday and much the same as the draft conclude that TIF projects fell $230 million dollars short of original revenue projection. Councilman John Fairfield says the TIF projects are still benefiting the city.
Critics of the audit say using revised numbers would show a shortfall of about 82 million dollars. The audit also calls for establishing a TIF policy and improving reporting of revenues and job data from TIF projects.