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Govt. interferes in the system all the time. Wage and Price controls under Nixon. Govt. set prices on energy until decontroled by Reagan in the 80's. Extra money from US Govt. for "green energy products", the total corruption of the bankruptcy process by the govt. in the cases of GM and Chrysler. Our business system is at its heart, survival of the fittest. Its the same way with the states. This is why people and businesses are leaving places like NY, Ill. and Calif. and moving to more tax friendly places like Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, etc. Each business has competition. It will do what it can to make its company profitable and to grow. The 50 states have the same system. In our system, they are competitors. Kansas discussions going on now about cutting taxes is about competition to keep people from leaving Kansas, and maybe even giving people a place they want to move to. I am close to retirement age and probably the biggest factor in peoples retirement plans, if they are looking to move after retirement is TAXES.
In our system, they are competitors. Kansas discussions going on now about cutting taxes is about competition to keep people from leaving Kansas, and maybe even giving people a place they want to move to. I am close to retirement age and probably the biggest factor in peoples retirement plans, if they are looking to move after retirement is TAXES.
Kansas has put ALL OF ITS CORPORATE WELFARE $$$$ ECONOMIC EGGS in the JOCO basket with very few exceptions. The other 104 counties in the state will have lots of issues if this mentality from the state continues. Now, I do realize that JOCO is a big driver for the state economically, but you can't ignore the rest of the state and pretend it will do well. The state has shed people from its rural counties and smaller towns for well over 100 years and the trend will likely never change due to the way the modern economies of scale of "corporate agriculture" and large-scale family farms and ranches.
This thread - and all others like it - represent and illustrate the continuous wholesale hijacking and misuse of the Kansas and Kansas City forums by a handful of usual suspects. As opposed to the intended purpose as an information source for newcomers or people contemplating relocation, the hijackers use it as a vehicle to vent their frustration and anger stemming from their eccentric political agenda and attack Johnson County's decades of success any which way they (think) they can.
The fact is that the answer to the pointless and purposeless question posed is that Kansans look at Johnson County's economic success and living quality and are extremely happy with the result....especially when compared to Kansas City, Missouri's. Kansas has clearly done something right and it doesn't take a degree in rocket science to see that.
Hijackers, your tiresome political bile belongs elsewhere. For every one of you, there are 100 who love living in Johnson County and see it as the most desirable area in the metro, which it clearly is.
Johnson County is the future....KCMO is the past....regardless of how many more pointless rants you pollute this forum with.
This thread - and all others like it - represent and illustrate the continuous wholesale hijacking and misuse of the Kansas and Kansas City forums by a handful of usual suspects. As opposed to the intended purpose as an information source for newcomers or people contemplating relocation, the hijackers use it as a vehicle to vent their frustration and anger stemming from their eccentric political agenda and attack Johnson County's decades of success any which way they (think) they can.
The fact is that the answer to the pointless and purposeless question posed is that Kansans look at Johnson County's economic success and living quality and are extremely happy with the result....especially when compared to Kansas City, Missouri's. Kansas has clearly done something right and it doesn't take a degree in rocket science to see that.
Hijackers, your tiresome political bile belongs elsewhere. For every one of you, there are 100 who love living in Johnson County and see it as the most desirable area in the metro, which it clearly is.
Johnson County is the future....KCMO is the past....regardless of how many more pointless rants you pollute this forum with.
Deal with it....and, for heaven's sake, move on.
It is easy for Kansas to do something right when it heavily subsidizes and funnels more taxpayer dollars to move jobs from KCMO into JOCO at the expense of the other 104 counties in the state. Thankfully they have found the absolutely correct working model because we know JOCO needs plenty of additional taxpayer support when it performs so well on its own.
It's not hijacking. It's a legitimate concern. If I had known the silliness between the two states, I may not have bothered moving there at all.
I wonder how it is that I lived there for 11 years and never heard of this concern or this silliness between the two states.
The answer is simple....those were the days before Internet trolls. Those were the days when people you encountered day-to-day were other busy, normal people with lives and much better things to do than to fabricate envy-based troubles and tensions.
There is very little of this "silliness between the two states" in the minds of the vast majority of real KC area people. But a handful of troublemakers who lurk in the society's shadows can get on a forum such as this today and make it seem as though moving to the KC metro is a matter of taking up arms against all of your neighbors across the state line. It is utter nonsense and it has gone on here for far too long.
Worse than a simple waste of time and bandwidth, it is misinformation and distorts the perception of life in the KC metro for those without their own KC experience by which to know better.
No offense, but I encountered these issues in KC long before I found them on the internet. I wish I had found them on the internet before moving, so if I did make the decision to move there, I would have more prepared for what I encountered.
Personal insults for not picking the right county in the right state to live in aside, the state line issues have a negative affect on the quality of the city and it's metro as a whole. Anyone who lives there and tries to experience all it has to offer knows that.
Maybe it's my own fault for not being a good suburbanite and staying put in my little cocoon unless it was to venture off to other like-minded suburbs.
I wonder how it is that I lived there for 11 years and never heard of this concern or this silliness between the two states.
The answer is simple....those were the days before Internet trolls. Those were the days when people you encountered day-to-day were other busy, normal people with lives and much better things to do than to fabricate envy-based troubles and tensions.
There is very little of this "silliness between the two states" in the minds of the vast majority of real KC area people. But a handful of troublemakers who lurk in the society's shadows can get on a forum such as this today and make it seem as though moving to the KC metro is a matter of taking up arms against all of your neighbors across the state line. It is utter nonsense and it has gone on here for far too long.
Worse than a simple waste of time and bandwidth, it is misinformation and distorts the perception of life in the KC metro for those without their own KC experience by which to know better.
