Good morning, Witchah, and good morning  to all of you. Welcome to City Hall. I   will call this meeting to order. With us this  morning is Reverend Jeff Ganon of Chapel Hill   United Methodist Church to provide our  invocation. Following that invocation,   we will have our pledge of allegiance and  we ask that you please stand for both. Peace be upon us all as we pray. Oh God of us all, we thank you for the gift of  this new day. Help us to rejoice and to be glad in   it. We pray in thanksgiving for all who serve our  community, especially today. We pray for the city   council. We pray, oh God, that you would empower  them to serve the common good of our beloved city,   seeking liberty and justice for all. We pray that  you would bless those who serve with the gifts of   wisdom, discernment, and prudence as they do  the work before them today. We pray that their   dispositions would please you. Their discussions  would honor you and their decisions would reflect   your will for our beloved city. Lead them and  guide them. We pray. We also pray today for   our world and our nation. We pray for peace on  earth and goodwill toward all. May you bind us   together in the strength of your love, the unity  of your spirit, and the bonds of your peace. We   offer you our prayers in the name of the one who  is always and everywhere with us. Amen. And amen to the flag of the United States of  America and to the republic for it stands.   One nation under God, indivisible,  with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Reverend Ganon. Before we begin, I  simply wanted to say thank you to our public works   and airport staff for clearing many of the roads  so that you all could attend today's meeting.   I am very grateful to the city of Witchah  staff who made sure that uh these roads and   runways were cleared. I also wanted to remind uh  those who are here today that the Witchah public   uh parks department has uh a session in  the room next door in the boardroom where   you can provide your comments regarding the  park master plan. And so I encourage you to   walk just across the hallway to provide your  input. With that, madame clerk, can you please   call the first item? Approve the minutes  of the regular meeting, January 20th, 2026. Council members, are there any items to  be edited from the minutes? I see none.   I move to approve the minutes for January  20th, 2026. Second motion and a second. Any   further discussion? I see none. Madame clerk,  please call the next uh please open the role. Motion passes. 70. Madame clerk, please call  the next item. Awards and proclamations.   Today's proclamation is National Mentor  Month and the award we offer today is the   40th anniversary of the Witchaw area  sister city's friendship with Kiang   China. Can I please ask the individuals with  youth horizons to come forward at this time? The proclamation reads, "The city of Witchah,  Kansas, founded in 1870. Whereas January is   National Mentoring Month, an annual campaign to  raise awareness of and celebrate the powerful   impact of mentoring relationships, to recruit  new members, and to encourage institutions to   integrate quality mentoring programs into  their policies and practices. Whereas city   of Witchah recognizes the contributions of  volunteer mentors who link youth to economic,   educational, and social opportunities while also  strengthening our community. Mentors can help   young people set career goals and connect mentees  to industry professionals to train and find jobs.   Whereas youth development experts agree  that mentoring encourages positive youth   development and smart daily behaviors, growth and  success of a young person. And mentoring programs   generally have a significant positive impact  on youth academic achievement which can lead to   outcomes such as improved attendance, grades, test  scores, and classroom behavior. Whereas effective   mentoring for atrisisk youth helps them navigate  challenges and support improved mental health and   social emotional well-being. And young people with  a mentor are more likely to enroll in college,   participate in sports, extracurricular  activities, hold a leadership position,   and volunteer regularly while less likely to  engage in risky behavior. Now therefore, be it   resolved that the Witchah City Council does hereby  proclaim January 2026 as National Mentor Month. Good morning, Mayor and uh city council. I'm Van  Williams. Um it's good to be back in my former   work home. Uh I'm here today representing Youth  Horizons and we've been in this community for more   than three decades. Uh we are a youthbuilding um  uh faith-based nonprofit and we do three things.   Uh we provide youth mentors in this community for  underresourced kids. We uh provide residential   housing uh for uh kids in the foster care system.  and we do advocacy work uh with our churches,   uh business partners and uh local government  partners. And we're here today to talk about   uh National Mentor Month. And our president, CEO,  Robert Garner, will have a few words about that. Okay. Good morning, Mayor Witchah Council,  City Council, and friends. Thank you for this   proclamation recognizing National Mentoring  Month. I am grateful that our city is taking   a moment to say out loud what many of us already  know. Mentorship can change the trajectory of a   young person's life. It's not complicated. It's a  consistent presence. It's a relationship. National   Mentoring Month was launched in 2002 by a  network of national mentoring organizations   to strengthen and expand mentoring for young  people. And the reason it has lasted so long   is it's simple and it works. Here are just a few  stats. 92% of youth with mentoring are more likely   to volunteer regularly in the community. 75% are  more likely to hold leadership roles in clubs or   sports teams and activities. 22% are more likely  to have felt a real sense of belonging growing up.   74% of adults who had a meaningful mentor say that  they significantly they significantly contributed   to their later success. 85% of young people  with a mentor say it helped them with school   and education and 58% say that they help support  their mental health. Here in our community,   Youth Horizons has mentoring has seen mentoring  impact up close for more than three decades.   Our mentoring program has launched committed  Christian adults with kids and young people   who need someone to look up to, someone who can  offer individualized attention, encouragement,   and steady support. I want to close with a simple  call to action because there's still a need. Um,   there's what here's what we know about the  mentoring gap. One in three kids will never   experience a mentor. That's just a statistic, but  that is a child in our That's not a statistic,   I'm sorry, but that's a child in our community  who could just be one caring adult away from a   from a positive future. So, if you  are remotely considering mentoring   um in the workplace, um if you're from the  workplace, the church, or a civic group, and   you've wondered how to get involved, this is your  moment. Please visit us at at youth horizons.net.   Thank you again for your leadership and we're  honored to do this work in the community   with so many committed organizations who also  believe in the power of mentoring. Thank you. May I please ask the city council to come   forward at this time since this  proclamation received a 70 vote? Thank you again to Youth Horizons and  I know many of you here today are from   Justice Together and we are always  looking for mentors in our community.   I think that that's one of the biggest uh ways  that you can impact a person's lives as I have   been impacted by mentors in my life. And so I'm  very grateful to my mentors and grateful to all   of you who volunteer as mentors. At this time  I would like to invite the Witchaw area sister   cities and the Chinese Kiong delegation  for a special recognition. We want to say   uh welcome to Witchita to Mr. Lee Fun, Miss Woo,  Mr. Wang, Miss Wang, Mr. Jung, and Miss Jung. The certificate reads, "The city of  Witchah recognizes Witchah area sister   cities and the city of Kiang, China in  recognition of the 40th anniversary of   the sister city partnership between Witchah,  Kansas, USA and Kiang, China. For 40 years,   the air capital of the world and the city  of Chrysanthemums have shared a lasting   friendship rooted in cultural exchange, mutual  respect, and international cooperation reflected   through the Chinese Garden of Friendship at  Botanica and decades of meaningful exchanges.   The city of Witchah honors this milestone  and looks forward to continued collaboration,   friendship, and shared vision of mutual  respect and peace in the years to come. Thank you, Mayor Woo, and city council  members, and and for all of you being present.   I'm president of Witchah area sister cities  and my father was a fighter pilot in World   War II. Many of you may not know this but sister  cities unofficially started at that time when we   liberated Orlion France from the Nazi Germans. So  I'm very proud of the work we do in sister cities.   