Mayor Tyrone Garner in his annual message about the Unified Government, Dec. 1 at the UG Commission meeting. (Screenshot from the UG Commission meeting)
Mayor Tyrone Garner, in his annual message about the Unified Government, called for a community-wide effort to address key issues in Wyandotte County.
Garner delivered the annual message at the Thursday, Dec. 1, UG Commission meeting. Often in the past, similar speeches have been delivered at a “State of the UG” address at the Reardon Convention Center. According to the mayor, an annual message is required by the UG charter.
Among the key issues Garner touched upon in his speech:
Tax relief for residents;
Equitable development throughout the county;
Stabilizing the Unified Government, including selection of a county administrator and addressing issues such as debt and financing;
Investing in critical infrastructure; and
Promoting county-wide unity.
Mayor Garner said Wyandotte County has faced a triple pandemic in the past few years and has had to deal with the health, economic and social justice effects of COVID-19 across the community. It has brought attention to racial and economic disparities to be faced, he said.
Mayor Garner also said the UG has started early on next year’s budget process.
“As highlighted throughout our recent budget process, we are not operating in a way that sets up for success in the future. We must address the deficit in our city general fund, look closely at property taxes and the BPU Pilot, and ensure that the benefits of our services and programs reach all neighborhoods, whether you live in the Historic Northeast, Rosedale, Piper, or Bonner Springs,” Mayor Garner said. “By taking a collaborative approach, we will be able to usher the changes needed for our long-term resiliency and sustainability as a community.”
Realignment of the UG organizational structure also was one of the topics he discussed. Other topics included repairing infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, along with economic development throughout the county.
Community activist Louise Lynch told an audience at the Kansas City, Kansas, South Branch Library on Wednesday night that people are being disenfranchised out of their homes, having water and electricity turned off for nonpayment of their BPU bills.
“That is no longer acceptable for any human beings in Wyandotte County,” Lynch said.
A grassroots community group with links to Sierra Club activist Ty Gorman called for action right away on changing Board of Public Utilities bills, stopping disconnections and implementing a number of environmental goals.
“We can’t wait to examine the charter a year down the line,” Lynch said. “The cold is here today. This is a critical issue.”
Lynch told the story of her family facing major medical issues and relying on life-saving electric equipment to keep her husband alive. Although she had told the BPU that her husband relied on life-saving electric equipment, Lynch revealed that their water had nevertheless been shut off twice this past summer. The life-saving equipment program has no protection from water disconnection, she said.
After being frustrated with responses from the BPU and Unified Government, Lynch held an outdoors meeting in her yard 18 months ago. She said she attended BPU and UG meetings, but nothing happened, except a study of the charter.
A number of community residents spoke at the meeting Wednesday night, sometimes referring to themselves as “victims” and “hurting.”
“We’re being fleeced,” one of them said. BPU general manager Bill Johnson’s recent salary increase was another frequent topic, with Lynch saying at $475,000 he makes more than the president of the United States.
The BPU bill has become a collection service for the UG, residents said. A number of Unified Government bills have been placed on the BPU bill, including such items as trash service, the payment to the UG in lieu of taxes (PILOT fee) and storm water management. The stormwater fee went from $4.50 in 2019 to $14 recently.
Residents called for the BPU and UG to split the bills, sending out UG bills separately, so that residents could more easily make their water and power payments to keep their utilities on.
Another resident told the audience that her daughter’s account had a $300 credit because her ex had paid too much. She was told she didn’t have to pay the current bill, but when she came home, her lights had been disconnected. She had to pay $600 before it could be turned back on, she said. The resident said she’d like to see the BPU use its budget to compensate people from the community to work to educate residents while listening to the residents educate them on what’s not working well.
Another resident’s proposed solution was to file a class action lawsuit. He recounted he had paid $237 on a bill and had 56 cents left to go, and was told to get there and pay it or face a late payment fee.
“It’s just terrible the way we’re being mistreated as humans in this community,” he said.
The T-Bones baseball stadium, a hot issue a couple years ago, was brought up again. Let the residents miss $1 in payment, and they will be disconnected, a resident said. But the T-Bones stadium was able to keep lights on while owing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Candie Leonard Caldwell said, “I know we’re being fleeced.” She recommended reporting it to the Kansas Corporation Commission and taking it to the federal government because nothing has been resolved on the local level. However, the KCC does not oversee public municipal utilities under state law.
Sierra Club: Close the Nearman coal plant
Sierra Club activist Gorman agreed with taking it to the federal government. His proposed solutions included getting billions of dollars available nationally through the Inflation Reduction Act and other federal sources.
A lot of funding could be attached to getting rid of the Nearman coal plant, according to Gorman, and replacing it with clean energy. BPU officials recently outlined at meetings that they are now very diverse in sources of energy. The Nearman plant, however, was put into action during the February 2021 winter storm and it can act as a backup for the utility.
Gorman said the coal plant near 67th and the Missouri River produces pollution in the water and air, raises levels of disease, causes a few deaths per year and is linked to hundreds of cases of asthma, especially in children. It’s not supposed to be in population centers, he said.
