U.S. Rep. Sam Graves attacks KCI plan but gets key facts wrong

Judging by his own words, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves is playing the role of an avid obstructionist to a $1 billion plan to upgrade Kansas City International Airport.

Building a brand new terminal would create lots of jobs — something elected officials usually favor. It would help KCI’s airlines complete a project they now appear to support after many months of in-depth study.

It’s odd to see a supposedly pro-business Republican congressman expressing such distrust of the private sector to do what’s best for itself and its customers.

Yet this week Graves issued a “Dear Friend” letter that attacked plans to build a new terminal. The headline on a similar op-ed distributed by Graves read this way: “No reason to trust KC Aviation Dept. on new airport plan.”

As it turns out, Graves’ comments were factually wrong in a couple of key places. Speaking of “no reason to trust....”

▪ The congressman said of KCI supporters, “They claim that no tax dollars would be used to fund the project, but they fail to acknowledge the $49 million annually they are relying on from the federal government to complete construction.”

That’s wrong. City officials recently said the $49 million would come over a total of four or five years, not every year.

Assistant City Manager Patrick Klein added that the money would come from ticket surcharges.

A Graves spokesman did not refute the city’s contention there’s no “annual” federal contribution of $49 million.

The spokesman did say the surcharge argument was misleading because the federal government funds come from a “passenger ticket tax” paid by consumers, collected by airlines and allocated by the federal government.

However, Graves in his letter was implying that U.S. taxpayers were kicking into the kitty for KCI upgrades. In reality, the money will come from people who use the facilities and pay for tickets, concessions, parking and other airport-related charges.

▪ Graves hit hard at his contention that renovations to KCI a dozen years ago were so recent that people should seriously question why replacing the current terminals would make sense.

“The Kansas City Aviation Department spent $258 million, renovating KCI in 2004,” Graves wrote. “Today, 12 years later, we’re still on the hook for about $200 million of that.”

That’s not true, according to city financial documents.

They show the debt owed for the terminal improvements was $137 million as of last April and will be close to only $128 million by the end of this April.

In response, Graves’ spokesman pointed to a city document that said debt for the airport was $218 million as of last October. The Graves team wrote that “the majority” of this debt “undoubtedly stems from the 2004 renovations.”

Actually, that figure included $80 million for two other, separately financed projects: a rental car facility and economy parking area at KCI.

So the city is not “on the hook for about $200 million” of bonds for terminal improvements. The correct figure soon will be far less at $128 million.

Crucial debate is still ahead on how to improve an extremely important asset for this area. Graves should try being a positive part of that conversation instead of misleading the public.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "U.S. Rep. Sam Graves attacks KCI plan but gets key facts wrong."