Our goal is regardless of the heat in national  politics, what is most important to all of us is   friendship with our neighbors and friendship  with our friends overseas. This is our 40th   anniversary with Kiong China. And we will have an  annual meeting tonight at Botanica Lotus Gardens   where they are celebrating the 10th year of the  Chinese Friendship Gardens. And Kaiwei Louu will   be our guest speaker. I'm going to now introduce  you to the chairman of our China committee,   Dr. Wyn. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Sebast.  Uh I'm Quaton Win. I'm a professor of at Newman   University, also the China Committee chair on  the area sister cities association board. And   uh it has been my pleasure to welcome and  host a delegation from China, our sister city,   Kyong in China. So they came over thousands  of miles of course and they've been staying   here for four days and they are going to leave  Thursday morning. So their main purpose here   today well yeah during this visit is to  present the very fine uh excit art of the   chiming shu which has a history of uh close to  a thousand years different versions now they are   on display at Newman University and and this new  one they are going to the scholar headed by Mr.   Fun and he will present uh about this painting at  noon and also this evening they will also showcase   uh some versions of the painting tonight  uh at Botanica. Yeah. Thank you for coming. brought this all. This is a plate uh a gift from Mr. Lee  to our mayor. Uh it's a plate with a   crosanthemum which is the symbol  of Kyifung city and the each petal   of the flower is handmade. It's a fine  porcelain so it's not easy to make. Yeah. Mayor is one of our champions.  She has been a strong supporter   of sister cities. We really appreciate  we had eight visitors from last year to   expecting cyclist again. So she's one  of our champions. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for your patience. uh in order to um recognize the contribution  headed to the association which is headed by   Mr. Lee and so our mayor has dedicated this uh  recognition certificate uh to uh yeah again to   show appreciation of his contribution to the  cultural exchange and communication between the   two sister cities. He has donated not only funds  and he has been to Witchaw. This is his I think   the fourth or fifth time for the exhibition of  the art and the communication between the cities. We'll do that later. I'm sorry. We are taking time. I know. This these  two letters are from Kaifang's mayor whose last   name is also Wu also a lady and uh this she hand  signed a two letters in English and Chinese and   uh Mr. Fun the scholar is handing it to  our mayor. Yeah, what a sweet coincidence. They are very honored to be here. Can  you tell how important this is to them?   It's very important to them. And this is  some of their art and also the artist like   will speak tonight 5:00 at Botanical Gardens.  It's a wood print which is typical of uh   the Song Dynasty art printing. Um it's it's  represents the gift from Kyifung mayor as well. Oh yes, this is my gift to the Kiang  delegation. It is Witchita's official   monopoly. Uh so they will take this back to China. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you again to our Witchaw area sister  cities and the Kyifung delegation. Vice   Mayor Glascock serves on that board and we're very   again grateful for the friendship between  uh Orliance, France, uh Talipant, Mexico,   Cancun, Mexico and Kyifung China. Madame  clerk, can you please call the next item? Public agenda. We now come to the public agenda.  The public agenda allows for up to five speakers   to have five minutes each to address the council.  Please bear in mind that this is not a period of   dialogue with council or question and answer  period. This is your opportunity to address   the council with your concerns. I ask that you  address your remarks to the city council as a   body and not to any individual council member.  No action will be taken relative to items on the   public agenda other than referral to the city  manager for information as necessary. Speakers   will please speak into the microphone. Please  state your name and address for the record.   A time clock will display the speaker's  remaining time to speak. Order and rules   of decorum will be observed. The first speaker  is Reverend Wade Miller, Affordable Housing. Mayor Woo, members of the Witchah City Council,  thank you for this opportunity to speak this   morning. My name is Pastor Donna Golry and I  am the co-chair of Justice Together steering   committee on homelessness and affordable housing.  Uh pastor Wade is not able to be with us this   morning and we have co-chared as you all are aware  because we have had a lot of meetings. We come   before you in love for our neighbors and with  deep concern for our city. As people of faith,   we believe housing is more than shelter. It is  stability. It is dignity. It is safety. It is   the foundation for families, children, elders, and  a thriving Witchita. Today, our city is facing a   serious affordability crisis and a growing  housing shortage. Over the past 20 years,   housing costs have risen twice as fast as wages.  Housing costs have increased by 140% whereas wages   have grown by only 70%. This widening gap has uh  become more than just a statistic. It represents   families working harder and still falling behind.  here in Cedric County. According to a report,   the 2025 state of Alice in Kansas report, it shows  that 72% that's nearly three quarters of lowincome   renters are costburdened, paying more than 30%  of their income on rent. That includes 27,000   households in our county. These are people who  are working, raising children, caring for elders,   and still struggle to stay housed. When  rent takes that much of a family's income,   there is little left for food, health care,  transportation, or emergencies. One car repair,   one medical bill, one job disruption, it can tip  a family into homelessness. The question we must   ask is this. Are our decisions making life more  affordable or are they worsening inequities for   those who need it the most, for those with the  least? This is not only a housing problem. It   is a moral problem. There is a proven solution.  It's before you. The Witchah Affordable Housing   Fund. The Affordable Housing Fund lowers the cost  of building homes through no interest forgivable   loans, making it possible to create housing that  working families can't afford. It holds builders   accountable, requiring affordability, and ensures  public dollars are used for the public good.   In just one year, the fund helped create 80  affordable homes, 35 homeownership units, and   45 rental units. And this approach works. Yet, the  fund has been allowed to run out of money while   the need for the community continues to grow.  So today we are here to remind you of the public   commitment at our Nehemiah assembly last May in  front of 1,250 or so folk. City council members   Ballard Hohheisel and Title commended committed  to expand and improve the Witchah affordable   housing fund and to secure at least 10 million in  annual ongoing funding. Since that time, Justice   Together has met with every council member.  We've been to each one of your district advisory   boards. And if the commitments and comments  we have heard in these spaces are true today,   then we know there is well over a majority  of this council that could make this happen.   In past council meetings, our colleague,  Pastor WDE Miller, has consistently asked   three questions that still guide us today.  Does it secure 10 million in annual funding   for the affordable housing fund? Does it worsen  inequal does it make a significant effort to   a holistic solution? And does it avoid worsening  inequalities for those who already have the least?   Justice together is discerning our proposed  position on the proposed sale tax. But we see   this moment as an arena for you, our elected  leaders, to live into your word to honor   commitments and demonstrate your support for  neighbors who need housing. We urge you to call   for at least 10 million in ongoing annual funding  for the Witchaw Affordable Housing Fund now and   moving forward regardless. and Mayor Woo and  each of you city council members, we remind you   that housing is dignity, stability, and justice.  And especially we thank you for your time today. Madame Clerk, please call the next individual.  Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone, Affordable Housing. Good morning, Mayor Woo and members of the  Witchita City Council. Thank you for the   opportunity to speak with you this morning.  My name is Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone. I serve   as the co-president of Justice Together, a 40  congregation multiffaith coalition committed   to the common good of Witchah. We gather  today as people of faith, of conscience,   and commitment. We come from many congregations,  many traditions, and many political perspectives.   