Category: Unified Government Commission

A mask mandate for Kansas City, Kansas, was extended on Thursday night by the Unified Government Commission.

The mask mandate, for all indoor public spaces in Kansas City, Kansas, was unanimously approved by the commission, 10-0. It will run through 11:59 p.m. Nov. 18.

According to UG officials, the mask mandate is the same as one passed previously, and it excludes the cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. It also excludes school districts, which will make their own decisions. The mandate applies to Kansas City, Kansas.

The current mask mandate started on Aug. 5 and was scheduled to end Sept. 16.

Besides approving the mandate, the UG Commission also extended the state of emergency in Wyandotte County through Dec. 16 in a unanimous vote.

Matt May, Wyandotte County emergency management director, said it was extended for the same reasons as in the past. It will maintain the ability for the county to be reimbursed through state or federal programs, he said.

Two supportive public comments were received during the discussion. One was from a child who lived in Jackson County, Missouri, and attends school in Wyandotte County, and said his grandfather died of COVID. He requested that they keep masks on until kids can have vaccines.

During the 6 p.m. COVID discussion, Dr. Erin Corriveau, UG deputy medical officer, recommended extending the mask order.

The average in Wyandotte County has been about 63 new COVID cases a day, she said. There was a huge peak late in August, she added.

Currently, there could be a start of a downward trend in COVID cases, but they can’t be sure because it’s possible there was a slight data lag because of Labor Day closures, she said.

Last week alone, there were 421 new cases, and there were four COVID deaths in the last week, she said.

The UG Health Department is engaged in a very robust testing program, she added.

The Wyandotte County positivity rate is just under 20 percent, which is better than around 30 percent at the last report to the commission, she said.

“Unfortunately, the majority of residents in Wyandotte County still remain unvaccinated,” Dr. Corriveau said.

Those Wyandotte County residents with one vaccine dose total 47.4 percent, while those who completed their vaccines total 40.5 percent, she said.

She added that the Health Department is still unable to get any data from the state of Missouri about anyone from Wyandotte County who has been vaccinated in Missouri. However, they have been able to get the totals of Wyandotte County residents who were vaccinated in other Kansas counties.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s county COVID rankings had some good news for Wyandotte County, she said.

Wyandotte County ranks ninth in the state overall in its COVID rankings, she said.

The county’s vaccination rate is ranked 16th in the state, she said. The KDHE uses 54 percent as the vaccination rate here because it includes those who are eligible, ages 12 and over only. The county numbers include the total population.

Under testing, Wyandotte County ranks 10th in the state, Dr. Corriveau said.

However, under COVID cases, Wyandotte County is 61st, she said.

“We know there is still community spread of this Delta variant in our community,” Dr. Corriveau said.

The Health Department is focusing its efforts on stopping the spread of the virus, she said. The mask resolution was an effort to do that.

Kansas City, Missouri, and Jackson County, Missouri, have indoor mask mandates currently in place, she said. Johnson County requires masks to be worn in kindergarten through sixth grade for the remainder of the school year.

Reasons to support a mask mandate are the uncontrolled high community spread; the high transmissibility of Delta; the majority of Wyandotte County residents who are not vaccinated; children under 12 who are ineligible to get a vaccine; and strained hospital resources, she said.

At the University of Kansas Health System, they still have high numbers of patients on the ventilators and in the hospital with COVID, according to Dr. Corriveau. Lately, the number has been about 100 patients with COVID. They also are seeing people in their 40s and 50s, as well as many children hospitalized.

While Dr. Corriveau recommended the mask mandate until Nov. 11, the UG Commission passed a resolution extending it until Nov. 18. According to UG officials, that change was to make it work in conjunction with the UG’s meeting schedules.

In answer to a question from Commissioner Melissa Bynum, Dr. Corriveau said she would like to see the percent positivity cases decrease below 10 percent, and the daily case rate go down from 60 to 20 or less, before the mask mandate should be lifted.

She said with flu season coming up, she is a little worried about flu cases on top of COVID cases. Health officials have recommended that people get their flu shots in early October.

There has been a downturn in some areas, probably due to masking, she said, and if they were to let up too soon, they could have another bump in the numbers.

