THE HARRISONVILLE HIGHWAYS 71 / 291 TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT: COOPERATING TO FUND TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS

by David Bushek

he Harrisonville Highways 71/291 Partners In Progress Transportation DevelopmentT District (TDD) serves as a model of cooperation among municipal officials, property owners, business owners and state transportation officials to plan, design, fund and construct major improvements to federal interstate, state highway and local arterial roads. The TDD in Harrisonville, , is unique because it involves a large area, many property owners, many existing retail businesses, and the imposition of a sales tax to address traffic deficiencies and capacity and surrounding commercial roads 182 acres be formed for the purpose issues for a transportation network experience significant congestion, of imposing an extra sales tax on that serves as the backbone of a backups and a high-accident rate as retail businesses along Route 291 city and a region. Other Missouri a result of high-traffic volumes. The and along the primary east-west municipalities that seek to fund current accident rate in this area is arterial road that leads to the transportation improvements could three times higher than the state . After addressing minor benefit from duplicating the success average for similar areas. opposition to formation in court, an Harrisonville realized through the To address this problem, election was conducted among the use of transportation development Harrisonville officials took steps to property owners within the district districting. form a special district that would in November 2008 on the question The city of Harrisonville has serve as a source of funding for of whether the district should be a population of around 10,000 that transportation improvements. The formed. The property owners were occupies approximately 10 square district would also serve as a the qualified voters in the election miles located 37 miles south of mechanism for property and business because there were no registered the Kansas City metropolitan area. owners in the City to have significant voters who resided within the district (State Route 71) and input regarding the design and scope boundaries. The ballot question State Routes 7 and 291 intersect in of the improvements. However, the passed and the district was formed. Harrisonville, and the I-49/Route decision to form the district was After formation, the property 291 interchange serves as a primary not without some risk to the City, owners within the TDD area held point of access to Harrisonville and as the district would become an a court-directed meeting to elect southern Cass County from Kansas independent political subdivision of the initial board of directors. In City. This interchange is also a the state, controlling its own revenues accordance with the TDD act, each primary route for weekend and and making its own decisions property owner within the district vacation traffic between the Kansas regarding how the funds would be that cast a vote for director positions City area and the Lake of the Ozarks. spent. Cooperation between the City was allowed one vote per acre of Traffic is particularly heavy and the TDD would be the key to property owned within the district. at peak-travel times on summer making this effort succeed. Seven directors were elected, and the weekends, and Lake-bound traffic TDD commenced operations. can inundate Harrisonville on Friday TDD Formation And The Sales The purpose of the TDD is to evenings. Traffic turning south Tax Election impose a sales tax and expend the toward the Lake area typically Harrisonville took the initiative revenues on the road improvements. backs up along Route 291 in front to form the TDD in 2008. The City The board of directors held discussions of many of the primary commercial filed a petition in Cass County with City staff regarding the most properties in town. Traffic studies Circuit Court requesting that a appropriate sales tax rate. According document that the interchange district encompassing approximately to the petition and court order, the www.mocities.com The Missouri Municipal Review January 2015 / 7 and takes advantage of city staff’s expertise. Financial records of the district are maintained by city staff, and the TDD’s legal counsel maintains all other records of the district. Coordination with city staff has allowed the TDD to keep its operational expenses down, and in many ways city staff has functioned as the de facto staff for the TDD through this cooperative arrangement. The city manager, the city public works director and assistant public works director, the city engineer, the mayor and other city officials Phase 1 of the TDD's road projects consists of major improvements to have attended TDD board meetings the I-49 / Route 291 interchange and improvements to roads that feed to assist with the selection of into the interchange. engineering consultants; evaluation of planning and road design issues; the negotiation of contracts with the sales tax would initially be limited the majority of the directors who are state; and making decisions regarding to 20 years. The board adopted a still on the board today were original use of the TDD’s revenues. City staff resolution calling for an election to directors elected in 2009. has issued requests for proposals on impose a one-cent sales tax within The TDD has no employees. behalf of the TDD after board of the district area that is the maximum The principal place of business for director approval, using the City’s rate allowed by the TDD Act. The the TDD is designated as City Hall, form of documents with TDD input, qualified voters in this election were because the only property owned for such items as the demolition again all property owners in the TDD by the district is related to road of a building to allow for road area. The ballot measure passed, and rights of way. The directors also construction and the selection of a the TDD sales tax became effective serve as the officers of the district company to perform electric utility on retail sales in the TDD area on – executive director, secretary, relocation work. Aug. 1, 2009. treasurer, and chair and vice chair. The TDD’s sales tax generated The TDD has engaged general Road Projects approximately $1 million during the legal counsel, who work closely Phase 1 of the TDD’s first 12-month period after the tax with the directors and city staff to road projects consists of major went into effect. The initial few years set TDD meetings, prepare district improvements to the I-49/Route 291 of the district sales tax occurred documents, negotiate contracts, interchange, and improvements to during the primary years of the great prepare annual reports, coordinate primary arterial roads and selected recession that began around 2008; as with city and Missouri Department secondary connector roads that a result, sales growth was relatively of Transportation (MoDOT) staff, feed into the interchange. The TDD flat during the first few years of the coordinate for expenditure of the selected and directly contracted sales tax. There has been a gradual district’s revenues, and carry out with the engineering firm that has but slight increase in sales in the district contracts regarding district prepared the plans for the Phase district since 2012. operations, road design, land 1 road improvements. The total acquisition, demolition, environmental cost of the planning study and District Management And studies, and road construction. engineering design work for Phase Operations 1 was approximately $1.5 million Coordination And Cooperation Each of the seven TDD directors that was funded exclusively from is a representative of an entity that The City and the TDD have TDD sales tax revenues and without owns property or a business within entered into a cooperative agreement the need to issue debt. City staff the TDD area. There are around that establishes the primary and the TDD board worked closely 50 property owners in the TDD relationship between the entities. The throughout the design process to area among approximately 60 land agreement provides that the City’s make decisions regarding major and parcels, and there are approximately finance department receives and minor design issues. The city engineer 70 retail businesses in operation manages district sales tax revenues and city public works director were in the TDD area. The directors that are remitted from the department instrumental in working through represent the divergent interests of of revenue as a result of the TDD particular drainage and access issues the community, but have maintained sales tax. As the TDD board of with the engineering consultant and a common goal of making fair and directors approves the payment of MoDOT staff as they arose during cost-conscious decisions regarding bills, the City’s finance department the design period. the road improvements funded by staff makes the appropriate payments The total amount of the Phase the TDD. The TDD has benefitted from TDD revenues. This ensures safe 1 construction contract was about from board member continuity, and fund management and accounting, $13.7 million. Funding for the Phase