But we are unit we are united by a shared moral  conviction that every person is created in the   image of God and that safe stable housing is not a  luxury but a sacred sacred sacred responsibility.   This day of faith and action is both prayerful  and purposeful. We are here to ground ourselves   spiritually speak with moral clarity and to bear  public witness to what our faith demands of us in   this moment. Let me begin by naming our purpose.  Over the past three years, Justice Together has   engaged nearly 2,000 people in small groupoup  conversations across Witchah, listening deeply   to what is weighing most heavily on our neighbors  hearts. Year after year, affordable housing rises   to the top alongside homelessness as one of the  most urgent concerns in our community. In our   first year of listening, our members voted to make  homelessness a priority. Through our research, we   identified the multi- agency center, now known  as Second Light, as a promising housing first   solution. But it was built on one-time COVID funds  set to expire. Since then, state and federal built   funding decisions have reduced the number of  housing units from a protected 250 to just 50,   compromising an evidence-based approach. In the  fall of 2024, after another year of listening,   nearly 300 members of our coalition voted to  make affordable housing a priority. We heard   stories that were heartbreakingly consistent.  Families choosing between rent and utilities,   adult children relying upon parents for housing,  children and families couch surfing or living in   cars, and those stories reflect a larger reality.  One in five renters in Witchah spends the majority   of their income on housing. Housing costs  have risen twice as fast as wages. Nearly   2,000 of our students in USD 259 are homeless or  housing insecure. Like more than 800 communities   nationwide, Witchita created an affordable housing  fund, a proven model that works. But like the MAC,   it was funded with one-time co dollars with  no plan for ongoing investment. At our first   Nehemiah assembly in front of 1400 people in this  community, Mayor Wuan County Commissioner Ryan   Batty committed to a braided funding approach  for the MAC and the city announced at least   600,000 in ongoing support. Then at our 2025  Nehemiah assembly with over,200 people present,   council members Ballad, Hohheisel and Tuttle  committed to expanding and improving the Witchita   affordable housing fund and to achieving at least  10 million in annual ongoing funding by the end   of this calendar year. Today, Justice Together  is in a season of discernment. As a multiffaith   coalition, we are prayerfully considering our  position related to the proposed sales tax. Not   moving hastily, but faithfully. We are guided by  the three questions that Pastor Donna mentioned.   Does it secure the annual funding? Does it address  housing homelessness in a in a holistic way? And   does it avoid worsening inequalities for the  most vulnerable? We pray that the decisions   you make today will clarify the answers to these  questions. Mayor Woo and council members, how we   move matters. Our community did not set the pace  of this initiative. We at Justice together move at   the pace of trust, not as an act of hesitation,  but as faithfulness, so that when we act,   we act together with unity and moral authority. We  pray that no matter what the outcome of March 3rd,   you will live up to your word and into the urgency  of the moment by achieving 10 million in annual   ongoing funding for the Witchah Affordable Housing  Fund. Because tonight, our neighbors in our city   will sleep in cars and in shelters. Families  will choose between rent and medicine. Elders   will wonder if they can remain in their homes.  This is not an abstract policy debate. It is a   present ongoing moral crisis. Our sacred texts are  clear. We are called to do justice, to love mercy,   and to build a community where we can all  dwell in dignity. So today, we pray, we listen,   and we show up, not as spectators, but as people  of faith who believe in another way is possible,   and who trust that we are being called  to help build it together. Thank you. Madame clerk, please call the next individual.  Cody Styles rocket at Riverside Park. Is Cody here? I do not see Cody.  We have three spots for public   comment. You can just come up to  the microphone, state your name,   and you will have five minutes. Please  also state your address or district. Uh hello Trevor Dharmmsteader 803 North Bristol  in District 2. Uh thank you for the opportunity   to speak. I'm just one citizen doing my best  along with my wife to raise our four kids. But   seeing friends I've worked with in the past. Uh  former coaches I still highly respect. Uh along   with everyone else in the city government doing  their best to better the city I grew up and love.   I made the decision to be here today because I'm  concerned in regards to the sales tax issue. Uh   first off, thank you for all the work and due  diligence you are putting in, especially the   work to see that the organizations like Second  Light are able to continue assisting my fellow   Witchtons the that most need someone to show them  the light of a new day. It was only last evening   that I first became aware of an ad that Witchaw  Forward ran on the news a few days ago. And the   ad essentially called anyone that didn't vote  for the sales tax a communist. And seeing that,   I was immediately filled with disappointment.  All of the initiatives that the sales tax says it   would go to are things I highly support. My police  and fire friends need funds to do their jobs for   everyone's sake. Every last one of my neighbors  should have a roof over their head that they can   feel safe under. And Century 2 along with all  the performing arts are vital to our community.   But they all require money and where it comes from  will forever be debatable. Ultimately the decision   was a sales tax and now we need to focus on if  March's vote is in favor, where the money will   go and who decides it. It seems to me like the  allocation plan after funds were divided according   to the proposed list boiled down to trust. Trust  that the coalition would allocate funds properly   and trust that the oversight committee would be  able to catch if they weren't. I want to trust   because all of the mentioned areas are important  to Witchaw. I was prepared to trust knowing that   my city government is taking this very seriously.  I was going to trust, but I'm really not sure now.   Witchaw Forward is a nonpartisan coalition of  businesses and community leaders whose singular   aim is to advocate for ideas that advance the  flourishing and prosperity of Witchah. That's   their mission statement directly from their  website. a nonpartisan coalition who a month   after getting on a yes no ballot approved an  ad that shows fear-mongering and demonization   in demonizing opposition over extolling the  virtues of why they think sales tax increase   would be the best option and how much good the  projects would do. In response, Witchaw Forward   said online that they have taken steps to ensure  future communications remain focused on respectful   fact-based engagement. Yet, they made no mention  what those steps were and if there is anyone still   in the coalition that scripted or approved an ad  that directly ran counter to their own mission   statement. Because at least for me, following  the guidelines on how funds are allocated is a   step beyond following their own mission a couple  months into the process. And I'm not certain I'm   comfortable trusting that responsibility to any  individuals who would so quickly ignore their   own mission. Those most hurt if this fails are  my neighbors without a roof. My neighbors who   need fire or police when every moment matters. I  fear that I'm putting them at risk if this vote   does not go through and they aren't able to fund  what they need. All because I didn't trust Witchaw   Forward due to one sensationalist ad. So, as this  moves through all the processes in the coming   months, I just ask that you please hold Witchaw  Forward to a higher standard than what that ad   showed. And please, please help me trust again  because I believe that a single ad has already   hurt the chances of the tax passing. Thank  you. I have several council members who would   like to speak. You may have a seat. Council  member Hohheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks,   Trev. Always good to see an old wrestler up here.  