James Bain, a UG attorney, said in answer to Bynum’s question that state statutes have allowed violations of health orders to be a Class C misdemeanor, long before the COVID pandemic. The UG during the COVID period passed ordinances making a violation of health orders a crime, since last March. That is so it could be prosecuted in municipal court as a city violation, if needed, he said. The misdemeanor language is part of all the local health orders.

There have been no convictions, no tickets written, under these ordinances, he said. There was an education focus on all the health orders, with no criminal prosecutions, he added. Representatives of the Health Department have talked to some of those who violated the ordinances, and explained the rules to them.

The mask mandate also includes the small, unincorporated area of Loring in Wyandotte County.

The special session on COVID is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji1d0qf-XRQ.

Federal workers required to get vaccinations

The big COVID news Thursday was an announcement by President Joe Biden that all federal workers and contractors will have to get COVID-19 vaccines. They will not have an opt-out testing choice.

Also, if a business has more than 100 workers, employees would be required to either get vaccinated or tested.

Another provision of the president’s plan is to require all health care workers at hospitals, nursing homes and facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to be fully vaccinated.

Also, large sports arenas and large entertainment venues would have to require those entering to provide proof of vaccination or testing.

There are a number of provisions aimed at encouraging vaccinations at schools, including requiring all Head Start staff to get vaccinated.

For more information on this plan, visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/.

Vaccines, tests available

COVID-19 testing will continue on Friday, Sept. 10, in Wyandotte County.

The former Kmart building at 7836 State Ave., a Unified Government Health Department vaccination site, will be open for testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and for free COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. There are incentives being offered for Wyandotte County residents, while supplies last.

Mobile vaccines can be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311). For more information on the Unified Government Health Department’s vaccine schedule, see WycoVaccines.org.

COVID-19 vaccines and tests are available at other locations in Wyandotte County, including some pharmacies. For locations and availability, visit www.vaccines.gov.

COVID-19 testing from WellHealth will be available beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 10, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th. The site is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.

Free vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public, and appointments are required. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.

A special vaccine event is planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Area Agency on Aging community room, 849 B N. 47th, (Indian Springs area), Kansas City, Kansas. The Unified Government Health Department is presenting the event with the Area Agency on Aging. Free COVID-19 vaccines, $50 gift cards for Wyandotte County residents who get vaccinated, while supplies last, and a free lunch will be available. For a free ride to the event, call 913-262-5190, with the code VACS, or contact UG transit at 913-573-8351.

Soccer Nation, 550 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will sponsor COVID testing and vaccinations from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11. Appointments are not required. Pfizer vaccines will be available for ages 12 and up, with parents or guardians required for 12-18. Johnson and Johnson vaccine is available for those ages 18 and older. Also, PCR saliva testing kits will be available. Vibrant Health will be conducting the vaccinations.

Case numbers reported

The University of Kansas Health System reported 100 total COVID-19 patients on Thursday, Sepet. 9, the same as Wednesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. Fifty patients with the active virus were inpatients on Thursday, a decrease of five since Wednesday. Two COVID patients died on Wednesday. Sixteen patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Wednesday, and only two were vaccinated. Nine patients were on ventilators, the same as Wednesday. Fifty other patients were still hospitalized from COVID, but were out of the acute infection phase, an increase of five since Wednesday.

Last year on Labor Day, KU Health System had 21 patients with active COVID infections, compared to around 60 this year. So far in September this year, there have been 18 deaths, compared to 17 in the whole month of September last year. In August of this year, the health system had 37 deaths, compared to 18 in August of last year.

Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 23,076 cases on Thursday, Sept. 9, an increase of 63 cases since Wednesday, Sept. 8, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative total of 340 deaths on Thursday, an increase of two from Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Unified Government Health Department reported that 47.37 percent of Wyandotte County residents had received at least one dose of vaccine. Those completing their vaccinations totaled about 40.52 percent.
The percentage of Wyandotte County residents who were age 12 and older who had received at least one dose was 58.3 percent.