8 / January 2015 The Missouri Municipal Review www.mocities.com 1 improvements was a combination of $5 million from MoDOT funds ($3.7 million state cost share funds and $1.3 million MoDOT local district funds), $2 million from federal Surface Transportation Planning funds awarded by the Mid-America Regional Council, and the remainder funded by the TDD. This state and local funding mix for the Phase 1 improvements has allowed the TDD and the City to successfully leverage significant state funding as the result of the sales tax revenues generated by the TDD. The TDD issued its first series of bonds in March 2014 in the principal amount of about $6.9 million to cover the local portion of the construction contract and related costs. Phase 1 construction has One unique aspect of the new I-49/Route 291 interchange is a commenced, and is expected to be “diverging diamond” design using a dual-bridge system. completed by late fall 2015. One unique aspect of the new federal dollars as the result of the from new local sales tax revenues. The I-49/Route 291 interchange is a TDD sales tax. use of a transportation development “diverging diamond” design using a district covering a large area and dual-bridge system. This configuration Conclusion many pre-existing businesses is moves traffic to what American The Harrisonville Highways not common in Missouri. This drivers would consider “the other 71/291 Partners In Progress TDD district serves as a model that other side of the road” as traffic crosses has served as a successful method of communities could replicate to fund the bridge that facilitates smooth and coordinating the interests of the City improvements that address existing continuous left-turn movements from and local businesses to generate funds transportation deficiencies for the the highway onto the interstate. The for the construction of significant benefit of an entire community. TDD board and city staff considered arterial traffic improvements that many design options and engaged in will have long-lasting benefits for David Bushek is a Shareholder with Gilmore & significant deliberation before finally the community and the region. Bell. P.C., in Kansas City, Missouri, and serves as selecting the diverging-diamond Cooperation between the City and general legal counsel to the Harrisonville TDD. design. This design has been used He can be reached at [email protected] the TDD has allowed the community or 816 221-1000. successfully in other locations in the to leverage significant state funding state, most notably at the Highway 13/Interstate 44 interchange in northern Springfield, Missouri. This design will be particularly helpful in easing congestion resulting form Lake-bound traffic during peak travel times in the summer. Recent discussions at TDD meetings have focused on Phase 2 of the road improvements that would expand and improve Highway 291 from the end-point of the Phase 1 improvements to the northern city limits. The TDD has already expended funds for the initial design of the Phase 2 improvements, and the remaining design through final plans needs to be completed. The projected construction costs are planned to be funded by $2.3 million in state cost share funds, $1.1 million in STP funding, $500,000 from MoDOT funds, and the remainder funded by the TDD revenues. This funding mix will again allow the City and TDD to leverage significant state and www.mocities.com The Missouri Municipal Review January 2015 / 9