So, uh, glad to see you up here today. Um, yeah,   none of us up here were happy with seeing that ad  come along. It's not something we could have any   control of either way, but um I do understand that  that ad has been pulled and is not being shown   anymore. Um yeah, I think it shows a lapse in  judgment if I'm speaking from the heart here. So,   um I have some other council members who'd like to  react as well and respond, but it is good to see   you, Vice Mayor Glascock. Trevor, I want to thank  you for speaking from the heart and for joining us   today. I'd actually just sent an email to somebody  that had also expressed concerns with the ad. And   so I'll just read you a portion of what they I  just emailed them. I agree with you completely   that we need to bring civility back into public  discourse. People can oppose or support the sales   tax for legitimate reasons. No one's patriotism,  character, or motive should be questioned because   of how they intended to vote. While the city  council does not control independent advertising,   I share a disappointment with rhetoric that  inflames rather than informs. and I remain   committed to engaging the issue in a way that is  honest, respectful, and focused on the facts and   real concerns of Witchaw residents. And so I agree  with sentiments. We have to get back. Yesterday,   four of us attended a forum hosted by KC and  Braver Angels. And I think it was a perfect   example of what public discourse in this community  could be and something that we should all strive   towards. I wal walked away from that hopeful about  our community and how we can have a conversation.   I hope we've maybe reached the um highest point  of heat in this conversation and I hope we can   all agree regardless of what side somebody's  on that we're all trying to do what's best for   Witchita um in this messy process that's called  government. But thank you for speaking today as   well. Council member Shepard. Thank you Mayor  Trevor. Thank you so much for being here and I   echo the sentiments of both my colleagues, Council  Member Hoheisle and Council Member Glascock.   One of the things that the Kansas Leadership  Center talks about is is speaking from the   heart. And I certainly understand how difficult  it was to see that commercial. I reject that   sentiment fully. I reject the individuals who were  responsible for that. Um, and I also know that it   is incredibly important to take responsibility  for those learning moments that we have. I've   certainly had some myself this past weekend to  be uh exact. And so making sure that we take   ownership for our shortcomings, understanding that  we are all humans and we have those shortcomings.   But I also want to reiterate that in this time  that we are living in when people are feeling   under attack for just their humanity and dignity,  it is incredibly important for all of us to reject   any sentiment that strips that humanity and  dignity from individuals for practicing what   they believe in our democracy. So thank you  for coming and speaking from the heart. Um,   and I hope that you hearing some of our  colleagues today speak from the heart   also guarantees you that we are going to work  extremely hard to build that trust and that the   guardrails that we put in place today hopefully  will be one step to earning that trust back. I see no other council members. We have  two more spots available for public agenda. Hello, I'm Kent Miracle. Thank you, mayor and  council members for the opportunity to speak   today. I'm here as a citizen, a business leader,  and someone who has lived on both sides of the   key issues we're discussing. I currently serve on  two boards working directly to serve homelessness   in Witchah. Second Light Shelter Plus Services  and the Coalition to End Homelessness. These   organizations see the problem up close every  day, every night in real human lives. I also   stand before you as a recovered alcoholic. I  was homeless on and off for five years of my   life. During that time, I cost taxpayers  money. Police calls, emergency rooms,   hospital beds. I was not a bad person. I was a  broken one until someone offered me structure,   services, and a chance. Today, I'm sober. I'm  employed. I serve my community. I pay taxes. I   give back. That transformation didn't happen by  accident. It happened because services existed   and were accessible. Today, Witchita is facing  a serious financial challenge. These challenges   directly threaten the sustainability of police  services, fire protection, emergency response,   homeless services, and affordable housing.  Doing nothing is not a neutral choice. It   is a decision with consequences. I understand  that not everyone loves every element of the   proposed 1% sales tax. That's normal. Find me  a community that agrees 100% on everything,   and I'll show you a fictitious place, one  that doesn't exist. Today, we cannot afford   to abandon our most vulnerable neighbors because  the solution isn't perfect. The overall value of   this proposal is enormous. It stabilizes funds  and essential services that benefit everyone.   It opens the door to hundreds of millions of  dollars in tourism and event revenue. revenue   that we're losing out on today. Revenue that we  badly need but is going elsewhere. Right now,   major events pass Witchah by because we can't  accommodate their needs. De Moine benefits. Tulsa   benefits. Other cities move forward while Witchah  gets left behind. The citizens want to know about   costs and that's fair. So, let's talk about the  real cost of homelessness. At Witchah State,   there's a study that reveals that Witchah spends  at least $20 million annually when you account   for 911 calls, emergency room visits, police  resources, and that's just the start. Last year   alone, there were over 6,600 police calls tied  directly to homelessness related issues. That's   about 20 calls a day related to homelessness. And  that doesn't include the cost of local business,   the strain on our community's vitality, or the  lost economic contribution of people who could   be working if they were in a stable situation.  Homelessness is not free. Ignoring it is not   cheaper. It only lets things get worse for  you, me, and our unhoused neighbors. The most   expensive approach is doing nothing. Housing and  services are not charity. They are infrastructure.   They are a bridge from crisis to contribution.  And you're looking right at living proof of that.   This proposal gives people what I was given and  now smarter and simpler. A brief helping hand,   accountability, dignity, and a path forward.  Witchah is a city with heart, but a heart without   resources eventually breaks. The vote is about  whether we choose to invest in safety, stability,   opportunity, and shared programs. I urge you and  my fellow Witchans to support the 1% sales tax,   not because it's perfect, but because it's  necessary, because it strengthens our city,   and because it ensures Witchah remains a  place where people can fall, be helped up,   and ultimately stand tall again. And if you  remember nothing else from what I shared today,   remember this. All of us are just a few tough  breaks or poor decisions away from hopelessness   and peril. Thank you for your time, your  service, and your contributions. We are grateful. Council member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor Kent.  Thank you for sharing your uh your story. It's   a great story. I still remember when you uh  spoke at the uh homeless task force and you   said everyone is two two bad decisions away  from homelessness. So that stuck with me and   uh it can happen to anybody. So thank you very  much for coming and thank you for pointing out   both sides of the issue. Appreciate it.  Council member Ballard. Thank you Mayor   Kent. Thank you so much for coming and sharing  your story. Congratulations on five years of   um sobriety. That's something to really be  proud of and thank you for all that you do   in the community to to give back and make sure  that we're looking at all the different sides   of the issue. So, thank you so much. We have  one more spot available for public agenda. Good morning, mayor, city council. My name is Scott Regatz. I'm the general manager  of the Jury Plaza Hotel Broadview located at 400   West Douglas Avenue right here downtown. I'm  also a member of the Visit Witchah Board of   Directors. First and foremost, thank you each for  your time, effort, and leadership you've put into   this initiative. I'm here today in support  of the 1% sales tax. In my 20 years working   at the Jury Hotel, I've witnessed firsthand the  challenges facing our community, including the   growing number of unhoused individuals downtown.  We know this is a complex issue, and we also   know that doing nothing is not an option. This  tax provides a meaningful resource to address   public safety and quality of life concerns that  impact residents, visitors, and business alike.   As a hotel located directly across from Century  2, we also understand the tremendous impact a new   convention center and updated Century 2 facility  will have on Witchah. These investments will   attract new meetings, large-scale conventions,  events, visitors, and bring fresh dollars into   our local economy. These visitors shop in our  local retail stores, dine in our restaurants,   stay in our hotels, supporting nearly 17,000 jobs  and small businesses throughout our community.   