CFO presents decades of incentives data: star bonds, IRBs, TIFs, CIDs and neighborhood rebates

Shelley Knievin, the Unified Government’s chief financial officer, told commissioners the presentation aims to tell a long‑neglected story about how incentives have performed across Wyandotte County. She outlined four main incentive categories — star bonds, tax increment financing (TIF), industrial revenue bonds (IRBs) and specialty mechanisms (TDDs, CIDs, neighborhood reinvestment rebates) — and described statutory limits and how the tools are used.

Knievin reported there are three active star‑bond districts concentrated in the Legends West area with six active bonds across subdistricts, and she said locally pledged revenue currently repays roughly $5.2M per year toward outstanding star bonds while tax revenues tied to districts produce about $45.3M annually for all taxing districts (of which about $32.4M is flowing to the UG). Combining bond payments and taxing‑district returns, she presented an annual net benefit of roughly $68.1M. On IRBs she said Wyandotte County has 49 active IRBs that certified about $2.0 billion of private investment; staff will tighten reporting and require better job‑creation reporting on future agreements. Commissioners asked detailed questions about Chiefs‑stadium boundary choices, the state’s role in defining star‑bond districts, and whether incentives can be made more accessible to smaller local developers.