True. Now we have the internet to get the word out on issues just like this. I know it hurts to read that the only reason the only successful county in Kansas is doing well is attributed to its proximately to KCMO and its ability to syphon, poach and freeload off of KCMO at tax payer expense. But it is what it is... Frabricated? Yea, sure it is. Whatever you say. There are plenty of links in all of these threads showing this is anything but fabricated. I think people can figure out what's going on for themselves. The only people that seem to defend this is pro JoCo people and if you have any civic pride in "KC", not just JoCo, then I don't see how you could support this aggressive practive which is so destructive to the metro area. Kansas has waged on KCMO. How can metro KC people support that? I seriously doubt that folks in Lee's Summit or Liberty would be thrilled about giving AMC or Tiva 50 million dollars to move to 470 and Woods Chapel or 35 and Barry. They are smart enough to not even offer that to X company from Atlanta, let alone to steal a local company from KCMO. I lived in LS and the people they are no where near as anti city and everything for themselves. They co-exist with KCMO on way to many issues to stab them in the back. Just think of what KC could be like if the KS side could figure out how to grow without simply purchasing companies from KCMO.
Nobody hands out the types of incentives Kansas hands out for cross country moves, let alone moves from six miles away. There is a state that will give a company with 350 employees 65 million to move to and nobody outside of KCMO gives a rip because few from outside of Kansas have any interest in living or working in Kansas. So Kansas has to go after companies that are already in the area or on the border.
And many KCMO companies have turned down Kansas because moving to some nondescript office park in Kansas was not worth any amount of money to them. The Plaza Law firm Polsinelli Shughart comes to mind as well as the NAIC and FDIC. Kansas dangled tens of millions of free cash to all of them and while they entertained their offers, they just couldn't do it. The copanies think being in the city is part of their identity and part of their attraction to employees and clients. But then you have companies like AMC that were not interested in Kansas, but just couldn't pass up all the free money. It was just too much to pass up and then have to answer to stockholders as to why they didn't take the cash to move down the highway. Had Kansas left AMC alone or at least offered a normal relocation package, AMC would be in a new building near the P&L district or near the Plaza today. Trust me, I have seen their initial plans. My point is that Kansas and Johnson County are not the desirable places they think they are. It's average suburbia that you can find in any of the top 100 metro areas in the country and that's just one county. Most of Kansas is not JoCO and is econmoically depressed and losing people. That's why they go after kcmo companies so hard. It's the only thing they got. But it still doesn't make it right.
I am close to retirement age and probably the biggest factor in peoples retirement plans, if they are looking to move after retirement is TAXES.
Then I sure wouldn't think Kansas would be anywhere near the top of your list of states to retire in. They have high taxes for a rural state and little to show for it. The only thing you get for high taxes in Kansas is good public schools and nice office parks (much of which are subsidized by the state and filled with ex-kcmo tenants) and those benefits are pretty much limited to one county.
Not sure you would care about neither when you are retired.
So I'm not sure what your point is as Kansas is not some amazing hotbed for relocating retiring people. As least move some place that has some level of public transit if you are going to have higher taxes.
Right now, MO based Cerner is probably pulling more people into JoCo than any Kansas based company is and while Kansas did land the Cerner call center office buildings at the speedway with like (100 million in incentives), I would bet Kansas would give Cerner like 5 billion dollars to move from NKC to Overland Park. Too bad for Kansas that Cerner owns its buildings in NKC and SKC and won't be needing to move any time soon. But they got paid big time to build in KCK. That's why they walked away from the Bannister Mall "REDEVELOMENT" and built out in the middle of cow farms. Can't pass up that kind of money. Nearly free office buildings and a free soccer stadium toy too! Why not? When you buy a couch at Nebraska Furniture Mart, just think you also probably paid for a door in that new office building across the street up with the sales tax you paid, that could have gone to your schools or police! You know the people that will work in that office are also paying for the building they are in with their own income taxes!
None of it makes sense to me. The only way you could even begin to justify this is if you completely rebuilt an area and stabilized a massive part of the city and thousands of existing homes and businesses. Such as the bannister mall area.
What would Kansas be today if KCMO did not exist?
It would have Wichita and Topeka and be a nobody state. Keep biting the hand that feeds you Kansas. Eventually you will get bit back hard and it's going to hurt. When Missouri decides to go after JoCo companies with everything they have (and they have a lot more than KS), then Kansas might be in a world of hurt because again, they have no place else to turn to for eco development and you can bet that all those companies that moved once will move again. Just like Applebees.
One question I have that I don't know the answer too. If X company gets 20 million dollars in up front incentives from a state, is that considered income to that company as far as the IRS is concerned?
I mean, if a city were to pay me 500k so that I could buy any home I wanted, so long as it was in their city, I would no doubt have to claim that as income and pay taxes (like a third of it) to the federal government.
Would this be the same with the companies getting these incentives and if so, what does that mean? A state is giving the federal government 10 million dollars out of a 40 million dollar deal?
I would bet anything that they don't pay jack to the IRS. I would even bet that these companies still find a way to write up a lease and pay some imaginary company rent and then are able to claim this rent as an expense to offset their normal profits and so they get away with being taxed twice in this situation alone. That's how the giant profitable companies don't pay any federal taxes. In the case of Kansas, the company taxes the state!
Some day people will think about this kind of stuff when sales taxes are 18% and income tax is closer to 50% and companies are in state funded office buildings paying little to no taxes or just keeping all the taxes they are supposed to generate.
I mean, these are questions that people SHOULD be asking. Not just in Kansas, but everywhere.
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