The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., this year will redeem an extra $27 million of sales tax revenue bonds issued in 2005 to finance construction of a large shopping district.
The so-called STAR bonds are supported through revenue from local and state sales taxes and hotel room taxes on designated property. The 20-year revenue bonds can be issued by a local city or county government, but first must be approved by the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Officials of the combined government said strong revenues from stores in the Village West district will enable it to pay off a total of $44.7 million of the outstanding debt issued for the shopping district and other efforts.
The Unified Government issued nearly $295 million in STAR bonds between 2001 and 2005. By the end of 2011, county officials said, the outstanding debt will total $85.5 million.
The final bonds from 2005 will mature in 2013. All the STAR bonds issued for the district — including $173 million of debt issued in 2009 for a professional soccer stadium — are now expected to mature in 2017, four years ahead of the original schedule.
The Village West district includes 114 businesses, including 28 restaurants. They generated more than $610 million a year in sales, producing $41 million in local and state sales tax collections and $11 million in local property taxes.