Most importantly, a safe community is essential  to our success. This tax helps ensure our first   responders will have the resources they need  to do their jobs and keep Witchah safe for   everyone. Thank you for your continued  service to our city and to our community. With that, thank you for all the individuals  who spoke during public agenda. I do want to   make mention that there will be public comment  following uh the presentation regarding the 1%   sales tax. So, there is still an opportunity for  individuals to speak up to five minutes each.   After that, Vice Mayor Glascop. Thank you, Mayor.  Before we begin the rest of the presentation,   can I just um I want to take a quick pause to  have uh staff just present some visuals for future   discussion. So, I didn't want to them interrupt  the meeting while we continue. Thank you. Madame clerk, can you please call the next  item? Consent agenda items 1 through 16.   Council members, are there any items to be pulled  from the consent agenda? I have several. Um I   have item number five, the proclamations,  and I will also pull items 10, 11, and 12. With that, I see no other individuals  who would like to pull items. I move to   approve the consent agenda 1- 16  without items 5, 10, 11, and 12. Second motion and a second. Madame  clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. We'll go in numerical order. Um  for item number five, it's the proclamations. I   just wanted to make sure that it was captured as  a 70 vote for National Mentor Month. With that,   I see no other comment. Uh, Count Vice Mayor  Glascop. Thanks, Mayor. I think we got another   agenda in our or another green sheet in  our packet for item number 52. It was not   updated on the website, so I wanted to make  sure that that was captured. Uh, with that,   I see no further comments. Uh, would anyone in  the public like to speak on this item? I see   none. I'll bring it back to the bench. I move to  approve consent agenda item number five. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion?  I see none. Madam clerk, please open the role. Motion passes. 70. Consent agenda items 10, 11, 12 um are with  the Witchaw Housing Authority. Um, I would   like to have housing address um how the sales of  these public housing units have been going. Uh,   10, 11, and 12 show property values at 50,000  sold at 66,000. Uh, another property valued at   54,000 sold at 66,000. And another one valued at  31,000 sold at 60,000. Can we please um get an uh   explanation what's going on with the increased  um sale prices? Um my name is Carmen Hoffine.   I'm the real property section manager for the  Department of Housing and Community Services.   So, regarding the properties that you're talking  about, when we send the properties to the broker,   we have a broker that the agents will go out  and they will look at the property and then   they determine what the sale price should be. And  we as a we have a review team, we review it and   we make sure that we look at the other um costs  or prices of the surrounding properties and then   that's when we determine okay that would be an  appropriate listing price. So that's why you'll   see the appraisal value that's different from that  is because oftentimes the appraisal it does change   throughout the years in um areas change. So there  was also some of the properties are more desirable   than others, but that is the main reason that the  price is different or what it's selling for is   um different than the appraised value because of  the area and the changes in the prices as well.   I'm very grateful to see that the these three uh  are located in Council Member Sheepard's district.   Uh these are threebedroom homes. threebedroom  homes in all three of these um agenda items. And   I just wanted to say thank you to the housing  staff for uh being proactive in selling these   properties. I wanted to know how many have become  homeowners uh individuals who were already staying   in these uh locations who then chose to become  homeowners. I don't have the exact number, but   I can definitely get that to you later today. Um,  we have seen an increase in individuals that are   putting in offers that for home ownership, which  has been amazing to see because we all know it's   been very challenging to try to purchase and own  a home, especially now, but there there definitely   has been an increase for homeowners. And can you  address I know that there are several programs   within the housing department that help with home  ownership. Uh, can you address maybe one of those?   So, one of the programs and I'm also um the  program manager of home repair. That is something   that we're also trying to get out there more. So,  we assist lowincome homeowners with any type of   um home repairs that are uh health and safety  issues. So, usually we we changed everything   with the application back in October. So, we  do encourage people if you're a homeowner and   there are some repairs that are substantial  or even the smaller home repairs that the   city of Witchaw does have a home repair program  that we can possibly assist. Thank you again,   Carmen. I see no further questions for you. Again,  appreciate your team uh for doing this. With that,   we'll open it up for public comment. I see none.  I'll bring it back to the bench. With that,   I will move to approve consent agenda items  10, 11, and 12. Second. Motion and a second.   Any further discussion? I see none.  Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes. 70. Madame clerk,   please call the next item. Board of bids  and contracts dated January 26, 2026. Morning, mayor, city council. Josh Lober,  Department of Finance Board of Bids and   Contracts convened yesterday, January 26th, 2026  for the following items. We have pump station 3,   6 through9 repairs. This item is being  withdrawn from the agenda as a formal   protest has been filed. So, we will be  processing this in accordance with our   challenges and protest policies and procedures.  Uh for purchasing we have the 151st Street West   and US 54 Kellogg Water Line Extension  for Apex Excavating LLC for $558,615. We have the concrete requirements  bulk delivery for Kansas Readymix   for an estimated annual usage of $311,675. We have fire hydrants for  Witchah Windwater Waterworks   Company for an estimated annual use of $689,91324. We have Pebble Quick Lime Bulk Delivery rejecting  all bids. And we have the current Pebble Quick   Lime bulk delivery contract change order  for US Lime Company St. Clair requesting   your authorization to extend the contract two  months to solicit this and bring it back to   you. This is how to become a vendor with the  city. This is a purchasing calendar of small   business resource partners and events the city's  hosting and participating in. This is our open   public opportunities out on the street today. And  I'd be happy to try to answer your questions and   recommend your approval. Thank you, Josh. Council  member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you,   Josh. Uh could you please go back to slide five?  Sure. Could you explain what you mean when you   say where Jack is and talk about the protest? I  don't I don't think I've ever heard you mention   that before, so just curious what that means.  Sure. Great question. So, rejecting all bids,   this project specifically, um we had, I believe,  two respondents from memory um that were over   the department's budget authority and the other  firm that was initially going to be awarded was   rejected um not offered, deemed nonresponsive.  Um the challenges in protest policy are really   a check and balance on the purchasing manager's  authority. So vendors within our process robustly   have um opportunities to engage the city and how  the city awards their projects and services. That   step is a check um on our process where they  can file a formal complaint with the contract   compliance officer. If the contract compliance  officer doesn't agree with the vendor, it can be   escalated to the internal auditor. If the internal  auditor um files a files a recommendation that's   not agreed with um probably a year or two years  ago, you can have a public hearing in the form   of a city council meeting where the vendor um  and a city representative discuss the issue.   Um hopefully that answers your question, but  that is something we offer for all of our bids   and proposals. Thank you. I appreciate that.  