Wyandotte County could reach a heat index value of 103 degrees Friday and is under a heat advisory from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. (National Weather Service graphic)A heat advisory also has been issued from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday in Wyandotte County. (National Weather Service graphic)
A heat advisory has been issued from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday in Wyandotte County.
According to the National Weather Service, afternoon temperatures today will climb into the low to middle 90s, with oppressive humidity leading to heat index values of 100 and 105.
Heat illness is possible for those spending prolonged time outside or those who are more susceptible to heat, including young children and the elderly.
Residents are advised to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check on relatives and neighbors.
Those who spend time outside should reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening, if possible, the weather service said, as well as wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing when possible. Frequent rest breaks should be scheduled in the shade or in air-conditioned rooms. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. In the event of heat stroke, call 911, according to the weather service.
Friday’s heat index over the 100-degree mark will be the first one this summer, so there could be higher sensitivity to the heat, according to the weather service. (National Weather Service graphic)Saturday may bring a very slight decrease in heat index values, but heavy weekend activities and the first heat wave of the season will bring higher sensitivity to the heat, the weather service said. (National Weather Service graphic)A few thunderstorms could move south from Iowa and into northern Missouri on Friday night, and will include 40 to 50 mile an hour winds, and up to quarter-size hail. However, Wyandotte County is not listed in the storm area at this time. (National Weather Service graphic)
Summer temperatures are here, and the forecast is dry through the Fourth of July, although forecasters also say that some storms are possible in the region in the latter half of next week.
Forecasters also said storms are possible to the north of Wyandotte County on Friday night after sunset, although Wyandotte County is not in the storm area at this time.
The Missouri River at Parkville, which includes Wyandotte County in its forecast area, continues in minor flood stage, according to hydrology charts.
The Kansas River at 23rd Street, whose gauge is at Kansas Avenue and the state line, has dropped out of flood stage and into action stage and remains there, hydrology charts showed.
Today, it will be sunny with a high near 93 and heat index values as high as 103, the weather service said. A south southwest wind of 9 to 11 mph is forecast.
Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 72 and a south wind of 7 to 9 mph, according to the weather service.
Saturday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 93 and heat index values as high as 102, the weather service said. There will be a south wind of 7 to 10 mph.
Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 73 and a calm wind, according to the weather service.
Sunday, it will be sunny with a high near 93 and a calm wind, the weather service said.
Sunday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 72, according to the weather service.
Monday, it will be sunny with a high near 92, the weather service said.
Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 72, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 93, the weather service said.
Tuesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 73, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 91, the weather service said.
Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 72, according to the weather service.
Thursday, Independence Day, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 89, the weather service said.
For more weather information, visit www.weather.gov.
The Missouri River at Parkville, whose area includes Wyandotte County, has declined from moderate to minor flood stage, and now is continuing steady at the minor flood stage. (National Weather Service – USGS graphic)The Kansas River at 23rd Street, where the gauge is at Kansas Avenue and the state line, has reached a low point below minor flood stage and appears to be either holding steady or increasing slightly in the action stage. (National Weather Service – USGS graphic)
UG Administrator Doug Bach presented his no-rate-increase budget to the UG Commission on Thursday night at City Hall. (Staff photo)
by Mary Rupert
A flat mill levy rate with no rate increase from last year was proposed on Thursday night, June 27, by UG Administrator Doug Bach.
Bach presented the 2020 proposed budget with $394.8 million in expenditures to the UG Commission at the meeting. The UG commissioners will hold several budget workshops during the next month, possibly make changes to it, and then vote on the budget.
The UG’s portion is about 46 percent of the property tax bill for residents in the Kansas City, Kansas, school district. At the present time, it appears that a lot of the property tax bills that Kansas City, Kansas, residents receive could remain flat. Dr. Valdenia Winn, president of the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education, said after the candidate meet-and-greet event Thursday evening at the First Baptist Church, 5th and Nebraska, that a flat mill levy with no rate increase is being proposed for the Kansas City, Kansas, School District.
Dr. Greg Mosier, president of Kansas City Kansas Community College, also said Thursday evening that the college is proposing a flat mill levy with no rate increase.
The schools and local governments usually do not complete their budget process until late July or early August.
“This budget is designed to improve critical infrastructure, increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, improve appearance and safety in neighborhoods, targeted investment to drive future growth, and long-term fiscal responsibility,” Bach said.
Proposed revenues less than expenditures
The amount of revenues in the 2020 UG budget is $25 million less than the amount of expenditures, according to Bach.
The $394.8 million in expenditures is 2.9 percent higher than the 2019 budget, according to officials.
Bach said he would compare the revenue and expenditure situation to portrayals of Lewis and Clark, where their feet are in the water. The UG’s sales tax revenues are down currently, but Bach said he hopes that they will go back up. The UG has to look at efficiencies in the meantime, he said.
