Tied for first place in the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City (2-1-0, 6 points) puts a two-game winning streak on the line Saturday against the Colorado Rapids (0-1-0, 0 points) at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.
The match will kick off at 8 p.m. with three hours of live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO. ESPN 94.5 FM (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish) will carry the game on the radio, while the Sporting KC Uphoria app will provide live updates.
Sporting KC travels west this weekend on the heels of an exciting 3-2 home victory over the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
Ilie opened his MLS scoring account from the penalty spot in the 25th minute before Graham Zusi and Felipe Gutierrez bagged sensational second-half goals to help secure all three points at Children’s Mercy Park.
Zusi’s left-footed thunderbolt propelled him to MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week honors, while Gutierrez became the first Sporting KC player ever to record three goals in his first three MLS regular season appearances for the club.
Manager Peter Vermes’ men enter Week 4 on a wave of attacking momentum, having scored seven goals over a two-game span for the first time since August 2015.
Sporting KC’s seven goals are tied for most in Major League Soccer, a substantial uptick from 2017 when the team took its first eight games to reach the seven-goal mark.
Saturday presents the club with an opportunity to win consecutive road games and three straight MLS matches overall for the first time since March and April of 2016.
On the opposite sideline, first-year head coach Anthony Hudson leads a Colorado side that hasn’t played a competitive match in nearly two weeks.
The Rapids suffered a 2-1 season-opening setback at the New England Revolution on March 10 in a game that saw eight Colorado players make their MLS debuts.
That list includes all three defenders who started in a three-man backline – Tommy Smith, Danny Wilson and Deklan Wynne – plus midfield quartet Johan Blomberg, Edgar Castillo, Enzo Martinez and Jack Price as well as forward Niki Jackson, a fourth-round selection in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft who came off the bench to score Colorado’s lone goal.
The significant roster shuffle at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park comes after the Rapids lost 19 games in 2017, their most since the inaugural 1996 MLS season.
Forward Dominique Badji was a bright spot in an otherwise forgettable campaign, leading the team in goals (nine) and assists (six).
Longtime U.S. international goalkeeper Tim Howard, who returns for his 22nd professional season and his third with Colorado, captains a team that bowed out of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League last month with a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Toronto FC in the Round of 16.
The Rapids may be short on match rhythm with just one game played in March, but they are facing a Sporting KC outfit that has conceded multiple goals in each of the first three games of the season – something that hasn’t happened since 2011.
In addition, the visitors will have to account for the absence of homegrown forward Daniel Salloi, who has joined the Hungary U-21 Men’s National Team for UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying. Salloi is tied atop the MLS charts with three assists, including two of the game-winning variety.
History paints an ominous picture for Sporting KC ahead of the trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Vermes’ side has lost four straight road games in the series, including each of the last three 1-0. Overall, Colorado has won six of the last seven meetings dating back to August 2015, and their six victories over Sporting KC since then are their most against any opponent.
The sides split their two meetings in 2017. Sporting KC cruised to a 3-1 victory last April at Children’s Mercy Park, receiving goals from Seth Sinovic and Gerso Fernandes, before the Rapids exacted revenge a month later with a 1-0 home triumph despite being outshot 24-6 and conceding 73 percent possession.
Legislative coffee planned March 24
Wyandotte County legislators will have the opportunity to discuss committee assignments and provide updated information about their work in Topeka during a program at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 24, at the Bonner Springs City Library, 201 N. Nettleton Ave., Bonner Springs, Kansas. A question-and-answer session will follow. It is an opportunity for residents to discuss current legislation and developments with legislators. Coffee and doughnuts will be provided.
Main KCK Public Library to record Quindaro oral histories
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library are inviting people who have memories of Quindaro to share them during an oral history session Saturday, March 24, at the Main Library, 625 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, Kansas. This session of the Quindaro Oral History Project, the third in the series, will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 24. Interviews will be recorded in the first floor meeting rooms at the Main Library. The Quindaro Oral History Project grew out of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, working toward National Historic Landmark status with the National Park Service for the Quindaro neighborhood. Quindaro Oral History Project sessions are recorded and transcribed for the library, and will be available for research, as well as preserving the memories and history of the families that called the neighborhood home.
Family story time planned
A family story time is planned from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, March 24, at the Main Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library youth services craft room, 625 Minnesota Ave. At this event, there will be stories, dancing and singing. The story time is geared to children ages 2 to 6.
KCKCC to hold children’s Easter egg hunt and celebration
The Kansas City, Kansas, community is invited to participate in Kansas City Kansas Community College’s annual Easter celebration. The event is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at the Health Professions Patio on the KCKCC Main Campus, 7250 State Ave. The patio is located behind the Jewell Building on the east side of campus. In case of inclement weather, the event will be canceled. The event is designed for children birth to 12 years old. The Easter egg hunts will be divided into several different sections according to age. The first Easter egg hunt will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. with subsequent hunts held every 15 minutes. The event will end with a grand finale Easter egg hunt for everyone to participate in at the same time. In addition, there will be pony rides, lunch, inflatables, family carnival ride, Easter photos for the family and more. All of the activities during the event will be free and open to students, faculty, staff and community members. For more information, contact Andrica Wilcoxen at 913-288-7553.