Thank you. Josh, can you go to slide number 11? Can you please um share how your purchasing  department makes sure that it's an open bid   process? Um making sure that there is uh  an opportunity for all to participate. Can   you just kind of talk about that? Sure. Great  question. So um there's a couple couple methods   uh for how the city is required through state law,  city ordinance, um and just general best practices   to incentivize competition. Um so city ordinance  um and city code 2.64 outlines city council's   directive that all procurements of $50,000 or  more will be completed by public bidding or   through very specific parameters of exemptions  awarded um or conferred by the purchasing   manager's recommendation. Um that process for  ensuring transparency and competition is we use   a procurement portal. Um the procurement portal is  the city's way of identifying firms that we would   never know or recognize. Um we contract and have  um services through a software provider called Uni   Solutions who is a national firm for procurement  processes that for instance if the city of Kansas   City Missouri who use utilizes uh UNI solutions  procurement portal software if you're registered   in the UNI solutions portal in Kansas City you're  also registered to get city notifications. Um, we   also ensure that we publish projects online on the  city's website in accordance with the ordinance   for um, the city newspaper outlining the city  website as the official source of information. Um,   and we also work with our city departments  and city manager and the council when we have   referrals for vendors. Um, we gladly encourage  and welcome having sitdowns with vendors to plug   them into our processes explaining our dollar  thresholds, the ways that we evaluate risk to   purchase goods and services. and we highly highly  encourage them to register with the city because   if we do not have them registered, we do not know  they exist. Um, so those are a couple ways that   we hope and strive to have competition. Thank you,  Josh. Um, I'm going to have a follow-up question,   and this is why I'm asking these questions. One  of the guard rails that I propose is that all   contracts be awarded through a um sealed bidding  process. So, can you address this? how you all   open up these um applications and do the you do  them all at the same time or as they come along.   In addition, another guardrail that I wanted  was no bid uh contracts would be permitted and   it looks like the purchasing uh guidelines  don't allow for that unless there's special   uh exemptions. So, I'd like to address what  those exemptions are. And last but not least,   soul source contracting. um making sure that again  it is an open process that anyone can apply and   that there's no special treatment to individuals  who may be for or against this sales tax. Mayor,   you're taking me to task today. Um see if I can  get through those. So first is internal controls   and what purchasing does. So purchasing um is  a centralized function within a public agency   that receives all the purchasing requests for all  city operating departments. Um, what that looks   like pragmatically is is if a department submits  a request for a service of $5,000 or more on a   requisition, that workflow step goes through the  purchasing office. Um, the the importance of that   workflow step is that the purchasing office will  validate what's called procurement authority. So   procurement authority can be within defined  thresholds of 5,000 to 50,000 being the city   manager and purchasing manager 50,000 above in  accordance with city ordinance and city code 2.64.   um and outlining documentation of substantiating  some sort of competitive process. Um so really   super broken down form is um purchasing staff  are responsible and take very seriously the   checks and balances in that process to make sure  that departments are not spending without the   appropriate approver approving something. Um how  does that look in um practical reality? When a   department submits a requisition or a request,  they very frequently develop relations with   relationships with purchasing staff saying, "Hey,  I've got a project coming down the pipeline in 12   months. Get me plugged into the system." Say,  "Happy to get you plugged into the system. Um,   this is what I recommend doing market research.  I recommend developing some parameters or   specifications in your bid document so it's the  most competitive and not unduly restrictive. Um   and then make sure that um you get aware of what  are the offerings, what does the city of Witchaw   specifically need to forward your uh department  mission and goals um internal controls. So then   the second question relating to what are the  parameters or tolerances for the city approving   um exemptions to competitive bidding. They're very  specific parameters in city code 2.64. Um they're   listed A through N. Um, I'd be happy to go through  each and every one of them, but uh, high level is   soul sourcing, typically emergencies, typically  a security matter of some sort, typically uh,   the city can ratify a competitive process by  another public agency if it vets and meets our   best practices. Um, and then the last question,  mayor, I don't know if I got that down. What was   the last question? The last one is just to make  sure that individuals who may be connected to the   yes or no for the sales tax would not have special  treatment. That's a great question. So if there is   a specific interest or influence in the process  um the purchasing office only and specifically   will be looking at the procurement authority. So,  if there is a policy or parameter or guideline   surrounding 50,000 and above, um these approvals  50,000 and above are ratified by the city council.   The purchasing manager will present to the  city council items over $50,000 either through   a competitive bid process, through your new  business um item and consent um or through um   the board of bids and contracts presentation. Um,  if you specifically are asking for items related   to sales tax, some of conversations spitballing  from the from the podium could be is that could   be a presentation on the board of biz saying this  explicit item is a competitive exemption for sales   tax. Uh, the funding source is sales tax or could  be a gender report highlighting this purchase is   for sales tax. Um, and only approval by the city  council could change that. I just want to make   sure that again those connected for or against the  sales tax do not get special treatment or favor   um if there are contracts that come before us.  So, I want to um make sure that there's verbiage   and I believe that we will have verbiage um  given the proposed guardrails I have that   um will not allow special treatment to be given  to any business entity or organization in the   awarding of any contract. In addition, un um all  contracts will be awarded following compliance   with the city's purchasing and procurement process  which you just outlined. um unless approved by the   vote of the city council. So again, I want to  make sure that there's full transparency and   open competition when it comes to if there are any  projects that come before us um connected to again   the for or against groups. Mayor, thank you for  the for the comments. The only thing I just want   to make 100% clear or sure is that the purchasing  office does not have a explicit vested interest   or tie to a vendor or firm. We're very agnostic  in how we process purchases. Um there's actually   state law outlining conflict of interest for local  government employees or local governments. Um the   city purchasing office takes very seriously  the processes related to conflict of interest   because they also implicate the internal auditor's  conf ethics policy, human resources ethics policy   and then the purchasing division has a code of  ethics policy. Um so I do want to be abundantly   clear in terms of treatment or favoritism.  purchasing office is agnostic. We do not have   any preference for vendors. Thank you very much,  Josh. With that, I see no further questions for   purchasing. I will move to approve the board of  bids and contracts dated January 26, 2026. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,  please call the next item. Special election on March 3rd, 2026 to  impose a 1% sales tax implementation. And mayor, as we start this um presentation,   I will do that here in a second. But um  we anticipated starting the project or   the conversation with a representative  from WIST forward if Matt or someone   in the audience wanted to come for a few  minutes and then I'll do the presentation. Thank you mayor, vice mayor,  council members, city manager   uh for the opportunity to be here today.  Michelle Ford appreciates the chance to   continue the conversation and to help  clarify and refine the proposal. So it   works for all Witchtons. I'm grateful that today's  discussion includes city staff, community leaders,   subject matter experts who can add perspective  and context to the specific projects outlined   in the proposal. Our hope is that this workshop  contributes to a greater clarity and specificity   as we work together to address some of  the city's most critical needs. Thank you. Good morning, mayor and council members. It's  a pleasure to be before you for my first agenda   item presentation and I will be joined by some  others. We have um some staff members who will   also contribute to the conversation as well  as some partners in the community to give some   of their um information about the items that are  contained within the sales tax proposal to present   it in March. Um as you see the presentation um  we'll highlight first on the second page that   um our role today is to be the resource to serve  as the education arm of this proposal. And so   now that it's been presented going to be on the  ballot, it's the opportunity to make sure we have   some clarity and that's what we want to do today  with um some of the resolutions and different   information. But we want to highlight just as  you discussed in the purchasing conversation,   city staff is not advocates for either position.  