Category: Unified Government Commission

UG committees to meet tonight

The Unified Government Public Works and Safety Committee and the Administration and Human Services Committee will meet tonight, in a Zoom meeting.

The agenda for the PWS Committee includes:

• A resolution approving an agreement with Bishop Ward High School for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department to provide a school resource officer. The school would pay $30,000 to the UG this school year.

• A resolution declaring CSO 19 Sewer Separation, phase 1, to be a necessary and valid improvement, and authorizing a survey of land for the project. This project includes construction of new sanitary and storm sewers; Big Eleven Lake enhancements, including energy dissipation and aeration; utilization of Big Eleven Lake for stormwater storage; stormwater pretreatment facilities, including bioretention and mechanical debris-nutrient separators; closure of Waterway Drive between Washington Boulevard and State Avenue; and parking areas east of Big Eleven Lake. The location is Washington Boulevard to Sandusky Avenue, North 13th Street to North 10th Street.

• An update on CORDICO, a wellness app that public safety has implemented. The public safety departments will provide an update on implementation of the app.

The Administration and Human Services Committee will meet after the PWS meeting ends.

On the agenda for the AHS meeting:

• A third amendment to the development agreement for the Legends West Lawn. The amendment would allow for disbursement to the remaining funds in the project fund on the condition that the developer either paves the parking lot or the UG a redevelopment plan for the parking lot by Nov. 30, 2022. The previous agreement required the developer to pave the parking lot by Dec. 31 of this year. The UG previously did not disburse the remaining funds, according to the third amendment, because the developer failed to timely perform the paving obligations. The UG issued a default letter to the developer in connection with the paving obligations on Aug. 19, 2021. If the parking lot repaving and striping is not completed by Nov. 30, 2022, or a redevelopment plan with an alternative use for the parcel is not approved by Nov. 30, 2022, then the developer would pay liquidated damages of $500,000 to the UG, according to the third amendment.

• A UG mitigation plan for staff related to COVID-19 and the ARPA allocation also is on the agenda. The proposed resolution would set aside $1 million from federal ARPA funds for a program to provide testing and incentives for UG staff. Under this plan, UG staff would get $400 for being fully vaccinated, and another $100 for a third booster shot, if they qualify. Those who do not get vaccinated would begin weekly COVID-19 tests on Dec. 1. The policy would apply full-time employees, part-time employees, temp agency employees, contractors and volunteers.

The meetings will be on Zoom starting at 5 p.m. Sept. 27.

To join the webinar, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88052430287?pwd=TnNqd1Q4QmlUbVp5WFA5SVFFdUhxdz09.


The passcode is 328962.

The Webinar ID is 880 5243 0287.


To listen to the meeting by phone, call toll-free 888-475-4499 or 877-853-5257.

The meetings also are expected to be on UG TV cable television and on YouTube.

Public open house today on Armourdale master plan

A new Armourdale area master plan, in draft form, is available. There is a public open house from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today on the master plan at Armourdale Community Center, 730 Osage Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.

Fifty years after the devastating 1951 flood, a new Armourdale master plan will try to improve the neighborhoods next to the Kansas River on the southeast side of Kansas City, Kansas.

A public open house on the draft Armourdale master plan will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, Sept. 23.

The open house will be held at the Armourdale Community Center, 730 Osage Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.

The public may attend and offer comments on the draft area master plan.

The master plan also is online at https://www.armourdalestrong.com/master-plan-documents, and the public may comment at this website.

The Unified Government planning department staff has been meeting with groups and individuals in the Armourdale area during the past nine months to receive comments for the master plan. A steering committee has been working on the project.

The master plan was released this week, and will be a guide to future investment in the Armourdale community, according to UG officials. It is the first Armourdale master plan since 1979.

The Armourdale master plan was presented to the UG Neighborhood and Community Development Committee on Monday, Sept. 13, and also to the City Planning Commission on Sept. 13. Another presentation is scheduled to be given to the UG Commission Sept. 30.

According to UG officials, the 300-page master plan will go before the UG Commission at a later date, probably October, for final approval.

They would like to turn a cycle of decline into a cycle of prosperity, Gunnar Hand, UG planning director, told the NCD Committee on Sept. 13.

“The plan builds upon the work underway by the Unified Government to reimagine the Kansas River,” Hand stated in a news release. “Connecting this neighborhood to these investments will ensure this work benefits existing and future Armourdale residents and small business owners.”

“After a century of ambiguity,” Hand said in the statement, “this plan ensures that the existing residential community is sustainable and vibrant for the next generation.”

Andrew Moddrell, project consultant from Port Design, said at the Sept. 13 UG Committee meeting that the project now is moving into the final master plan phase.

Armourdale traces its history back to meatpacking plants and the stockyards. The entire Armourdale area is in a flood plain, and was devastated in the floods of 1903, 1908 and 1951, Moddrell said.

Some of the area’s past history included redlining, segregation and displacement that prevented development, according to Moddrell.

In the 1960s, everything in Armourdale east of 7th Street was cleared out after the flood, he said. New industrial development displaced about a third of the neighborhood.

Today, the Armourdale neighborhood core is surrounded by rivers, highways, and rail yards, he said. There are high productive industrial developments and low use, low land values, he said. Residential areas are surrounded by industrial uses.

The master plan found neglect of certain services such as lighting and sidewalks. Aging homes are about 50 percent renter-occupied and the Armourdale area has not seen new housing investment in a long time, he said.

The population of Armourdale has declined since the 1951 flood to where it is now about 2,500 residents, Moddrell said.

The master plan found that Armourdale is in many ways an isolated area, according to Moddrell. Health care is lacking. It has no grocery stores, but it does have a number of churches, grade schools, Cross-Lines and a county park. It lacks cultural amenities such as museums.

