Lee's Summit advances Midstates expansion; council moves Chapter 100 incentive ordinance to second reading

The Lee's Summit City Council on Feb. 2 advanced to second reading a plan to provide Chapter 100 incentives for Midstates Distributing LLC to expand its distribution facility at 420 Southeast Thompson Drive.

City economic-development staff entered exhibits into the record and laid out the financial terms: a 100% sales-tax exemption on construction materials during the build, a 75% abatement on the incremental real-property value for 10 years, and a 50% personal-property abatement for three equipment-installment purchases (each with five years of abatement). Staff summarized the developer benefit as roughly $4.8 million on a project the presentation described as close to $80 million. "There's 1 tool that's being requested for this incentive and that is Chapter 100," Economic Development staff member David Bushak told council while walking through the numbers and the three "snapshots" used in the cost-benefit analysis.

Why it matters: City staff and the applicant framed the package as retention and modest expansion that would keep an existing 165-employee operation in Lee's Summit while adding about 90 new jobs initially. Kirk Peterson, representing Midstates, said the company would "like to stay here" and expand, and that without incentives it might locate elsewhere. Peterson said the expansion would add roughly 465,000 square feet to the existing building and could be in full operation by mid-2027 if approved.

Opposition centered on public-revenue concerns. Resident Scott Shepherd told the council the deal included "$80,000,000 in bonds, 75% abatement on existing buildings and new buildings for 10 years and sales tax abatement on $24,000,000 resulting in over $550,000 in lost sales tax revenue," and urged the council to weigh whether tens of millions in concessions were justified for the projected job count. Another resident, Debbie Giddings, raised questions about impacts to libraries and parks and asked for clearer charts on the projected city impact.

Council members pressed staff and the applicant on timing and scope. Staff clarified that the abatement applies only to new incremental value — "You are only abating new taxes that don't exist today," Bushak said — and that existing property taxes would continue to flow to taxing districts. Peterson described a conservative estimate of 90 new positions and asserted broader local economic benefits through upstream and downstream job creation.

The procedural outcome: Council member Shields moved and a colleague seconded to move Bill number 26-021 (an ordinance approving an industrial development plan and authorizing taxable industrial development revenue bonds not to exceed $79,650,000) to second reading; the motion passed unanimously. No final adoption occurred at this meeting; the item will return for further readings and final action.

Next steps: The ordinance was advanced to a second reading, where council will have an additional opportunity to review the legal documents and any recommended conditions before a final vote.