City staff is here to educate. We will um put   information on the city website um once  council makes decisions about resolutions   or other methods going forward. We will have the  exact ballot language on the website and we will   be glad to speak as um staff members just on the  education component of what voters will be asked   to vote on March 3rd. So, I want to make sure  everyone understands there's no advocacy role on   the behalf of city staff and even you as council  members have the opportunity to speak personally,   individually on this topic as you want. You  can have some guard rails that are outlined   from the law or the uh state ethics on this,  but you also have an opportunity as council   members to speak on this individually. Um, but for  staff members and city resources, it will not be   used to advocate anyone position on the sales  tax. to get into where we are. December 16th,   you approve the sales tax referendum to be on  the ballot on a special election on March 3rd.   It is for a limited term and it will terminate  when 850 million is collected or at the end   of the seven-year term. Also, the sales tax  would begin on July 21st of July 1st, 2026,   and the funds would be receded and received to  the city in September of 2026. We'll have some uh   budget conversations here and implications, but  the timing is important to know when the clock   actually starts should this approve. Um what what  want to highlight is that our city budget adoption   is in August of 2026. So it's kind of in between  there. So there will be some estimates and revenue   projections that we will have to make going  forward um should this pass. Um it was developed   a proposal by Wishaw Ford, a nonpartisan group and  it focused on five areas. Public safety capital   improvement for a value of 225 million, the  revitaliz revitalization of Century 2, an upgrade   expansion convention center for 225 million,  a property tax relief effort for 150 million,   homeless and housing services for 150 million, and  then the development construction of a downtown   public performing arts center for 75 million.  As we looked at this from the staff perspective,   knowing when the monthly revenues will be coming  in, it is the staff recommendation that when the   first dollar comes in, it would be aortioned by  the percentages to be raised of the 850 for the   five different initiatives. I know there are some  other proposals that you'll be discussing here in   a little bit. Um but from staff perspective  when the first dollar comes in we need need   direction on how it is to be applied. The um  ballot initiative when people see the ballot   in the elections um center booth they will not  have a choice to rank those projects. They will   all be a yes or no. You want to support a sales  tax to support these five different initiatives.   Within that there are three different times where  it will become important how we take the first   dollar in or we take the money in over the seven  years. First is how we aortion it for the five   initiatives. Second we anticipate investing the  money. We'll have money coming in that we will put   in investment um vehicles to generate interest  income. We have to determine where does that   money earned from interest go. And so again, our  recommendation would be to aortion any new revenue   from investment income would be aortioned by  the percentages outlined here. And then thirdly,   the consideration when you think about how money  is appropriated a portion across the five issues   is should there be a shortfall. If we have some  uh food sales tax um elimination of the sales tax   on those items, if that has an impact on the 850  million again, how does that be or how will that   be attributed to the five different initiatives?  So there's kind of three steps along the way where   it will be important to determine how the funds  will be aortioned or allocated and at what time.   Um so as we go through and talk about some  of this, we do have revenue projections. I'd   like to ask Mark Manning to come forward as our  director of finance and he can run through the   revenue projections and give some more information  about our cash basis as we approach this proposal. Good morning, mayor, members of  the city council. Mark Manning. Um, Mayor Mark Manning, Department of Finance.  Good morning. Uh, like the manager said,   I want to go over uh cash flows, particularly  from a revenue estimation standpoint. Uh I'll   talk about some considerations on the revenue  estimates and then we'll talk about uh investment   of funds and uh how we would envision spending  the funds based on the referendum. Then I'll touch   briefly on homestead property tax program because  we've had some questions about that. Uh so here is   a a model of when we would expect the sales tax  revenue to come if the referendum is successful.   As you know, the referendum would take effect  on July 1st of 20 26, which means six months.   However, there's about a two-month lag in when  the revenue actually reaches us from the Kansas   Department of Revenue. Uh, simplistically, we  would expect annual revenues of somewhere in   the neighborhood of 120 to$30 million a year  over time. Uh, but you can see in 2026, again,   we would only expect about 37.7 million.  Again, that's because that's only roughly   onethird of an annualized amount of the sales  tax. Same thing is true in 2033, of course,   because this sales tax would terminate no  later than June 30th of 2023. Uh I would   point out again, this is a simplistic uh model.  We generally use 3% growth in sales tax. It's   going to fluctuate obviously, but this should  give you some idea of what the an annual uh   cash flows and revenues would be that would be  available uh if the referendum were successful. So, another thing we've talked a lot about is  the exemption of food from uh a local sales tax   or specifically this proposed referendum. As you  know, food is exempted from the state sales tax,   which is 6 and a half%, but it is not exempted  from local uh sales taxes, which in this case   would be 1%. Uh the city is interested in  pursuing options with the legislature to   uh exempt uh food from uh this referendum, for  example. Uh it's a challenge to estimate the cost   of that. We do not have the data. I have to lean  into the Kansas Department of Revenue. I use data   that they prepared in two 2023 when they exempted  uh food at the state level and the bottom line is   I believe it's approximately 12% of our revenue  base uh here in the city of Witchaw. Uh that   would result in a revenue loss approximately of  $81 million based on the model that I showed you   on the previous page. Now, if you're quick on the  math, you'll know that 850 times 12% is a little   bit more than $81 million. Uh that's because, and  I should have pointed this out on the prior slide,   uh we would expect uh to collect the entire $850  million several months before the termination date   of June 30th based on the model I presented on  the previous page. However, if there was a food   tax exemption, obviously the sales tax would  extend to the termination date of June 30th.   So that would mitigate the loss a little bit  and that's why we estimate $81 million. Uh I   would also point out that's assuming something is  enacted by July 1st of this year. Uh that could   be a challenge in the legislature. Uh so we also  modeled a second scenario. If for example uh it   was implemented in 2029 that would reflect a loss  of approximately 45 million. Again emphasize these   are simply estimates. I but they're primarily to  give a order of magnitude of what the impact of   of that exemption could be on a local sales tax.  Uh we've been asked to look at the state homestead   exemption and I I don't want to go into a lot of  detail but I did want to provide some information   about that. Uh again, if we lean into Department  of Revenue, we know that in Seduit County in 2024,   there was approximately 8,500 applications uh  for the homestead uh property uh tax program   with the state. Those 85 people got an  average refund of approximately $213,   which is to say it cost the state of Kansas about  $1.8 million in Seduit County in 200 24. Now,   what would it cost the city of Witchaw if  we replicated such a program? That's very   difficult to estimate. Uh we're approximately 25%  of the county population. Uh so maybe a highend   would be $1.4 million, but that's if the entire  population that participated in the state program   participated in a city program. More likely, it  would be significantly lower than that. Again,   it would be based on participation rates and  how we uh implemented the program. And just a   little reminder on what the state program  is. It provides uh refunds to individuals   uh seniors that are over 55, disabled veterans, uh  folks that have a dependent living with them under   the age of 18. Uh but it's income restricted.  