Community Concerns regarding the Crossroads CID

Happy new year Kansas City,

With the Crossroads CID having reached its signature goal and soon to go before the City Council for review, it's important to bring to light the following key concerns we residents of the community have:

Assessment Structure: The assessment structure is based on parcel square footage (not building square footage nor property value), with condominium units assessed separately at a flat tax of $100 per unit.

Assessing tax based on two-dimensional parcel size ignores factors such as the number of stories in a building, its land value (which is typically the basis for taxes), and most importantly, the building's population density — i.e., the impact the building has on the surrounding community. This CID appears to be designed to minimize the tax burden on the largest luxury apartments, shifting it instead to the lower-density properties that make up the majority of the Crossroads community.

In practice, this means City Club Apartments (195 apartment units, including AirBNBs) will pay an annual assessment of $1,800 per year, while Campbell Building Condominiums (58 units) will pay $5,800 per year. Western Auto Lofts, with 161 units (still fewer than City Club), will pay a whopping $16,100 per year into the CID (we've got enough problems keeping all the letters in the sign lit)!

Exclusion of Certain Properties: The proposal excludes 27 individual properties located within the CID boundary from being subject to the assessment. The official reason for exempting these 27 properties is that they already have their own CIDs. However, in practice, the proceeds of a CID consisting of just one property benefit only that one property. This is not a valid reason to exempt a building/business owner from paying into another CID that entirely surrounds (and benefits) them.

Security Patrols: while the majority of property crimes in the neighborhood occur after dark, there is no plan nor budget for a nighttime security patrol. A daytime security presence is certainly welcome, but the budgeted $225,000 per year will not be adequate to cover the proposed area stretching from I-35 all the way to Troost (in addition to providing dedicated security for monthly First Friday block parties). To put this into perspective, it costs a single Crossroads property $60,000 per year for a daytime security guard on site 40 hours a week (excluding nights and weekends). If $60,000 covers this, how much ground can be adequately covered with only 3.75 times the budget of a single property? Where this daytime patrol takes place is determined by an unelected board of business owners, and based on the skewed tax structure described earlier, it's a fair assumption the security presence will also be disproportionately focused. Without the ability to elect or remove board members, the community has no recourse if their security concerns are ignored. To note: if Density and Land Value were accounted for in assessing the new tax, (i.e. If the new tax were applied equitably), the CID could greatly improve the budget for security, possibly even adding a part-time night patrol!

Unfortunately, when made aware of the unbalanced impact the CID will have, the CID board members I've spoken with have been unwilling to provide a reason for collecting taxes in this way, nor offer concrete methods for holding them accountable to their promises. Understandably so, they have their required signatures... Therefore, it's our duty as a community to reach out to our representatives to make our voices heard. Please reach out to your Council Member, us 'little folks' in the Crossroads would gladly appreciate your help.

Thank you all for your time!