Gorman said with the federal government contributing funds to pay more than half the cost of closing, it could drop electric bills.
He also supported getting rid of UG fees on the BPU bill, calling them regressive. Gorman also said grants are available through the federal government to remodel older homes to make them more energy efficient.
“We have to be part of the planning process and apply for that money,” Gorman said about the various federal programs.
Lynch advocated for the BPU to directly return money to the consumers. She did not support the idea of giving BPU assistance funds to the United Way to be distributed to needy consumers, but instead thought any funds should go directly from the BPU to the consumer.
Lynch gave out information, collected names and plans a campaign for residents to contact BPU and UG commissioners. Not waiting another year, she said, “We need to make change happen.”
Lynch urged people to attend a special BPU budget meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 5, an all-day meeting, at the BPU administration building, 540 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The meeting includes budget reviews. The BPU’s final budget will be presented at its Dec. 14 board meeting.
Rose Mulvany Henry, BPU board vice president, attended the meeting virtually and said she appreciated people sharing their views.
“Everything you say resonates with me,” she said.
Lynch said BPU board member Tom Groneman had been the most help to her when her power and water were cut off.
Also attending the community meeting remotely were UG Commissioners Melissa Bynum and Tom Burroughs. Mayor Tyrone Garner sent a representative.
BPU member David Haley, who had campaigned on some of the issues about disconnection, was at a long-standing committee meeting out of state, and sent a note about the issues:
“Suffice it to say, my long-standing belief and advocacies have been centered around policy inequities and excessive costs at the BPU,” Haley wrote.
“With less than a year serving now on our six member elected board, I believe those mutually held assumptions about BPU have been reflected by my “new” service, including : a) greater access to meetings/proceedings through live audio-visual (“televised”) means and more publicly navigable website (bpu.com) ; b) some “cold-weather” rule changes ; c) held the line on any staff pay increases (while recognizing the board itself is drastically imbalanced and underpaid) ; d) called for the board to pass a resolution enacting TWO monthly bills collectible through BPU, one for actual consumption of the ratepayer of electricity and water and the second for UG taxes (e.g. water sewage, PILOT, trash collection, etc.) ; e) reopening a public human-person interactive customer service center at the utility’s main facility … to name but a few.
“There’s so very much left to do to cure these and other partial ills of what should be our County’s proudest asset; our ability to independently manufacture and provide power and water,” Haley wrote.
STAR bonds and the food sales tax topped the proposed Unified Government legislative agenda priorities.
In a discussion Nov. 17, UG commissioners and state legislators told of a need to keep STAR bonds as they are, and they also believed that Wyandotte County residents would benefit greatly from an expedited reduction on the food sales tax.
The UG Commission will take up the priority list again at a future meeting to determine its top legislative issues.
A possible challenge to the STAR bond districts, which relies partly on sales tax not getting cut away, would leave Wyandotte County’s STAR bond district more vulnerable, according to Alan Howze, assistant county administrator.
UG Commissioner Tom Burroughs, who served in the House from 1997 through 2022 until deciding not to run again this year, said the impact of STAR bonds for Wyandotte County has made it extremely important to keep the momentum going. There will be a request to change it, and he said every change could have an effect on what Wyandotte County has accomplished so far and will accomplish moving forward.
A lot of people want STAR bonds to meet the project, but don’t want the project to meet the criteria of STAR bonds, Burroughs said.
A lot of people want STAR bonds to meet the project, but don’t want the project to meet the criteria of STAR bonds.
UG Commissioner Tom Burroughs
“That is something that has been very important to this community,” Burroughs said.
Sen. Pat Pettey, D – 6th District, said she was glad expedited elimination of the food sales tax was No. 1 on the UG’s agenda, and the governor is backing it.
“I’m sure every legislator running for office has heard at the door that food costs are going up. It should be at the top of the Wyandotte County agenda. Our citizens would all benefit from that,” she said.
Expanded development
Next on the list was expanded development financing tools.
Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist., said last year she worked through legislation that expanded financing tools. The development tools often applied to rural communities.
The city of Topeka made its entire city eligible for housing assistance, something that should be considered for Kansas City, Kansas, she added.
Rural and economically challenged urban areas share a lot of the same challenges, Rep. Curtis said. Their approaches might be different, but there would be no reason to separate them geographically in proposed legislation, she said.
As jobs are created in the state, money is set aside for workforce housing for those earning $60,000 to $80,000, she said. Rural communities have a pot of money to help them while urban areas may want to have the same sort of economic development tools.
Childcare expansion
Childcare and pre-kindergarten expansion also is on the list this year. The Wyandotte Economic Development Council has cited a need for it because of the barrier it creates for job creation, Howze said.
Sen. Pettey said Wyandotte County is in a desperate situation for child care affordability. She is working on a committee with Commissioner Andrew Davis planning strategies around addressing the problem.
The problem isn’t just in Wyandotte County, where it’s severe, but it’s also statewide, she said.