Kathleen VonAchen, UG chief financial officer, said the UG’s sales tax revenues increased by 26 percent in 2017, then they dropped in 2018 by 10 percent. The distributions of sales tax revenues from the state were coming in very strongly in the first half of 2018, but then in the second half, they decreased, she said. The 26 percent increase in 2017 can be mostly attributed to the first year when the STAR (sales tax revenue) bonds were paid off and the sales tax revenues started coming into the UG.
A chart from the UG’s budget document showed that property tax revenues were increasing slightly (the green line), while sales tax revenues went up in 2017 and then came down in 2018 (the blue line). Franchise fees stayed somewhat stable (the red line).
VonAchen said the total assessed valuation is up 5.6 percent in the city and 6 percent in the county.
The delinquency tax rate reduces property tax revenues, she said, and the delinquency rate will be budgeted at 5.7 percent for the city and county in 2020. The city’s delinquency rate decreased from 7 percent to 5.9 percent in 2018, she said. There is a net property tax revenue increase of 4.4 percent.
The mill levy rates for the city have been declining in the past three years. (Chart from UG budget document)
There were three years in a row of property tax rate decreases for the city before this year, when the rate is proposed to stay the same as last year, according to UG officials. In 2015, the city property tax rate was at 43.4 mills, and when it started to receive STAR bond sales tax money in 2017, the UG started to drop the mill rate about 2 mills each year, VonAchen said. The city rate dropped to 38.138 mills last year, and that is where the UG is proposing to keep it for 2020. The county’s rate will stay the same as last year at 39.011 mills, under this proposed budget, and it has not changed very much since 2015.
If residents’ valuations stay the same this year, their tax amounts will stay about the same with this proposed budget. The appraiser’s office recently announced it was inspecting real estate parcels this year in Bonner Springs and in the downtown and Central area.
Reginald Lindsey, UG budget director, said the UG will be using $2.9 million this year from its fund balances in the city general fund side. On the county side, they’re spending $604,000 from the fund balance.
Where the money goes
According to Gordon Criswell, assistant UG administrator, personnel was a big driver to the budget, with a 2 percent cost-of-living increase. In addition, there was an 8 percent increase in health insurance costs, and 5 percent in payouts in pensions and penalties. Contractual obligations including inmate housing saw a 3 to 5 percent increase.
The public safety payroll accounts for about $155.5 million of the UG’s budget, according to a slide shown at the June 27 UG meeting.
Citizen surveys ranked public safety at the top, Criswell said, and the budget includes $155.5 million for it. The budget includes $5.4 million in providing additional security to buildings, dispatch center upgrades, fire truck lease program, a courthouse fire alarm system and other projects. The juvenile pod will be remodeled to adult jail space and could help reduce the need for inmate farmouts, according to Criswell. Overall, spending on public safety increases in this budget.
Melissa Sieben, assistant UG administrator, outlined $30.8 million in street projects included in the budget: $1 million for 131st and Leavenworth Road improvements near a new Piper school; $200,000 for Fairfax Industrial area infrastructure; $7.5 million for the Turner Diagonal interchange, with more than $20 million coming from the federal government for this project; $500,000 to redo the 7th and Central interchange; $11.5 million for Leavenworth Road, 63rd to 78th streets; and $9 million for Minnesota Avenue repair and maintenance projects from 6th to 7th streets.
More funds have been budgeted for road maintenance projects throughout the city, she added.
Sieben said the UG is budgeting $27.8 million for additional flood control and levee projects. The Argentine, Armourdale and Central industrial district levee raise project has received a $453 million federal grant, and will include the Argentine levee pump station and levee land acquisition. This project will create better flood protection.
Also, the Turkey Creek emergency wingwall repair project, which was approved earlier this year, is included in the budget, she said.
The budget includes $55.5 million for the Wolcott water pollution treatment plant expansion and the Kaw Point biosolids project, she said. The biosolids project may allow the UG to sell fuel produced there.
Sieben said there is a proposal for a 5 percent increase in wastewater rates that it is seeking approval for in 2020. The UG faces a partial consent decree in this area.
The UG administration is currently discussing changing its stormwater rates, she said. The commission, however, did not move forward the administration’s proposal during a recent committee meeting and asked for more information and community input. The 2020 budget proposal shows revenues from the stormwater rates at their current $4.50 per parcel.
The solid waste contract is due for an update and the budget reflects a recommendation for a 25-cent increase, she said.
An additional $1.4 million has been proposed to improve the safety and appearance of neighborhoods. A second SOAR team would be added to address blighted properties, funds are being budgeted for landscape replacement at UG facilities and grounds, and the UG annex parking lot would be expanded.
Alan Howse, UG assistant county administrator and chief knowledge officer, said $1.44 million would be budgeted in “quality of life” investments, including a program that would fill in gaps in sidewalks near schools, parks and other areas, trail network development, Safe Routes to Schools, 18th Street bus route, City and Regan Park improvements, new park restrooms, and a system with the capability to make reservations for park facilities and programs online.
