Only four persons appeared at a public hearing on the Unified Government budget on Thursday night at City Hall.
The four braved outdoor temperatures of 10 degrees and a wind chill of minus 2.
Heather Hoffman, the executive director of Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness, said the organization, which represents about 40 agencies working in Wyandotte and Jackson counties, has a goal of securing $13.9 million in Housing and Urban Development funding. About 100 agencies are members of the coalition, while 40 agencies are offering programs.
Hoffman said more than 2,000 persons in Wyandotte and Jackson counties are considered homeless, with about 25 percent of them in Wyandotte County. Some of the agencies providing services to the homeless here include Kim Wilson Housing, the Salvation Army, Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry and Hillcrest Transitional Housing.
About $2 million of the funding goes to agencies in Wyandotte County, she said. The coalition is requesting $75,000 from the Unified Government to assist in work they are doing in Wyandotte County to help homeless individuals, she said.
Also making a presentation at the public hearing were Erin Stryka of the Rosedale Development Association and Chandra Ward of Turner Community Connection.
They advocated for Neighborhood Business Revitalization groups in Wyandotte County. There are eight NBRs currently here. The NBRs currently receive funding from the UG.
The two speakers outlined the activities of the NBRs, including summer jobs for youth; holding community events to strengthen neighborhoods; sponsoring programs that reduce blight and crime; cleaning up neighborhoods; sponsoring meetings that assisted in new construction or home revitalization in neighborhoods; and holding neighborhood festivals to build community pride.
The UG Commission also heard from resident Bill Hurrelbrink, a local television personality who is a former spokesman for former Mayor Mark Holland.
Hurrelbrink said he was disappointed with the turnout at the public hearing, asked the commission to prioritize UG communications, and to make resources available to the UG communications department. When one member of the communications department left last year for another job, the public works community engagement officer was appointed to assume interim duties in the communications department, as well as continue in his public works position. The department’s director also does public information work as well as serving as the UG’s lobbyist in Topeka.
Mayor David Alvey responded that the UG is doing an assessment of its communication needs and how to better structure the process.
During the meeting, UG Budget Director Reginald Lindsey said there is a new schedule for the budget process this year. The majority of workshops will be held before the UG administrator presents the budget this year, he said.
The first workshop is scheduled May 7, followed by another workshop May 21, he said. The maximum mill levy will be set May 21 and published May 28, according to the preliminary budget calendar.
The UG administrator will present the budget at 5 p.m. June 25, he said. The third budget workshop will be July 6, with the second budget public hearing at 5 p.m. July 13. The budget is scheduled to be approved at 7 p.m. July 16.
He said this year, the UG Commission and the rest of the governing body are being included more in the process to make budget decisions.
UG Administrator Doug Bach said last year commissioners felt that having workshops after the budget was presented did not allow for additional input from the commission. Some portions of the budget process have been moved up.
The maximum mill levy is scheduled to be set earlier in the process this year, Bach said. Once the maximum mill levy is set, the commission cannot exceed the maximum, but it can lower it. He said the intent is that they will do the workshops in advance, then listen to what the commission asks the administrator to put together. Possibly there will not be a need to change the budget as much.
Lindsey said that the budget passed last year was a total $394 million, with $163 million in the city general fund and $67 million in the county general fund.
About 58 percent of the city general fund goes to public safety, with community services at 13 percent and public works at 12 percent, he said.
The largest portion of the county general fund is public safety, at 56 percent, he said. General government was 19 percent and judicial services, 12 percent of the county general fund.
Those who couldn’t attend the public hearing can fill out a Citizen and Community Stakeholder Budget Input Form for comments that will be posted online at www.wycokck.org and email it, mail it or drop it off to the budget office, Lindsey said.
Wilba Miller, director of community development, said a draft plan for Community Development Block Grant funding will be published in early June, and a second public hearing will be held in July.
In other action, the UG voted unanimously to set a public hearing date of March 26 for the new downtown campus redevelopment project. The project is scheduled to be discussed by the full commission on that date. The project is on the site of the Reardon Center at 5th and Minnesota. A new, smaller Reardon Center meeting place will be built, along with a four-story mixed-use apartment building. There will be some small retail space included. The project also includes an athletic field near 5th and Nebraska.
The commission accepted a $100,000 grant from Major League Baseball, Youth Development Foundation, and $50,000 from Royals Charities to renovate the City Park Baseball Field No. 3 at Park Drive and South 26th Street in Kansas City, Kansas. The grant was through a UG Parks Department application. Commissioner Harold Johnson said the UG needs to continue to look for these types of outside grants.
Mayor Alvey reported a bond sale held earlier on Thursday was very successful, with a favorable rate of 2.13 percent, which was about 1 percent less than they would have paid last year at this time. The favorable rates, a 1 percent reduction, mean that the UG will pay about 50 percent less on interest costs, he said.
The final figures for the UG general obligation bond issue were $47.5 million, and temporary notes were $49 million, he said.