Blood drive planned Dec. 29 The Haley Bernard Honorary Blood Drive will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, at the Bonner Springs YMCA, Classroom A, 2251 S. 138th St., Bonner Springs, Kansas. It is a Community Blood Center blood drive. To schedule a donation or for more information, visit www.esavealifenow.org or call 816-753-4040.
Spanish singing lessons planned The South Branch Library will hold Spanish singing lessons for children from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, at Conference Room B, 3104 Strong Ave. Sandra Zamora is in charge of the program. Children of different ages will learn to cultivate their voices.
Movie to be shown at library The Main Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library, 625 Minnesota Ave., will show the movie, “House with a Clock in its Walls,” from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, in the second floor auditorium. The movie is rated PG.
Concert planned Saturday evening
The Lesters will present a concert at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, at the First Baptist Church of Turner, 701 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. There will be a freewill offering.
A Kansas City, Kansas, man was killed in an accident at 5:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 28, on I-70 west of the 78th Street exit in Kansas City, Kansas.
The victim was Nathan Edward Jones Jr., 33, of Kansas City, Kansas, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s report.
Jones was eastbound on I-70 in a Buick LeSabre when he lost control of his vehicle, drove south of the roadway, struck the ditch, overturned and spun, the trooper’s report stated. The LeSabre came to rest upside down, according to the trooper’s report.
Jones was wearing his seat belt, according to the report.
Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. (File photo)
How much is Hollywood Casino’s property and building worth? The state of Kansas, in a recent ruling by the Kansas Court of Appeals, says it’s $102 million.
The $102 million figure was in between what the Unified Government in 2015 said it was worth – $157 million – and what Kansas Entertainment, the parent company of the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, said it was worth – $68.6 million.
The valuation figures, for 2015, are important when the property tax is figured. The casino is located at 777 Hollywood Casino Blvd. in Kansas City, Kansas, near I-70 and I-435. It is in the Village West and Legends area, where property values are high.
In the decision handed down Dec. 21, the court of appeals upheld the $102 million figure reached by the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA). Experts, who used different ways of calculating the valuation, were called for both sides in the BOTA case, according to court documents.
Both the UG and Kansas Entertainment cross-appealed the BOTA decision.
“Because BOTA’s decision is based on substantial competent evidence, because BOTA did not commit reversible err in adopting the methodology of the Taxpayer’s expert over that of the Unified Government’s expert, and because the Unified Government has failed to show that including the selling price of one particular casino owned by a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in the data set of casino sales transactions significantly altered BOTA’s decision, we affirm,” the court of appeals stated in its Dec. 21 ruling.
The Hollywood Casino has 101 acres of land and a 245,000-square-foot building, according to the court documents, and includes the casino with a steak house, buffet, sports bar, mid-level restaurant, coffee shop and VIP lounge, as well as business offices. There are also 1,253 covered parking spaces at the casino property. On the property are 2,000 slot machines, 40 gaming tables and 12 poker tables.
The Hollywood Casino building is in the Bonner Springs, Kansas, school district, with its parking garage in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools district.
According to the UG’s property tax website, the $157 million appraised valuation for 2015 resulted in a total of about $6.98 million in property taxes. About $2 million or so could be knocked off the total property tax bill with the change in the valuation.
For tax year 2018, the Hollywood Casino had an appraised valuation of $169.8 million, according to the UG’s property tax website. Property taxes for 2018 totaled $7.2 million, according to the website.
The Unified Government receives more than property tax from the casino – it also receives a gaming tax plus other revenues. Current figures for Hollywood Casino gaming revenues, which are separate from the property taxes, as reported to the Kansas Lottery Commission for November 2018, were $11.79 million. That figure does not include revenues from restaurants and other revenues. The amount of gaming revenue for fiscal year 2018 was $148.77 million, according to lottery figures. The UG, under the Kansas gaming laws, receives 3 percent of the gaming revenue, while the state of Kansas receives 22 percent.
In addition, the UG has a separate agreement with the Hollywood Casino in which the casino provides funding for local charities each year, as well as a $100,000 contribution to UG parks.
The Kansas Court of Appeals decision is online at http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/Opinions/Unpublished/Ctapp/2018/20181221/117406.pdf