In some ways the master plan tries to strengthen the Armourdale community with community-led priorities such as access to fresh food and public spaces, according to officials.

Moddrell said at the Sept. 13 meeting that they would like to disrupt the cycle of disinvestment and isolation with a safe, empowered, included and accessible plan.

Reinvestment in the levee area in Armourdale, on the Kansas River, will mean better river access in the area, with potential for more development. There could be corridor enhancements linking to the Rock Island Bridge project area and other developments planned for the area, according to officials.

The master plan also looks at issues such as stormwater retention, bike lanes and trees.

Armourdale residents became part of the master plan consultant team, and workshops and surveys were conducted, Moddrell said. Some team members went door-to-door to talk to residents about the plan.

The levee projects and reinvestment in the river and perimeter of Armourdale, along with stormwater improvements, are expected to make a difference.

Five focus areas of the master plan included the neighborhood core; the corridors; the industrial ring; the Kansas River (or green machine); and the West Bottoms, Moddrell said.

Within each area are recommended actions. For the neighborhood core, for example, one strategy will be to support infill housing. Almost a dozen actions are recommended in the neighborhood core area.

The industrial recommendations are to try to phase out some lower uses, such as tire piles or pallet piles, he said. Also, the plan discusses how new development can be shaped to maintain pedestrian streets, add best practices, and improve stormwater retention to raise the overall value.

The plan also includes some ideas to connect corridor enhancements to the Kansas River, including through the Rock Island Bridge, walking trails and other features.

Commissioner Brian McKiernan remarked at the Sept. 13 committee meeting that it was a great road map, but the question was, can they follow the road map?

A video of the NCD Committee meeting is online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A4snbyOwgA.

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Nebraska Furniture Mart could win back $1.5 million from KCK in ‘dark store’ battle

The Kansas Board of Tax Appeals sided with Nebraska Furniture Mart’s protest of its tax bill in Wyandotte County in the latest of so-called “dark store theory” cases.

by Steve Vockrodt, KCUR and Kansas News Service

Nebraska Furniture Mart, one of the busiest retailers in the region, stands to get a refund on property taxes it paid on its Kansas City, Kansas, location after winning an appeal to a state tax board.

The Kansas Board of Tax Appeals ruled last week that Wyandotte County overestimated the value of Nebraska Furniture Mart’s sprawling location in Village West.

If the board’s decision holds up — the county could appeal the decision in court — Nebraska Furniture Mart stands to collect a nearly $1.5 million refund. That refund would come from the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City Kansas Community College as well as school and library districts in the area. The Unified Government and other taxing jurisdictions use property tax to pay for basic services.

The amount of the refund itself isn’t staggering. But cities and counties in Kansas fear that continued success by big-box retailers in appealing their tax bills could diminish the revenue they collect for basic services and shift the tax burden to small businesses and residents.

“Every taxpayer, whether a homeowner, a small business, or a large corporation, has the right to access the appeal process,” the Unified Government said in a statement. “However, rulings by the Board of Tax Appeals that significantly shift how large commercial properties are valued, will affect how critical services and schools in our community are paid for.”

Retailers on a roll

Indeed, the Nebraska Furniture Mart decision is the latest among several victories by retailers in Kansas that have convinced courts and tax boards that county appraisers miscalculate the value of their properties. They argue that appraisers place too much emphasis on the lease income that a business occupying the retail property generates rather than focusing on how much a buyer is willing to pay for the land and the building on the open market.

In other words, the retailers argue that appraisers should value property as though it is vacant when the new owner takes control of the property. Lawyers for retailers compare it to buying a house: A buyer will pay for the house and the land without regard for whether the seller is financially well-off or struggles to make ends meet.

“We value property on the assumption that the current owner-occupant will vacate, just as you would value a house,” said Linda Terrill, a Johnson County lawyer who is president of the American Property Tax Counsel and frequently represents Kansas retailers in appealing their tax bills. “It’s not dark, abandoned or empty.”

Terrill represented Nebraska Furniture Mart in its appeal, but stressed that she was not speaking about that case while it remains pending.

‘Dark store theory’ looms

Critics of retailers who appeal their taxes call the approach the “dark store theory,” an implication that retailers believe their properties should be evaluated as if they were closed, resulting in lower property values.

The Unified Government said it disagreed with the Board of Tax Appeals decision for relying on a methodology that is not consistent with how commercial property is appraised.

“The NFM building has never been vacant and, because of its desirable location, should not be compared to other vacant buildings,” the Unified Government said in a statement. “The Unified Government only seeks to ensure that all properties, commercial and residential, are valued fairly, so that the tax burden is shared equitable and appropriately.”

Nebraska Furniture Mart, which did not respond to a request for comment on this story, is the first Wyandotte County business to prevail before the Board of Tax Appeals using dark store theory arguments

But several big-box retailers in Johnson County have been successful in their appeals.

In April, the Kansas Court of Appeals sided with the Board of Tax Appeals in lowering the tax bill for the Bass Pro Shops store in Olathe.

In 2018, an analysis by then-Johnson County Appraiser Paul Welcome concluded that the county, as well as school districts, cities and libraries within it could lose close to $133 million if the dark store theory becomes the dominant methodology for large retailers, according to a story in the Shawnee Mission Post.

Terrill said Kansas courts are applying the law when they arrive at their decisions about tax appeals. She added that cities and counties should press their cases to the Kansas Legislature to make changes to the law.

“The decision of who pays and who shares what portion of taxation is up to the legislature, not the county appraiser,” Terrill said.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-09-17/nebraska-furniture-mart-could-win-back-1-5-million-from-kansas-city-kansas-in-dark-store-battle.