No taxpayer dollars at KCI, period. And construction needs to start, too
Plans to borrow taxpayer money for initial costs at the new airport terminal should be dropped. Now.
City Hall discussed just such a plan Thursday. It wants to borrow roughly $48 million in idle city funds to pay for continued design work and planning. Once permanent airport financing is in place, the taxpayer cash would be repaid with interest.
No deal. Despite what Mayor Sly James insisted Thursday, taxpayers were promised that none of their money would pay for any of the work at KCI. No money means no money.
The promise simply can’t be broken, even for a few weeks, even if the funds are paid back.
There is an alternative. The city can borrow the $48 million from a bank or other lender, then repay the loan with airport bond revenues. It might cost a few extra dollars to do it that way, but it’s much less damaging than breaking the most fundamental commitment to voters.
Once that’s out of the way, City Hall can focus again on the delays and cost escalation at the new terminal.
This week, city officials urged patience as details of the project are worked out. The airlines are worried about the $1.6 billion construction cost. There are environmental concerns. Final agreements with the developer, Edgemoor Infrastructure, are unsigned.
The request for patience is reasonable, to a point. The new terminal at Kansas City International Airport is a seriously complicated project. The feds are stirring the pot, as is the state. Travelers, designers, builders, the airlines, the mayor, the council and others have voices in the final product.
Speed is less important than quality, and cost. Kansas City should take time to get it right.
But the city can’t wait forever. Several delays have already tested residents’ faith in oversight of the project, and in City Hall in general. Another significant delay will further erode whatever confidence remains. It will also allow the most absurd voices opposing the project to spread false rumors about it.
Delays also have practical impacts. Costs for materials will escalate, as will the cost of borrowing. That could mean a substandard terminal, or higher ticket costs, or both.
More importantly, though, ongoing delays mean employees and companies have to wait to start working on the structure. That has to end. The terminal project is supposed to inject millions into the local economy, but it can’t do so until the money is borrowed and the hammers start to swing.
It’s hard to know who exactly is to blame for the delays. Environmental review has taken longer than expected, and we urge all interested parties to reach an agreement on environmental issues in December. Remember: the new terminal will replace an existing structure. Environmental issues shouldn’t take a year to resolve.
We’re also disappointed in the airlines serving KCI. Their representatives continue to argue over how to divide improvement costs. There are suggestions the overall price tag is causing concerns as well.
Price competition from smaller air carriers is important, and the city should do what it can to address the concerns of airlines like Spirit and Allegiant. But those talks can’t continue indefinitely. The smaller airlines shouldn’t be allowed to postpone construction of the terminal for years.
The city should set a firm deadline for full resolution of the small airlines’ concerns.
If bigger airlines are now worried about the escalating cost, they should say so openly. Their passengers and airport users are paying for the building. The airlines should pick a cost they can live with, and let’s start construction.
It’s been 13 months since voters overwhelmingly approved the new terminal. In August 2004, voters approved tax increases to build the Sprint Center — admittedly a simpler project — and ground was broken 10 months later.
It’s past time for work to start at KCI.
Thursday, officials suggested the pieces will fall into place by Jan. 10, 2019. That seems like a reasonable deadline for the talking to end.
This story was originally published November 29, 2018 at 2:58 PM.