During their Tuesday meeting, the Hutchinson city council approved three STAR bond districts to help finance much-needed improvements to some of the city’s most historic and iconic buildings and attractions.
Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds are unique to Kansas and have been used 16 times since 1999, when the first district, which now houses the Kansas Speedway, was approved. The bonds provide up-front funds to build a project inside a sales tax-generating district and are paid off with increased sales tax revenue in that defined area.
The bonds do not increase taxes; they reallocate tax revenue within the districts towards settling them.
Strataca used them in 2006 to expand the facility and paid the bonds off early.
The approval process consists of three steps. First, the bond district is defined as a designated geographical area. Second, the project plan must be reviewed and approved. The third and final step is bond issuance to fund the project.
Hutchinson designated three districts for three separate projects on Tuesday.
The first is to renovate the historic landmark building. The former hotel, apartment building, and retail space has suffered dramatically from previous neglect. The plan is to build apartments to meet the demand for downtown housing and retail space on the ground floor. The designated area lies along Main St.
The second project is to renovate Memorial Hall, a beautiful historic building suitable for sporting events, concerts, craft shows and conventions but woefully underutilized. Because it lacks air conditioning, it is unusable during the hot summer months. The restrooms and plumbing need upgrades, and the building needs some structural improvements.
The Cosmosphere wants to expand its museum and educational space, which are becoming critically important as renewed competition and interest in space travel create more artifacts to house and display and more students eager to learn. Those who doubt the Cosmosphere’s ability to draw visitors should wander through the parking lot any weekend and count the out-of-county and out-of-state license plates.
The second step will come after concrete plans are fixed and drawn up, then presented for review and approval by the state, which will determine if the plan will increase revenue in the designated areas enough to cover the anticipated bonds.
I am excited about all three projects, and I look forward to seeing the plans on paper.
