Window on the West
Opinion column
by Mary Rupert
The Unified Government will be giving away more money and making decisions about spending or saving more money this year than in past years.
Here is an update on some of the funds expected to come in to the Unified Government.
CDBG and budget public hearing Thursday: Community residents traditionally turn out to tell the UG Commission, during a public hearing, about what they want in services and what is needed in their area. Community Development Block Grant funds are sometimes available for specific uses, and sometimes the UG will fund projects out of its regular budget.
The CDBG and budget public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, in the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kan. It is the first public budget hearing for the year. For more information on this meeting, see http://www.wycokck.org/uploadedFiles/Articles/Public%20Hearing%20Notice%202%2025%202016%20final.pdf.
Sales tax millions: Mayor Mark Holland has gathered information with town hall meetings in each commission district about what the residents want to see happen with the sales tax income anticipated to be about $12 to $13 million as the STAR bonds are completed in 2017 at the Legends Outlets. Businesses want to be part of the town hall process now. In March, more meetings are scheduled so that business representatives can comment on what they would like to see done with the money. (See below for details.)
$1.25 million in community charitable grant fund: The Hollywood Casino charitable grant funds of $500,000 are in a different category, outside the regular budget process. This year, the UG Commission decided to add $750,000 in a Schlitterbahn charitable contribution to the pot to make $1.25 million that commissioners will approve for charitable purposes in Wyandotte County.
In a compromise approved Feb. 4, the commission agreed to have the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation do more screening of applicants before they come back to the commissioners, who will make a final decision. Each commissioner (and the mayor) will control one-eleventh of the fund to give to charitable purposes this year.
Schlitterbahn proposal and potential conflicts of interest
In a letter accompanying its $750,000 charitable contribution, a Schlitterbahn owner asked that $500,000 go toward the downtown Healthy Campus project, $50,000 for the Urban Scholastic Center at at 29th and Minnesota, $50,000 to the West Kiwanis KCK Club, and the remaining $150,000 for the commission to decide.
The UG Commission did not approve that request on Feb. 4. Instead, all the money was placed together with the Hollywood Casino funds into a charitable contributions fund, with the UG Commission making the decision on how much recipients would receive.
That does not mean that the Healthy Campus, Kiwanis and Urban Scholastic Center will not be funded – they might be funded if they apply and if individual commissioners decide to allot funds to them.
Commissioner Ann Murguia on Feb. 4 stated that she checked the UG-Schlitterbahn development agreement about the contribution, and it stated the UG would make the decision on where the charitable funds will be spent. She said at the meeting that the UG Commission had been very intentional about making sure everyone has the same access to these charitable dollars, and that’s why she supported them going through the same application process as the other funds.
The $750,000 contribution is a one-time contribution including funds for past years, according to UG officials, as Schlitterbahn had signed an agreement some years ago with the UG to make an annual contribution. Next year’s Schlitterbahn contribution is expected to be about $100,000, UG officials said.
The commission had been split on how to handle the charitable contributions before a compromise was worked out. Commissioner Melissa Bynum did not support commissioners directly making the decisions on the funds. There also was some support for the former method of an advisory committee to make the preliminary decisions, which would then come to the commission for approval.
However, the commission changed that process previously after some other commissioners said their districts were being ignored and not receiving any of the funds.
Commissioners Bynum and Jane Philbrook said at the Feb. 4 meeting that they were members of the Kiwanis club mentioned in the Schlitterbahn letter, but they were not on the board of directors making decisions for that group.
That received a response from Commissioner Murguia, who was criticized last July by the mayor when her name appeared as an adviser to an Argentine group applying for CDBG funding. Commissioner Murguia told the two commissioners that she was “telling you as your friend” that it was very important that their names not appear on the application if the organization submits a request for funding.
Commissioner Hal Walker opposed the Healthy Campus receiving a $500,000 donation off the top of the $750,000 fund. He said the commission has already voted to give the Healthy Campus $6 million if it comes up with a matching amount in contributions. He said if the Healthy Campus comes within $500,000 of the amount it is trying to raise, he would vote to issue that much in additional debt for it.
“But this is money we can do more good with right now,” he said, referring to using the Schlitterbahn contribution money for smaller projects around the community.
To view the Feb. 4 meeting, visit this website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UW67cXs19M.
To see the Hollywood Casino grant applications from last year, visit https://www.wycokck.org/uploadedFiles/Hollywood_Casino/Final%20Casino%20Grants%202015(1).pdf.
Business representatives scheduled to meet about STAR bond funds
The estimated $12-13 million becoming available to the UG in 2017 from sales taxes at The Legends Outlets have been the topic of the mayor’s town hall meetings, as well as a business meeting coming up in March.
Should they spend it on a landmark project such as the downtown Healthy Campus, or should it go back to the taxpayers as a reduction in property taxes? Should it be used to build a new juvenile jail or to build sidewalks? Should it be spent to satisfy a consent agreement with the U.S. Justice Department over the city’s stormwater and sewer management, or should it be put into the UG’s reserves to make their interest rates decrease when they borrow money? Will they upgrade the fire stations, or will they build new bike paths?
One thing is certain, the UG doesn’t support using its share of the STAR bond payoff windfall to fund the American Royal moving to Wyandotte County Park at Bonner Springs (near 126th and State), UG lobbyist Mike Taylor said last week. The UG would not be against the state of Kansas using its share of the sales taxes for the project, but that was opposed last week in the Legislature.
Business representatives here asked for a Listening Tour meeting for business, and one has been scheduled at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, March 10, at General Motors, Fairfax area of Kansas City, Kan., with the Fairfax Industrial Association as the sponsor. Another meeting was scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the West Wyandotte Library, 1737 N. 82nd, with Business West as the sponsor.
Videos of the mayor’s Listening Tour in each commission district are online at http://www.wycokck.org/Listen/.
To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].