The Mid-America Regional Council reported 204,111 cases in Greater Kansas City, a nine-county area. There were a total of 2,768 deaths. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 130.
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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 382,850 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, Sept. 8, an increase of 5,727 since Friday, Sept. 3, (the second most recent reporting date for state totals). There was a total of 5,693 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of 63 since Sept. 3.
The KDHE reported 71,224 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Johnson County on Sept. 8, an increase of 698 since Sept. 3. Leavenworth County had 9,373 cases on Sept. 8, an increase of 139 since Sept. 3. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 69,756 cases on Sept. 8, an increase of 1,270 since Sept. 3.
On Friday, the KHDE reported 10,820 cumulative cases in Douglas County (the Lawrence area), an increase of 183 since Sept. 3. Riley County (the Manhattan area) had 7,236 cumulative cases, an increase of 60 since Sept. 3. Shawnee County (the Topeka area) had 22,876 cumulative cases, an increase of 439 cases since Sept. 3.

On Thursday night, there were a cumulative 40,601,577 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with a cumulative 654,579 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Links

Visit gogettested.com/Kansas and https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19 for more testing sites.

Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.

For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.

The Unified Government Commission will meet tonight to approve the UG budget, and also to discuss COVID and extending the mask mandate.

A special session will begin at 6 p.m. tonight, Sept. 9, for a COVID update. The meeting will be on Zoom, on YouTube, on UGTV cable television, and is also accessible by telephone. In addition, the public may view the meeting from the lobby of City Hall.

At 7 p.m. tonight, the UG Commission is scheduled to meet, and on the agenda are several items, including extending the emergency order for the COVID pandemic until Dec. 16, and extending the mask mandate until Nov. 18. The mask order now in effect is scheduled to expire on Sept. 16.

The UG Commission also is scheduled to vote on the UG budget at 7 p.m. tonight. A $420 million budget is proposed.

Commission voted to exceed revenue neutral rate

At the budget hearing on Tuesday night, Sept. 7, the UG Commission discussed budget issues including whether to lower the property tax rate and the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) rate on the Board of Public Utilities’ bills.

The only person who made a statement during the public comment segment at the budget hearing Tuesday night was Murrel Bland, executive director of Business West, who said the organization hoped the increase in valuation can finally mean property tax relief. It’s important to increase the tax base and not the tax rate, he said.

The UG administrator’s proposed budget is a flat mill levy rate, no change from last year for the city and county mill levies. The Kansas City, Kansas, mill levy rate is 38.47 mills and the county mill levy rate is 39.327 mills.

On Tuesday night, the UG Commission voted 7-2 to exceed the revenue neutral rate, which allows the UG to go over the amount they spent last year.

As explained at the meeting by Kathleen VonAchen, UG chief financial officer, the hearing on the revenue neutral rate was the result of state legislation to increase transparency about municipal revenues.

The revenue neutral rate compares revenues from the previous tax year to this tax year. In Wyandotte County, property values have increased over the past year, and also new development has been added here, resulting in more revenues that would come to the UG if the property tax rate stays the same as last year, she said.

Voting no on exceeding the revenue neutral rate Tuesday night were Commissioners Jim Walters and Tom Burroughs.

The commission did not vote on the mill levy on Tuesday night, but during discussion, three commissioners, Walters, Burroughs and Melissa Bynum, indicated they were in favor of lowering the mill levy this year. A one-mill or half-mill drop was mentioned.

“Residential homeowners in Wyandotte County will experience an 8 percent tax increase this year if we do not do anything to adjust the mill levy,” Commissioner Walters said.

He said it appeared to him that most of the increased revenue from residential taxpayers would be going to the reserves. He suggested using the reserves for a tax cut.

Other commissioners pointed out that the 8 percent figure only applied to their part of the tax bill, not to other taxing entities.

Commissioner Melissa Bynum supported Commissioner Walters’ call for an opportunity to make at least a 1 mill lowering of the mill levy rate.

Commissioner Burroughs mentioned that while the city’s mill levy rate has dropped considerably during the past few years, the county’s rate has gone up. Valuation has gone up, and the PILOT fee has gone up, too, he said. He also mentioned the American Rescue Plan Act funds the UG has received. The UG will receive $87 million over two years from the federal government, with much of it going to replace lost revenues in the local budget.

“I believe the budget could absorb the mill cut we discussed,” Commissioner Burroughs said. The cut under discussion would have been to the county mill levy.

Commissioner Burroughs said this has been a very trying year for a number of people in the community who have struggled to get through it, many lost jobs, and many needed rent and utility assistance.