March for Our Lives rally to be held today
March for Our Lives Kansas City will be held at noon Saturday, March 24, at Theis Park, 533 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri. This local rally is part of a national event created by students who want to put a stop to violence and who want stricter gun laws. Other marches are planned in Lawrence, Kansas, and Lees Summit, Missouri, to join with the hundreds of other national March for Our Lives rallies. For more information, see https://event.marchforourlives.com/.
Highland to visit KCKCC for Saturday baseball game
Highland Community College will visit Kansas City Kansas Community College at 1 p.m. Saturday. On Thursday, the two teams split a doubleheader. KCKCC is 15-12 for the season.
‘Women Build’ program to be March 24
A “Women Build” program for children and teens will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. March 24 at the Main Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library, 625 Minnesota Ave. The program is for those 18 and younger. For information, visit http://kckpl.librarymarket.com/women-build.
Wyandotte County Appraiser Kathy Briney met with Fairfax business owners and representatives Thursday in a meeting sponsored by the Fairfax Industrial Association. (Photo from the Fairfax Industrial Association)
by Mary Rupert
About 72 percent of properties in Wyandotte County had increases in their valuations this year, leading some businesses and residents to say that they are planning to appeal.
Reports are that some individual businesses in Fairfax had an increase of 50 percent and 70 percent in their real estate valuations. Valuation notices were sent out March 5.
Wyandotte County Appraiser Kathy Briney met with Fairfax business owners and representatives Thursday, in an event sponsored by the Fairfax Industrial Association.
“We don’t create value, people in the marketplace create value,” Briney said on Friday. It is people’s transactions that create the values of property here.
“It’s our legal responsibility to analyze the transactions and apply it to properties,” she said. “That’s our job, I know it’s not a very popular one. The big message is, if they do have questions, I’m all about communication and having people come in and talk with us.”
More demand than supply now in the market
About 72 percent of properties of all types in Wyandotte County saw an increase in valuations this year, Briney said.
For residential properties, there is more demand than supply now in the market, causing prices in the market to increase. This leads to sales with higher prices, which in turn leads to higher valuations of residential properties.
Briney said the median increase for residential properties here was a little over 6 percent.
For commercial properties, countywide there was a median increase of about 8 percent, Briney said. Some areas saw larger increases depending on the market, their conditions and specific neighborhoods, she added.
Median commercial value changes by UG district (Chart from Wyandotte County appraiser’s office)
Prosperity leads to higher valuations
Median residential value change by UG district (Chart from Wyandotte County appraiser’s office)
“The market is the big indicator,” Briney said in answer to a question on why property values increased. “We’ve come out of a recession.”
For residential properties, there is currently a supply-and-demand issue, she said. It’s a seller’s market, she said. When there aren’t enough homes available to match the demand, the price of homes often goes up.
According to Briney, market reports recently showed that the supply of homes on the market in Wyandotte County is 30 percent lower than the previous year. In some areas of the county, people are buying homes for more than the asking prices because buyers are competing to get a property, she said.
Briney said her office has to follow mandates of the state law and also directives from the Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Property Valuation. The state requires the local appraiser’s office to appraise properties within 10 percent of market value, she said.
While Wyandotte County was in compliance on the residential side, it was not in compliance of this 10 percent rule on the commercial side, she said. The oversight agency, the Kansas Department of Revenue, conducts annual audits to make sure they meet the mass appraisal and state mandates. The state also checks for uniformity.
The appraiser’s office receives all the sales reports of property in Wyandotte County, and three years are analyzed.
“Our task is to try to follow these market trends and be within 10 percent of market value,” Briney said.
Commercial property in Wyandotte County has been out of compliance of the 10 percent market value for some years, she said. What changed recently is a law that was passed in July 2016 that holds the property valuation division accountable as well as the county to get commercial properties back in compliance, she said.
“We want to get back in compliance,” she said. “What I’m tasked with is following the law.”
What effect will higher valuations have on local businesses?
Real estate appraised values in the Fairfax district (Chart from the Wyandotte County appraiser’s office)
In the Fairfax industrial district, valuations went up 50 percent and more on some, but not all, properties.
John Latenser, who is with Neff Packaging, a Fairfax business, and is president of the Fairfax Industrial Association, said the association scheduled the Thursday meeting with the appraiser and business owners after they heard about substantial property valuation increases. About 31 persons attended the meeting.
Latenser said Briney and the appraiser’s office have been very open, very willing to talk to the business owners and encourage them to use the informal appeal process available to them. He said he understood that the commercial properties throughout the county were not in compliance and they had to bring the appraiser’s office up to current standards.
In answer to a question, Latenser said it would be hard to say if the Fairfax district would lose businesses as a result of the valuations. There has been an effort by the UG to work to reduce high taxes, he said. The effect of higher valuations may not be that businesses leave the city, but it might be an impediment to recruiting new businesses to locate in the Fairfax area, he said.
Latenser said it is likely that there will be more valuation appeals this year.
