Kansas City proposes to settle several costly lawsuits

Kansas City municipal government is proposing to settle two costly lawsuits, although the payments would be made over several years.

The City Council is expected to consider the settlements next week.

The first settlement would resolve a class-action lawsuit over $25 warrant fees that many defendants paid to Kansas City Municipal Court to cancel their warrants. The members of the class argued the fee constituted a court cost above what was allowed by Missouri law.

An ordinance proposes to settle that case for $2.4 million, which the Finance Department said would be paid out over two years. Details of how people who paid the fees may be reimbursed are not yet available.

The second settlement resolves a lawsuit by the Raytown School District over tax increment financing payments they had expected from Kansas City pertaining to the Blue Ridge Mall TIF plan of 2005. That lawsuit would be settled for $3 million, with $600,000 paid this year and $200,000 each year thereafter for 12 years.

The city attorney’s office declined to comment, pending the council’s decision on the settlements.

The exact source of the funds for these settlements is not yet clear, but the settlement amounts are taken into account in this year’s budget planning.

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Kansas City proposes to settle several costly lawsuits."