No decision yet on minority hiring at H&R Block HQ

The Kansas City Tax-Increment Financing Commission has given H&R Block two weeks to respond to a report from the city concluding that minority participation was inflated during the construction of the company’s headquarters in downtown Kansas City.

The TIF Commission will hold a special meeting in two weeks to make a final decision about whether an honest effort was made to include minority businesses in the construction. Virtually the entire cost of H&R Block’s oval-shaped headquarters was subsidized by taxpayers.

A group of Hispanic contractors filed a lawsuit in 2005 alleging that J.E. Dunn had flouted the city’s affirmative-action policy while serving as the general contractor on the Block project. In one instance, Dunn awarded a $2.9 million contract to a minority electrician who lacked the required expertise.