Why were some businesses’ valuations increased 50 and 70 percent?
Warehouse survey by the property valuation division (Chart from Wyandotte County appraiser’s office)
This past fall, the property valuation division hired independent limited appraisers on random samples of property types they deemed were needed, Briney said. One was warehouses and another was downtown rows, where sometimes retail multi-use properties are located next to each other.
A random sample done throughout the county compared values for warehouses, she said. When the values from the independent fee appraisals on warehouses were compared to the assigned values, it came in at about half, or 50 percent value, she said. What is happening in the marketplace currently is a bigger demand for warehouse space.
“Warehouse properties are a very hot commodity right now,” Briney said. The demand on the market has increased. The appraisers’ office is tasked with researching, conducting analysis and it has quite a few sales that are used in this process, she added.
In Fairfax alone, values were at least 40 percent low, she said. Some of these values were increased last year, “but it was like the market just swallowed it up,” as sales prices for warehouse property were rising, she said.
“What we’re trying to do is come back into compliance, and trying to make our model more reflective of the market,” she said.
Why weren’t valuations increased a little at a time instead of all at once on the 50 percent and greater increases?
Valuation increases were not phased in gradually over a number of years on the big increases of 50 percent or greater, not allowing property owners some time to adjust to them.
“I can’t do that,” Briney said. That was not allowed by the law. The property valuations are supposed to be between 90 and 100 percent of the market value, she said. If she knowingly made changes outside this range, it could be a misdemeanor.
Briney said only some properties were affected by 50 percent. She said she understands the concerns of property owners.
At her meeting with Fairfax business owners on Thursday, she said she explained appeal processes.
“We welcome people to come in and talk to us,” she said. For example, if the property owner knows the information is not correct, he or she should come into the office and let them know. There are informal appeal processes and formal appeals.
Property owners in Wyandotte County have until April 4 to file an informal appeal of their valuations, she said. There will be a meeting scheduled to go over property information, and those appealing can bring information with them that might make a difference in the valuation.
If the property owner loses an appeal at the local level, he or she can appeal; there is a process that goes to the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals.
Resident plans to appeal her home valuation increase of $10,000
2018 residential median value changes. This chart shows the Northeast area with a 7.23 percent change; the Downtown – Central area with a 10 percent change, where the Strawberry Hill area experienced residential and commercial revitalization in 2017; the Argentine – Armourdale area with a 6 percent change; KU Med area with an 8.6 percent change with commercial and residential growth; the Bethel – Welborn area with a 6 percent change; the Turner area with a 3 percent change; the Victory-Nearman area with a 4 percent change; the Stony Point area with a 6 percent change; the Piper area with a 6.9 percent change; the Edwardsville area with a 4 percent change; and the Bonner Springs area with a 3.9 percent change. (Chart from Wyandotte County appraiser’s office)
In the Welborn area of Kansas City, Kansas, Lou Braswell said she plans to appeal the valuation on her home.
“After the shock wore off, I tried to realize why it went up $10,000,” Braswell said about her home valuation. Her three-bedroom home was built in the 1960s. She was speaking as an individual only and not in her capacity with a community organization.
Braswell said she didn’t think houses were much in demand in her particular neighborhood, citing four houses that were up for sale for a year and a half and didn’t sell, and some didn’t even have any showings.
She said she has talked with a lot of individuals whose home valuations have gone up this year.
“I fought it last year and I did win,” Braswell said. After she appealed, her valuation went down $3,000. But now it’s back up again and she plans to appeal again.
She said she thinks it’s worth the time and trouble to appeal it. Braswell didn’t hire anyone to help her appeal it; she did some research herself.
“I went through the whole neighborhood, took a picture of every house, I evaluated what they were appraised at, and I went with a whole folder,” Braswell said.
There is a Unified Government webpage that gives information about each property, when the house was built, how many rooms it has, square footage and what the taxes have been for 10 to 15 years, she said. (It is at http://landsweb.wycokck.org/landsweb/Search/Default.aspx) She used this information in a comparison when she made her presentation to the appraiser’s office on lowering the valuation.
Last year, she presented information that other properties around her were valued less than hers. This year, though, those other properties are all up in valuation, she said.
This year she said she plans to present information that other properties for sale in her area have not sold, to show there is not a big market demand in her neighborhood.
“If you’re not happy with your appraisal, appeal it, the only thing you can lose is a half-hour of your time,” Braswell said.
Information available on appeal process
Information is available on the appeal process and on other aspects of the appraisal process on the appraiser’s web page at http://www.wycokck.org/Appraiser/.
According to information from the UG, residents who are appealing their valuations can include another recent appraisal of the property, photos that show the condition of the property, information about other properties that are similar to the one in question, and other information the property owner feels is relevant.
Instructions for the appeal process, and a form for appealing, also are on the reverse side of the valuation notices that have been sent to residents and businesses. The appraiser’s office is located at the courthouse annex at 8200 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, and property owners may call it at 913-573-8400.
Frequently asked questions page on the appraiser’s website: http://www.wycokck.org/Appraiser/FAQ.aspx.