“I believe the timing is right,” he said. “It demonstrates good will by the leadership of Wyandotte County to understand the challenges they have had this year with their finances. I’m supportive of continuing the discussion about lowering the mill levy.”

However, several other commissioners and Mayor David Alvey did not support a reduction in the mill levy this year.

Commissioner Christian Ramirez, while agreeing that the mill rate needs to be lowered, said he doesn’t believe they’re at the perfect time for it yet. Things may be good at the moment, but they don’t know what will happen next year – it’s all unknown, he said. Because of COVID and the pandemic, they don’t know what next year will look like, according to Ramirez.

Commissioner Mike Kane said he didn’t have a crystal ball, but he was here when the commission one year lowered the mill levy, then had to raise it the next year.

“We’re still in a pandemic,” Commissioner Kane said. They don’t know what the future holds and don’t want to put more stress on the budget, he said. He said the UG Commission should start discussing a possible tax cut next January.

Commissioner Jane Philbrook sided with Commissioners Ramirez and Kane, and said she doesn’t know what the future would hold. She said they should concentrate this year on taking care of the infrastructure, such as roads.

Commissioner Brian McKiernan agreed with Commissioner Philbrook, and said it’s time to start digging out from the deterioration of the infrastructure, and improve roads, curbs, sidewalks, sewers and infrastructure.

Commissioner Burroughs said $2 million would not make that much of a difference in infrastructure, and they should figure out how to cut expenses of $2 million out of a $420 million budget. “We have enough reserves to absorb this,” he said.

He warned that the tax burden could become so great that it would create another cycle of poverty.

Mayor Alvey said he receives calls from people about clogged culverts, sidewalk and road repairs, and water running through their yards.

He added it was a hard conversation to have with people and tell them the UG is not generating enough revenue do to that. The UG has been trying not to borrow as much money as it has in the past to keep the debt service down. Compared to Lenexa in Johnson County, operation costs of the UG were about the same, he said. However, in Lenexa, developers were required to install infrastructure and because it was a younger city, it did not have the same level of maintenance costs as Wyandotte County. The mill levy there was lower because their valuations were higher, the mayor said.

He agreed that better infrastructure and lower taxes were needed, with a long-term solution needed, and said the infrastructure is on the point of failure.

Commissioner Harold Johnson said on Tuesday night that the UG’s portion of the local tax bill is less than half.

“The decisions we make need to be done in conjunction with our taxing counterparts strategically, not in competition or critique of one another,” he said.

The discussion about lowering the mill levy needs to be a full-throated conversation across all taxing jurisdictions, and it needs to be long-term, not in the moment, Johnson said.

Other items on the Sept. 9 agenda

Also on the 7 p.m. Sept. 9 agenda:

• A public hearing on creating the Legends Hotel Community Improvement District.
• A request for honorary street signs for Pandarama Preschools on Nebraska Avenue between 7th and 8th streets;
• Agreements between the UG and Turner and Piper school districts for school resource officers;
• Acquiring property for Safe Routes to Schools near Carl Bruce Middle School and Caruthers Elementary School;
• A resolution allowing the Colonial Club to furnish alcohol and allow patrons to drink and consume alcohol on North 6th Street, in front of the Colonial Club, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sept. 11.

The Zoom link for the 6 p.m. meeting Sept. 9 is at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87570007778?pwd=UHRGMFV4S2NLaEk3bmZnK2oxeWlyUT09.

The passcode is 429488. The Webinar ID is 875 7000 7778.

The Zoom link for the 7 p.m. meeting is at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83840023799?pwd=dXdPUW00dFVoQ2MxakZHaXJxWDRPQT09.

The passcode is 024488. The webinar ID is 838 4002 3799.

For information about connecting to tonight’s UG meetings, visit https://www.wycokck.org/Departments/Clerks-Office/BOC-Virtual-Meeting.

UG budget information is at https://www.wycokck.org/Departments/Finance/Budget.

A video of the Sept. 7 UG hearings is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdXnIH5DEME

To see some past UG budget stories, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/ug-tax-cut-appears-unlikely-at-this-time/ and
https://wyandotteonline.com/federal-funds-playing-a-role-in-2022-ug-budget/