The Unified Government Commission reached a consensus at its budget meeting on Thursday, July 20, to move forward on getting more funding for assistant district attorneys.
The commission heard a report from Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree, who said pay for assistant district attorneys in other large counties in Kansas was higher than in Wyandotte County. He also reported that pay was about $10,000 higher for the attorneys in the UG’s Legal Department.
According to Dupree, the cost of upgrading the office’s salaries this year would be about $300,000. UG Administrator Doug Bach said that meant $390,000 in salary and benefits.
Commissioner Hal Walker, a former UG chief counsel, gave an impassioned plea for better salaries for attorneys in the DA’s office, saying it would lead to better retention. Walker said there has always been a lot of turnover in the DA’s office because of the low salaries. Bach said there was a turnover of some staff when Dupree took office this year.
Commissioner Ann Brandau-Murguia said she supported the effort to upgrade salaries, and said the UG would have to take the money from somewhere else in the budget.
Mayor Mark Holland said Bach will look at the situation and bring the commission a preliminary recommendation at Monday’s budget meeting.
The UG also heard a report July 20 about the complicated administrative and financial tax structure of the library system in Wyandotte County, and an explanation of the different library mill levies and what they are used for.
There was a brief discussion about a need for a library in the Piper area, with Commissioner Mike Kane supporting it. The public libraries in Wyandotte County that are near Piper include one operated by the Kansas City, Kansas, school district inside Wyandotte County Lake Park at 91st and Leavenworth Road in Kansas City, Kansas, and one in Bonner Springs, which is operated by the city of Bonner Springs. The Piper library idea had been mentioned by one of Kane’s opponents, Sarah Kremer, when she announced her candidacy.
However, questions were raised by other UG commissioners and officials on July 20 about how a Piper library might be possible with the current administrative and taxing system. UG officials said it would not be part of this year’s budget, and more research was suggested. The topic might come back to a future special session.
The UG also heard a presentation on economic development projects in Wyandotte County.
At the Monday night, July 17, meeting, the UG Commission heard reports about public safety, the Police Department’s plans for body cameras, building a fiber network for the police and UG, as well as a $4 million Piper fire station and the 311 phone number. The commission has already voted to build a Piper fire station. Plans are to build a fire station in different parts of the Kansas City, Kansas, every other year, according to UG officials. The body camera project is in the administrator’s proposed budget.
According to a presentation, if the UG decides to go forward with the project, the body cameras could have a price tag of $400,000 in 2017, with vehicle cameras costing $150,000 in 2017 and $475,000 in 2018. Then, there was a price tag of $1 million on fiber connectivity Additional costs for fiber network security were $100,000 in 2018. The UG’s body and vehicle camera videos would not use the internet, but the UG would build its own private network. The UG applied for a Department of Justice grant for $347,208 in January 2017 and was awaiting a response, according to UG officials. A few years ago, the UG turned down body cameras because of the high costs.
There are still some costs that are unknown that are associated with body cameras, according to the police chief. A few of the commissioners, including Kane, expressed questions about the cost and said they wondered if it would be better to put the money into more police patrols instead.
This year, for the first time, a UG election is going on at the same time as the UG budget adoption process. The Legislature changed the timing of the local election from the spring to the fall, with the primary Aug. 1, about the same time that local governments are setting their budgets. Some UG candidates are running on lowering property taxes. Some candidates for Unified Government Commission said taxes should be lowered, making their statements at an election forum on July 19 at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Another budget meeting is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 24, when a public hearing will be held on the UG and CDBG budget, according to the agenda. After the hearing, a budget workshop could be held.
A video of the July 20 meeting is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6M6-sEF8tg. A video of the July 17 meeting is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtV5Vj-CJzg.
