Port KC to vote on big Plaza property tax breaks. KCPS ‘extremely disappointed’

The Port Authority of Kansas City is expected to take a pivotal vote on Monday over whether to offer big property tax breaks to the Country Club Plaza’s new owners, who are fresh off another win at City Hall as they seek to revitalize the historic district.

But the project has not forged ahead without significant criticism in recent weeks. Kansas City Public Schools said in a statement Friday that the district is “extremely disappointed” that the agency is moving forward with the vote and asked for a delay.

Port KC’s Board of Commissioners will meet Monday to discuss the proposed plan, which would provide Gillon Property Group, which owns the Plaza, with exemptions on property taxes for 30 years. The terms appear to have been under negotiation, and the full value of the property tax breaks — or how much Gillon would pay versus how much they’d save — is currently unclear.

Those tax breaks would help support Gillon’s roughly $1.5 billion plan to fix up the Plaza, which has struggled in recent years, by repairing its utility infrastructure and building hundreds of new residential units and hotel rooms.

The developers aim to make the Plaza more pedestrian-friendly and attract wanted businesses, which they say will require more feet on the ground in the current retail climate, while maintaining its unique charm.

Even with the major tax breaks, Gillon would still make payments to taxing bodies, like Kansas City Public Schools, that are equal to existing property taxes they would owe, plus increases every two years.

The Port KC board was previously set to vote on a financing plan in November, but the item was delayed. That version of the plan showed Gillon would save $309 million in property taxes over 30 years and would pay $121 million during that time, saving the developers hundreds of millions in taxes they would otherwise owe. In the long run, redevelopment on the Plaza would be expected to raise its property value, which would mean higher property tax revenue over time.

The latest estimates of how much Gillon would save on property taxes and how much they would pay over 30 years was not immediately available on Friday, so it’s not clear if those amounts have changed.

The full terms are expected to be discussed on Monday.

KCPS ‘extremely disappointed’

Kansas City Public Schools and the Kansas City Public Library previously expressed concerns about the level of the tax breaks and the amount of time they had to review the proposal. A library spokesperson had no comment on Friday.

Organizers and parents affiliated with Kansas City Public Schools have expressed opposition to the plan, and Superintendent Jennifer Collier said in a letter last week that a tax exemption without appropriate contributions to the school district would be “malpractice.”

Port KC CEO Jon Stephens said last week that there has been confusion about the proposal, while substantial changes had been made to address many concerns, and that officials have since had significant and meaningful conversations with KCPS after Mayor Quinton Lucas convened a meeting.

But on Friday, a KCPS spokesperson told The Star that the district is “extremely disappointed” that Port KC is poised to go ahead with a vote on Monday.

The statement said that Collier asked Friday morning that the project not go ahead for a vote until Dec. 29 to allow the district the necessary time to review while respecting the desire to get the project done before the end of the year.

“That request did not get a response,” the district statement said. “The school district met with the development team last Friday and received updated information on the structure of the deal as recently as this morning. KCPS needs an appropriate amount of time to completely evaluate the project, including all new information, and its generational impact on school funding.

“This takes more than one business day,” the district statement continued. “Considering that Port KC does not bring the same depth of review as other incentive-granting agencies and this project’s updated financials have not undergone the scrutiny of a public review process, this evaluation is even more onerous on our team.”

The district said it’s still working to determine if several items have been included in the plan, such as annual payment increases that would allow the district to continue pay increases for teachers of 2-4% each year.

“We owe it to the children and our full community to take adequate time to ensure that all parties benefit materially from such a significant project,” the district said.

A Port KC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the district’s statement late Friday afternoon.

What’s next

The Port KC board vote on the property tax plan will be the first step, and it will have to vote again to officially carry out the plan at a later date.

The Port KC meeting is Dec. 22 at 2 p.m and will be virtual only. The public may attend and provide feedback.

Separately, the city’s plan commission voted earlier this week to recommend a master plan for the Plaza that would include allowing taller buildings on some outer parcels in the district. The City Council will have final approval on the master plan, which would set design guidelines and zoning guardrails on future development, at a later date.

And the City Council is also expected to consider a separate incentive plan that would divert up to $210 million in economic activity taxes, like earnings and restaurant tax revenue, back to infrastructure improvements on the Plaza.

This story was originally published December 20, 2025 at 5:48 AM.