Also, he said $1.76 million is being budgeted for a Bike Share program will be in the University of Kansas Medical Center area, a 6th Street bike lane project, Sunflower Hills Golf Course analysis to look at feasibility of the facility for events, Providence Amphitheater parking lot repairs, and an increase in master planning across the community.
About $450,000 is being budgeted to enhance customer service and communication, according to Howse. It will include online permits and payments, online plan submission, online rental housing registrations, online occupational license processing, field case entries, a 311 closed loop on property code cases, and right-of-way management.
About $1 million is being budgeted for innovation and productivity projects, such as a human relations applicant tracking system, which would add an online application process. Other projects include a new UG phone system, a replacement for a system that provides information about land records, and self-service options to get information from the appraiser’s office, according to Howse.
Bach said the budget includes funding for outside agencies, including the Convention and Visitors Bureau, $400,000, adding to the agency’s $1 million budget. He said this investment can bring back more money through transient guest tax revenues. Also, Wyandot Inc. would receive an additional $24,000 under the budget; K-State Extension in Wyandotte County would receive an additional $11,000; the Downtown Improvement District would receive $2,500; and Wyandotte Economic Development would receive an additional $25,000.
‘Priority-based budgeting’ and looking at areas to cut
Even after the UG dips into its reserves, there will still be a 17 percent fund balance left, according to Bach. He said the UG can stay in that for a year or two, but it needs to keep the fund balance up. On the county side of the budget, the UG will need to look at efficiencies to build up the fund balance, he added.
Bach said he has cut 10 percent from contractual commodities and services expenses throughout departments in the proposed budget.
While there will be no increase to the mill levy rate for the city and county, Bach said he still tried to build in a few new items to the budget.
A 2 percent cost-of-living raise for employees is in the budget, according to UG officials. There will be no layoffs, Bach said, but the UG will be looking at efficiencies in the future, and when an employee retires or leaves, those positions will be evaluated and may not be filled immediately, so that personnel costs may be reduced through attrition.
A priority-based budgeting project started earlier this year and this fall, the UG may get into strategic cuts and identify where it wants to make changes, Bach said.
Some of the budget’s spending was an intentional move to spend cash on one-time items, according to Bach. The transient guest tax fund was built up, and now can be used on items that the fund can pay for. But the $2.9 million on the city side does not fall into that category, and they need to change that trend in the future, according to Bach.
The UG now is starting to target its spending to drive future revenue growth, according to Bach. The UG will consider if an investment into a street or park will have an effect on the area around it, and how it helps the UG raise overall revenue, he said.
The budget will keep its investments in public safety, street maintenance and quality of life, he said.
Future meetings on budget
Taxes on a $100,000 home in Kansas City, Kansas, and the Kansas City, Kansas, School District would be $1,871.05, about the same as last year, if valuations do not change, under the UG’s proposed 2020 budget. (Chart from UG budget document)
The first budget workshop is scheduled on July 8, immediately after the Standing Committee meetings on the fifth floor. The commission will set a maximum mill levy amount.
A public hearing on the budget will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 25, in the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall.
Other budget meetings include: July 11, July 15 and July 25. These meetings are scheduled for 5 p.m. in the fifth floor meeting room at City Hall, 701 N. 7th St.
A public hearing will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 25, in the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall.
The budget is online at www.wycokck.org/budget. The budget meeting is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3Tak3BsR8.
A shooting was reported on Thursday, June 27, in the 3400 block of Webster Avenue, according to a Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman.
Officers discovered a man in his 20s suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg, the spokesman stated.
The man was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the spokesman.
The shooting appeared to have stemmed from a large disturbance involving multiple parties, the spokesman stated.
The exact circumstances of the disturbance are under investigation by the police department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau. Detectives are encouraging anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
Shooting reported in 1300 block of North 77th
Kansas City, Kansas, police officers responded to a call about a shooting overnight in the 1300 block of North 77th, according to a social media post by the police chief.
Officers were told the victim drove himself to a hospital. The suspects were said to be in a small sport utility vehicle.
Firefighters respond to emergency call on State Avenue
Firefighters and emergency medical technicians responded to an emergency call around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27, near 64th and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.
Raccoons in Fire Station 17
The topic of raccoons at Fire Station 17, on South 51st in the Turner area, came up at the Unified Government meeting at 7 p.m. June 27.
UG Administrator Doug Bach, in answer to a question from Commissioner Mike Kane, said raccoons were discovered in the station a few days ago.
An outside agency was contacted to make sure the raccoons were not in the living areas. They set some traps, and also allowed an exit for the raccoons to escape, according to Bach.
DOL looking into UG
Kane also asked about the Department of Labor doing an investigation of the Fire Department.
Bach said the Department of Labor came in and took a look at a few things throughout the UG. He said he was not aware of any findings and had not been presented with any information.
Kane said he would like to get some answers on this.
