Category: Opinions

Lack of revenue continues to plague state of Kansas

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Opinion column
by Murrel Bland

Budget woes continue for the State of Kansas. That was the message from Kathy Damron, the lobbyist for the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce Friday, Nov. 13, when the Chamber’s Legislative Committee met.

Damron said that the bad news came Friday, Nov. 6, when the state’s official forecasting group met and reported, yet again, that revenues were continuing to decline.

Here are the reductions: $159.1 million from the remainder of the current year; $194.5 million from next year.

“Without a doubt, the worst news for lawmakers is the lackluster revenue being generated by the tax hikes passed this session,” Damron said. “That means that lawmakers will be back in much the same position next year, looking at either tax adjustments, further budget cuts (for next year) or both.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget has shifted tax revenues from income to sales tax. Many political observers believe his tax plan has been a disaster. Critics say in the past, a proper balance among three taxing sources—property, income and sales—served Kansans well.

Damron said that there has been further erosion of funds from the Kansas Department of Transportation. She said that this erosion has generated a sharp reaction from various Kansas transportation organizations including the Economic Lifelines group.

Mike Smallwood, the chairman of the Legislative Committee, was at a meeting of the Congressional Forum on Friday, Oct. 16, when the featured speaker was Mike King, the secretary of transportation. Smallwood told King he was concerned about money that was intended for highways being transferred to cover budget deficits.

When I asked King about robbing money from the “First National Bank of KDOT,” King bristled.

“I won’t use that term,” King said. He said that the practice of using available funds from KDOT started with Gov. Mike Hayden’s administration. Hayden was governor from 1987 to 1991.

The Chamber’s Legislative Committee is drafting its 2016 agenda. Among the issues to be submitted to the Chamber’s Board of Directors include:

• A property appraisal process that provides the business community with a high level of certainty and consistency. Greg Kindle, the president of the Wyandotte Economic Development Council, said this is very important in attracting new businesses to Wyandotte County. It is also important for those wanting to expand, Kindle said.

• Legislation that would streamline the process for local government and neighborhood organizations to deal with abandoned property.

• Opposition to changing the gaming laws that would impact the Hollywood Casino. There is concern that legislation, which has passed the Senate, would change the rules for those who would operate The Woodlands with horse racing and slot machines.

• Support for origin-based sales tax for intrastate purchases.

• Continued funding for the comprehensive transportation program and opposing any further transfer of funds from transportation to the general fund.

• Creation of a funding formula that would ensure that all Kansas children could attend well-funded public schools.

• A stable funding mechanism that could include expanding Medicaid that would reduce the burden on local government and hospitals.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.

Opinion column: Local governments need to make better use of public notices

Window on the West
by Mary Rupert

Recently, the Unified Government heard some criticism from the community about an auction for Backfire BBQ, a Legends Outlets restaurant that failed.

Some community members who did not hear about the auction in advance expressed a desire to know about these events, and possibly to attend them and have the chance to bid on something. At a recent meeting, a few UG commissioners even noted that they had not heard anything about the auction in advance.

I saw some of the public’s outraged comments on Facebook and social media. I certainly don’t blame people for feeling this way.

Kansas has a law mandating public notices in certain situations that would have taken care of this situation. Maybe that law needs to be strengthened. Obviously, the people want to know about these events, and the fact that they didn’t hear about it made certain members of the public feel like this was one of those backdoor deals that only a privileged few would be invited to.

At a recent UG Commission meeting, though, a representative of the auction company explained that actually thousands of notices were sent out about the auction, mainly to other restaurants and to motorcycle dealers (https://wyandotteonline.com/ug-responds-to-critics-on-closing-of-backfire-bbq-restaurant-at-legends/). Still, a lot of the auction items brought in just cents on the dollar for these antique motorcycles and restaurant equipment.

Perhaps the auction might have done better if a better effort was made to let the community know about it. It’s something that could have easily been done.

The UG needs to make better use of public notices. That would have brought more citizens of Wyandotte County to the auction. After all, the citizens, through the local government, were the owners of those items and should have been notified so they would have the chance to bid on them. Sometimes we hear that no one really reads the public notices, but we also heard this time that some attorneys who usually read the public notices were not aware of the auction.

Expanding use of public notices to include all sorts of different publications would be a first step toward fixing this community discontent. While laws say that public notices, which are paid ads, have to be published in only one publication, the laws don’t say that the local government can’t put notices in several publications to reach even more people.

Some community members have criticized the restaurant’s developer for spending so much on expensive décor that later would be sold for a fraction of its worth. However, as a tourist attraction, the restaurant needed to do something different to attract tourists’ attention, much like the T-Rex restaurant at The Legends Outlets or like the Schlitterbahn’s addition of the world’s tallest water slide. No one can really tell in advance which idea might catch the public’s attention and draw tourists.

I think the UG has plenty of opportunity to get the word out about interesting events, through public notices, its electronic newsletters, news releases to the media, advertising in various venues, its Facebook and social media pages, signs on street corners or fliers distributed at various meetings. With today’s audiences, it would be wise for the UG to continue to use public notices on such things as auctions and supplement them with these other efforts, as well.

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

Opinion: Royals ‘snow day’ was a great idea for schools

Window on the West
opinion column
by Mary Rupert

Canceling school, and canceling some work, in order to celebrate the World Series victory with the Royals was a good decision.

We’ve heard some criticism that school shouldn’t have let out because the students really need to keep in classes and learn more.

However, we think it was a wise move on the part of the school district administrators to let the kids and their parents go to the Kansas City Royals victory celebration.

It’s a real morale booster that could result in success down the road for them.

There are studies that have shown that when people identify with a winning sports team, they work harder, their mood improves, and their productivity goes up. They also spend more money.

So if student and employee performance goes up all around the Kansas City metropolitan area, don’t be surprised, and give credit to the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series.

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