By Laura Spencer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-560926.mp3
Kansas City, MO – An application for tax relief for the Crossroads Arts District is expected to come under review today (Tuesday, January 16) at a meeting of the City Plan Commission.
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It's a process that started 5 years ago when property taxes began to significantly go up in the Crossroads. Longtime gallery owner Sherry Leedy saw her property taxes increase by more than 160 percent to nearly 7 thousand dollars in 2005. In an interview last year (2006), Leedy said the Crossroads...and its First Friday art openings...generates tax revenue by bringing people from outside the area to Kansas City.
SHERRY LEEDY: and I think, the city, to their credit...you have a very different environment.
The proposed tax abatement would apply to owners using the properties for arts uses, such as studios for writers, artists and performers; film video and recording companies; and galleries. It would allow the owner to pay taxes on the original value of the property for 10 years and then 50 percent of the improved tax value for 15 more years. If approved today, it would go next to the Kansas City Council for a final decision. Laura Spencer, KCUR News.
Update: The Crossroads PIEA plan is scheduled to go before the City Council before the end of January.