Month: November 2020

Mayor sees increased development as key to tax issues

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Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

The message from Mayor David Alvey Friday, Nov. 20, was that the solution to Wyandotte County’s problems is to grow the property tax base, not to increase taxes.

Mayor Alvey spoke to about 80 members of the Congressional Forum Friday, Nov. 20, via Zoom. The forum is a committee of the Kansas City, Kansas, Chamber of Commerce.

The tax base continues to increase. Earlier this year it was slightly more than $1.447 billion. The plan is to expand the tax base so there is less dependence on the individual resident and small business. To borrow a phrase out of the cliche closet, “A rising tide raises all boats.”


Although Wyandotte County has made significant strides in attracting development, it falls short when compared with Johnson County. Johnson County’s valuation is more than $11.7 billion.

Mayor Alvey said Kansas City, Kansas, has reduced its mill levy and ranks 14th among Kansas cities. The mill rate in Kansas City, Kansas, has been cut from 44 to 38 mills.

Mayor Alvey praised the efforts of Greg Kindle, the president of the Wyandotte Economic Development Council, and Katherine Carttar, the director of economic development for the Unified Government, for their efforts in attracting new development. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Wyandotte County is on target to attract $1 billion of new and increased development this year.

Recent new attractions include the Menard’s store in Village West. Another Menard’s is planned at I-35 and 18th Street. The mayor also bragged about attracting the Urban Outfitters’ fulfillment center that will be on property on the southeast corner of 118th Street and State Avenue.

The mayor admitted that dealing with the coronavirus has been a serious challenge with furloughed employees at the Unified Government and curfew decisions that have made it difficult on certain small businesses such as restaurants and bars.

In a comment session, Joe Vaught, a commercial Realtor and a member of the Congressional Forum, said that a major drawback to development is the poor quality of schools in the Kansas City, Kansas, District.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and the Piper Press.

Top 20 things to be thankful for

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Opinion column

by Mary Rupert

Editor’s note: This column is reprinted from 2014, when it was originally published in the Wyandotte Daily. Just one change for 2020: At the top of the list to be thankful for are all of our many volunteers who helped us this year and all of the front-line workers.

It’s Thanksgiving, so it helps to express gratitude for whatever we feel thankful for today. Those who can be in a Thanksgiving state of mind throughout the year are very fortunate.

Here’s my top 20 list.

I am thankful for:

  1. Life and health.
  2. Friends and family.
  3. Sunrise and sunset.
  4. Teachers.
  5. Our readers.
  6. The hundred daily kindnesses we run across without even thinking about them.
  7. Laughter.
  8. The ability to think.
  9. A nice Thanksgiving feast.
  10. Our freedoms.
  11. Those who help make sure that we keep our freedoms.
  12. All of those people in our career fields and in our lives who have gone before us and made a way for us.
  13. The ability of the body to repair itself.
  14. The beautiful landscapes that may be discovered on earth.
  15. A good book.
  16. Music.
  17. Modern technology and innovation.
  18. A good game of Scrabble.
  19. Creativity.
  20. For nice weather and many other things, too numerous to mention.

If you have a list you want to share with our readers, send it to [email protected].

To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].