By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
August 29, 2012

Outdoor advertising companies won’t be paying an extra fee or tax just yet.

During the Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee meetings, committee members listened to hours of debate from both supporters and opponents of two proposed measures.

Originally, the City of Kansas City proposed implementing a 2 percent tax on the gross revenue of billboards located within the city. If approved by voters, the tax would have generated an estimated $110,000 to $118,000 annually. When outdoor advertising companies called the tax unconstitutional and threatened to sue if the tax passed, the city and the outdoor advertising industry worked to find a compromise. That compromise included implementing an annual $100 fee per billboard face, which would generate approximately $60,000 to $80,000 annually.

The city planned to use the funding to enforce current billboard ordinances, create a database of current billboards, and remove blighted billboards from the city.

Committee members voted to place the $100 fee measure on the November ballot. However, during the Aug. 23 City Council meeting, City Council members voted 8 to 5 in favor of the measure, falling one vote shy of placing the measure on the ballot.

During the Aug. 22 committee meeting, committee member Scott Wagner shared research regarding the city’s 3-1-1 Action Center and the number of billboard complaints. From April 2008 to Aug. 22, 2012, the Action Center received about 175 calls regarding signs. Of that number, only 22 cases mentioned the word “billboard,” and only eight of those cases regarded actual billboards. Only two of the cases required action, Wagner said.

Referencing the city only receiving eight calls regarding billboards, Wagner said, “It suggests to me that either the boards aren’t the issue or the process is the problem.”

Upon further research, Wagner also discovered that billboard codes enforcement had been assigned to the director of the City Planning and Development Department, which is not the appropriate department, Wagner said. That responsibility should lie with the Neighborhood and Community Services Department, he said. In addition, outdoor advertising companies like�CBS Outdoor, Inc. and Lamar Advertising Co. already keep a database of their billboards and have offered to share that database with the city, Wagner said. To fix the codes enforcement problem, Wagner volunteered to work with the City Planning and Development Department to draft an ordinance moving codes enforcement responsibilities to the Neighborhood and Community Services Department.

City Council member Cindy Circo commended Wagner for his research and said the city should enforce what’s currently on the books instead of passing a new tax or fee.

While some City Council members argued the city needs a dedicated revenue source to address billboard blight, others argued the money generated wouldn’t be enough to address the problem. In addition, other council members said the city should set aside funds in the General Fund to address billboard codes enforcement.