An appeal has been filed by UMB Bank in regards to the payment responsibility on parking garages in Zona Rosa Town Center.
Attorneys for the bank filed the appeal in the Western District Court of Appeals on Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Commissioners said they will stick by their guns in the case, in which Judge James Van Amburg ruled in the county’s favor in May.
“We, of course, will continue to rigorously defend the taxpayers and our position,” said commissioner Dagmar Wood last week.
Van Amburg issued a summary judgement in favor of Platte County, whose attorneys argued had made no promise to cover shortfalls in tax revenues at Zona Rosa.
“There is no promise or requirement in the financing agreement for Platte County to make payment on the Zona Rosa Bonds,” Van Amburg wrote in his May judgment. “In fact, in section 2.4, the financing agreement specifically states that it ‘shall not in any way be construed or interpreted as creating a liability or a general obligation of debt of the county... nor shall anything contained therein constitute a pledge of the general credit, tax revenues, funds or moneys of the county.’ The trustee (UMB Bank) has admitted the bonds are not secured by the full faith and credit and taxing power of Platte County.”
Commissioners contend that UMB Bank’s demands for the county to cover payment shortfalls on parking garages at Zona Rosa would have imposed an immediate liability of more than $700,000 and a long-term liability of up to $40 million through 2032. Cuts to services — including law enforcement — and property tax increases were proposed to cover the payments should the county have been forced to pay.
Platte County brought the suit about a year ago, seeking a declaration from the court regarding the validity of UMB’s demands that it cover shortfalls in tax revenue used to pay the bonds. The bonds are payable from a one percent sales tax in Zona Rosa.
In his judgment, Van Amburg agreed that while the county auditor was required to include a potential payment for the bonds in his proposed budget, the commission is not bound to accept that proposed budget. “The financing agreement recognizes that the county commission may decide each year whether to appropriate or not to appropriate for a potential payment on the Zona Rosa bonds,” the judgment states.
County commissioners refused to cover the 2018 bond payment shortfall due last December and did not appropriate funding for the 2019 bond payment. Credit rating agencies dropped the county’s bond rating to junk status last fall based on commission statements made on the bonds before the bond payment default.