Independence council hears first readings for Wally’s redevelopment, TIF and Chapter 100 benefits

The Independence City Council on Dec. 8 held a special meeting to take public comment and read on first reading a package of ordinances that would enable Wally’s to redevelop the former Kmart site at I-70 and Nolan Road into a travel center.

City staff introduced a tax-increment-financing plan that would capture portions of property- and sales-tax growth generated by the redevelopment to reimburse public improvements. Staff said the developer has requested up to $8.6 million in reimbursements, of which $7.6 million would be reimbursed to the developer and $1 million would be directed to city transportation improvements within the Nolan Road corridor. The staff presentation also placed TIF exhibits 1–10 into the record and described a blight study supporting a blight finding for the redevelopment area.

Kirk Peterson, representing Wally’s, told the council the company acquired the troubled site, reimbursed the city $200,000 for demolition costs and paid $2,000,000 in back taxes to bring the property current. He described the project as roughly a $53 million investment to build a 54,000-square-foot travel center with 84 fuel pumps, extensive electric-vehicle charging and a large off-site traffic-improvement package. Peterson said the developer expects about 200 permanent jobs and roughly 150 construction jobs if the project proceeds.

The proposed financing package includes multiple streams: a TIF capture of increments from PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes) at a 50% share to the developer and 50% to taxing jurisdictions, statutory capture of 50% of economic-activity sales taxes (EATS), and the formation of a Transportation Development District (TDD) that would add a project-specific 1% sales tax. City staff said the TDD is formed through a state-law litigation process in which the developer files a petition and the city is named as a respondent; the TDD proceeds would fund project-specific improvements and half of that 1% would be captured by the TIF.

Staff and the developer emphasized there would be no general-obligation city guarantee on the bonds; the financing would be issued as special-obligation bonds through the Industrial Development Authority, and the Chapter 100 bonds would be a buy-your-own transaction with the developer as the bond purchaser and no city liability. The Chapter 100 component would produce a sales-tax exemption on construction materials; staff estimated an approximate $2.3 million reduction in construction cost to the developer from that exemption.

Council members asked technical questions about how the 50% pilot and EATS sharing mechanisms work, which taxing jurisdictions receive revenue (staff said school districts typically receive the lion’s share in Missouri), and the contingency related to Missouri Department of Transportation approvals for certain traffic improvements. Staff explained that the county sets the frozen base value for PILOT calculations and the increment generated by improvements is split according to the plan.

The city clerk read multiple ordinances on first reading related to the project: an ordinance approving the Wally’s TIF plan and redevelopment agreement (25-1-26); an ordinance initiating TIF for the project (25-1-23); an ordinance supporting formation of a Wally’s Transportation Development District and approving a cooperative agreement (25-1-24, recorded once in the transcript with the variant spelling 'Wallace'); and an ordinance authorizing taxable industrial development revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $52,050,000 (25-1-25). Those readings were procedural first readings; the council did not vote on final adoption during the special meeting.

The mayor opened three calls for public comment during the TIF and Chapter 100 hearings; no members of the public spoke. The hearing remained open for questions but closed before any final action. The council adjourned the special meeting and scheduled a study session to begin at 6 p.m.

Next steps: the ordinances were read on first reading and remain pending. The transcript indicates a separate agenda item will address the city’s procedural response to the TDD petition and additional steps will be needed for MoDOT approvals and final bond issuance.