Rep. Curtis said a business child care tax credit was added last year for employers and employees, but the child care work force also has to contract with them.
Medicaid expansionand foster care
Medicaid expansion, a topic that seems to come up every year, is fourth on the UG’s list. Sen. Pettey said it’s needed and the governor will support it again this year.
Fifth on the list was foster care support for those who are 18 or older and aging out of foster care. Proposed legislation would provide stronger supports for this age group as they move into adulthood.
Other items on the legislative list were drug paraphernalia definitions, and substance abuse treatments, especially important with Wyandotte County losing a major facility, the Mirror Inc. Also listed as priorities were clean slate automated expungement, and mental health concerns.
Mental health and the homeless
Commissioner Melissa Bynum said mental health concerns are important with many homeless residents dealing with mental illness or substance abuse.
She said they are seeing an increase in the homeless numbers, and it was already a pretty serious issue before the pandemic.
Other priorities
Funding the public defender’s office, reducing violence, extreme risk protection orders and alternative revenue sources also were listed as priorities.
The protection order would allow law enforcement to take a firearm from a person deemed a risk to self and others, then after due process, to give the firearms back.
Earnings tax
An earnings tax was discussed under alternative revenue sources.
Rep. Curtis said the earnings tax idea had not been successful in the past. What they should be doing is funding revenue sources that are there now, she said.
Commissioner Bynum said the state removed the machinery and equipment tax years ago, lowering revenues for cities.
Sen. Pettey said she was on the UG Commission when the commission supported an e-tax, but she doesn’t think it has any legs in the Legislature. Everyone campaigning has heard people complain mostly about taxes, she said.
The UG Commission once supported an e-tax, but it doesn’t have any legs in the Legislature. Everyone campaigning has heard people complain mostly about taxes.
Sen. Pat Pettey
Commissioner Chuck Stites agreed that people are talking about how high their tax bills are now and how they can reduce them.
Money that has been taken away from local governments over the past 10 years was supposed to have been reimbursed, starting that payment back, Burroughs said. But anything to do with an earnings tax would be met with scrutiny, according to Burroughs.
An e-tax involves people driving into the community to work in jobs here, then driving out of the community when they get off work without paying taxes – the earnings tax would try to tax people who don’t live here but who hold some of the highest paying jobs here.
“Members to the south now have the largest voting bloc in the caucus,” Burroughs said. “Even if our community wanted it, it would be a difficult lift.”
Sports wagering
Another of the priorities on the proposed list would try to get the UG some funding from the sports wagering bill that passed. Unlike the casino gaming revenue funds, the local governments were not cut in on the sports wagering proceeds. Instead, under the law a portion of the money went to creating a professional sports fund that would attempt to lure pro teams to Kansas.
Commissioner Mike Kane advocated for the prevailing wage, and said it must be moved up on the list.
Issues with medical cannabis
Legalization of medical cannabis was down toward the end of the priority list. Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., said he was concerned with the issues.
With surrounding states legalizing marijuana, it can put Kansas law enforcement officers in a difficult position to enforce a law no one else has on its books, he said.
Mayor Tyrone Garner said the legal team and district attorney have discussed the situation, and were looking at depenalization similar to a Wichita proposal
.
Residents have to be careful not to be trapped.
Mayor Tyrone Garner
Residents have to be careful not to be trapped by a bridge to a felony, he said. If Wyandotte County is easy on a first offense, other counties may not be as lenient with the penalties. A third penalty, from another county, could put a felony on a person’s record. A felony for possession where it’s legal in two neighboring states needs a second look, he said.
Commissioner Andrew Davis supported legalization at the state level. It won’t be a question of too much longer, as half the country is there now, he believes.
Property tax relief
Also discussed were the golden years property tax relief for senior citizens. Rep. Curtis said there was a property freeze circuitbreaker bill passed with a maximum refund of $2,500 on property taxes paid by those 65 or older, disabled veterans, for households earning less than $50,000. Not all senior citizens would qualify. Information about such a program will be going out to people in January to March 31, according to UG officials..
Funding education
Commissioner Christian Ramirez supported fully funding education and special education. Students need resources and full funding, he said.
Rep. Valdenia Winn, D-34th Dist. said that unfortunately there will be attempts to change the definitions or add definitions in state statutes that currently exist.
“You don’t like something, you do a little voodoo math,” she said.
You don’t like something, you do a little voodoo math.
Rep. Valdenia Winn
She invited people to participate in upcoming hearings. There are real examples of costs not being covered, she said. The gifted are considered special education and will be affected as well as other special education students.
This year, there are more new faces in the Wyandotte County legislative delegation with the retirement of some long-time representatives.
Paul Davis, the UG’s lobbyist, said the next session of the Legislature in Topeka will be similar to last year. While there’s always change with every election, Topeka will look pretty similar with the same governor, a couple different statewide officeholders, and the composition of the Legislature will be pretty much the same as it has been before. Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration will set the agenda, present the budget and set the baseline.
The governor most likely will propose moving up the elimination of the sales tax on food on her agenda, but there are likely some priorities they have yet to hear about, he added.
