Property taxes, funding for homeless programs, downtown district funding, Strawberry Hill area parks and The Woodlands were topics brought up by the public at a hearing on the Unified Government budget on Thursday night.
There was a notable lack of comments about the need for a grocery store in the eastern part of Kansas City, Kansas, as there have been in the past. Plans are underway for a new grocery store at 5th and Minnesota, plus a smaller grocery on Quindaro Boulevard is under discussion.
The commission on Thursday night set a public hearing date of April 11 on the development plans for the grocery at 5th and Minnesota.
The public hearing on the budget took place during the 7 p.m. March 7 Unified Government Commission meeting.
Murrel Bland, executive director of Business West, told the commission that he would like them to hold the line on property taxes.
“Property taxes are a major concern for residential and commercial taxpayers,” Bland, the former editor of the Wyandotte West, said. “I realize that taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society, I also realize that taxes are the power to destroy.”
Jason Norbury, executive director of the Downtown Shareholders of Kansas City, Kansas, thanked the commission for the increase in the UG’s voluntary contribution last year to the self-supported municipal improvement district. He asked for a 2 percent raise in funding this year, from $120,000 to $127,500. It moves toward the original commitment the UG made of $150,000 to support the work of the SSMID, he said.
Heather Hoffman, executive director of the Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness, is the oversight agency for about $13.5 million of Housing and Urban Development funding that comes to providers in Jackson and Wyandotte counties.
Just under $2 million goes to homeless service providers in Wyandotte County, she said. These agencies include Kim Wilson Housing, Salvation Army, Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries and Hillcrest Transitional Housing.
A count of the homeless in 2018 found that Wyandotte County had only 3 percent of the overall homeless in the Greater Kansas City area, she said. However, staff thought the number underrepresented, and held many meetings subsequently, coming up with a new percentage of 21 percent in January 2019, she said.
She said there were 1,400 homeless students in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools in 2017, with only 15 beds currently for unaccompanied youth.
The GKCCEH is designed to help address these issues of chronic homelessness, student homelessness and veteran homelessness, she said.
“We just need the county to help us by providing $75,000 through general budget fund dollars,” she said. Funds would provide a match for federal dollars, and would allow the agency to respond quickly to needs that are seen in Wyandotte County, she said.
Justine Underwood-Jones, president of the Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association, asked for funding for the improvement of St. John’s Park and Huron Park.
She said one-third of the residents of Strawberry Hill are under the age of 18, and families need a place to play and gather. It would benefit the surrounding neighborhoods to have a large park there, she said.
“The Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association is committed to providing $7,500 that we raised through our pub crawl last year, and whatever is raised from the pub crawl this year to make the park happen,” she said.
She said the association is prepared to apply for the casino grant, but they can’t make the improvements on the grants alone.
“We need the UG to help us, please dedicate funding for parks and Strawberry Hill,” she said.
Marcia Rupp, a resident, said she was begging the commission to bring Phil Ruffin back in about The Woodlands redevelopment, in a special session or meeting.
“We need winter entertainment in Wyandotte County,” she said. “We have summer, but not winter. This would be a way to fill that space and give us something.”
Doug Bach, UG administrator, said this hearing was held in advance of the budget presentation to give the UG and commission ideas of how to direct spending.
Reginald Lindsey, the UG’s budget director, noted that the UG had a $376 million budget last year. The largest portion, about 57 percent, of the city’s general fund goes to public safety funding, he said. About 55 percent of the county’s general fund goes to public safety funding, he said.
Last year the UG Commission approved a 2 mill decrease in the city’s mill levy rate, he said.
For many taxpayers, the decrease in the rate was offset by an increase in their property’s appraised valuations.
The UG has a form online for residents to make a request for funding for local organizations or projects, at www.wycokck.org.