Has to be income of less than $42,000 and the   home value has to be less than $350,000. Uh we  replicated this program as you know a couple years   ago at the state or at the city level. We marketed  it extensively. We made it as easy as possible to   apply at the neighborhood city halls and our part  participation unfortunately was very limited. So   again I cannot tell you what a program like this  would cost. Uh I can tell you the maximum amount   would probably be no more than 1.4 million. More  likely it would be significantly less. Uh, one   last thing I should point out. Any cost of this  program likely would not be eligible for sales   tax funds in a referendum. It's not contemplated  in the referendum. So, most likely we would have   to find an alterative funding source for this,  which most likely would be the general fund. Uh, I want to talk about uh debt financing  and investments on my next two slides.   Uh we would uh envision a parameter under this  referendum in which we would recommend cashonly   funding for any capital improvement projects.  There's a couple of reasons for that. Uh one,   it's not generally a good idea to issue debt  with a term longer than your revenue stream.   And we typically typically issue 10-year GEO debt  and the referendum of course is a maximum of seven   years. And those two not do not align. Uh that's  the primary reason. Secondarily, uh I don't think   we believe that the referendum contemplated  the use of debt. Uh so for those two reasons,   we would not recommend the use of any debt uh  with any of the capital improvement projects   associated uh with the referendum. And in fact,  state cash basis law requires us to have cash on   hand before we obligate. Uh so our model would be  that we would accumulate cash and and uh initiate   projects when we had cash accumulated uh to the  degree necessary for those particular projects. Uh   finally let me talk about investment a little bit.  Uh we of course invest idle funds here at the city   of Witchaw and those revenues typically go into  the general fund with a few other restrictions   and that's a significant source of revenue for our  general fund. Uh it's a good thing to invest idle   funds and put that money to work and we're pretty  aggressive about doing that. Uh if the referendum   is approved, we would have c positive cash flow.  Obviously, our recommendation would be that we   invest those funds consistent with our current  investment policy. Uh right now, by the way,   uh our uh our idol funds are earning somewhere  north of 4%. Uh but I would also tell you that   anything I'm buying these days is a little  closer to about three and a half percent.   The final caution I would give you is interest  earnings go up and down uh in 2021. Uh I wasn't   earning 4% I was earning 0.02%. So they are they  are volatile uh but uh uh we would definitely   recommend investing in idol funds consistent  with our investment policy. Having said that,   let me address the endowment that is different  uh than than what I just told you. We would in we   would segregate the endowment into a restricted  fund and we would invest it with our investment   policy and all those proceeds would be returned  to the endowment. Uh in fact uh something we would   recommend uh if the referendum is successful is  perhaps amending our investment policy to allow   us to invest a little bit longer duration which  would likely enhance the earnings of any endowment   which would be consistent with the nature of the  endowment. Again we can cross that bridge when we   come to it later. Uh but the bottom line is we  would not recommend debt and we would recommend   issu uh investing all the idle funds consistent  with our investment policy and we would segregate   any investment earnings specifically for the  endowment. Mark, uh we have a couple of questions.   Council member Ho Heisel. Uh thank you, Mayor.  Um appreciate your work so far on this. Mark,   um, if we could go just, um, speaking back a  couple of slides here, um, where you have it   listed out as far as how much would be, this slide  right here, how much is accumulated every year,   and it seems like it's just based on it being  spread evenly throughout the duration of the   seven years. Yes, sir. Um, I know at least a  few council members up here, including myself,   have been uh wanting to prioritize and that way  we can start getting a head start on some of the   ones that we think are a little more um impactful  this early, such as homelessness, performing or um   housing um and public safety and property taxes,  which I guess we would have to do that one as   well. Is that I know there was some conversation  with you and legal about if that's doable. Um,   is that something that we can do? Prioritize  certain buckets. Council member, if it's okay,   I'll jump in on that. Um, we've looked at  that question and legally, um, we don't find   any Kansas case law that squarely answers that  question, but we believe that legally it's it's   within the council's discretion as the governing  body stemming from your ultimate authority under   home rule to set a budget and spend the funds you  have available. so long as the these individual   initiatives don't exceed the cap that are that  is in the ballot. So, we're going back to the   ballot caps for guidance here. But we believe  that just legally you have discretion in how   to prioritize that sales tax revenue. Does that  answer your question? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um,   we also talk about, you know, this model and you  said that you projected that we would actually,   if sales, food sales tax is included, shut down  a couple of months early, be um overperforming   as far as collecting the revenue. Is that a Mark  Manning conservative model? Um, well, it's based   on 3% annual growth, which I could tell you is  very similar to what our long-term growth in the   sales tax is, but I would also tell you that we  had a couple 10% growth years a couple years ago,   and we actually grew 5% last year. So, you know,  in reality, it's going to zigzag like this.   Whether it averages 3% long-term, I don't know.  But yes, fundamentally, you are correct. 3% is   probably on the moderate side. Okay, I appreciate  that. And then also um the share of the homestead   tax um what is our proportion of receiving the  property taxes compared to the state? Is it a two   for one? The state gets about 50% or 25% or what's  the ratio of property taxes that homeowners pay?   Simplistically, approximately a quarter comes  to the city, approximately a quarter goes to the   uh county, and approximately the other half goes  to the uh school district. Actually, I believe   the state repealed their they used to levy and a  half, and I believe they repealed that last year.   That's right. Um Okay. So, we would not be getting  the same or we're not giving away the same amount   as the school board would, for example, for their  if they did the share of the homestead tax. Well,   it depend on how you structured it. If we if  our objective was only to refund a portion of   someone's taxes that was applicable to the city of  WTO, yes, that would be roughly about 25%. Okay.   And that's the 1.4 millionish. Uh, no, actually  that was 100%. I just modeled exactly what the   state of Kansas does in that model. So, yes.  Okay. If we did something, you're suggesting that   would reduce the cost. Okay. So, that would be the  better return for for them. Okay. Appreciate that.   Vice Mayor Glascock. Thank you, Mayor. Just  wanted to offer maybe some color to Councilman   Hohisel's comments about prioritization.  I like to make sure it's codified in this   uh the resolutions presented before us today.  Resolution 2026 052 section 1 item 7 goes on   to say that the council has determined that  as sales tax revenues become available or the   sales tax revenues are insufficient to fund  all projects, those projects with a higher   priority ranking shall be funded in a manner  consistent with with such prioritization. So,   just to maybe ease some of your concerns, I think  it's codified in the resolutions presented by   staff as well. While we're on the topic of that,  um I think it is important to note that we will be   discussing just that portion about prioritization,  maybe after the presentation so that we again   um continue with the presentation. However, um I  do want to ask a question regarding uh the slide   that you're back on, which is slide number  27. You were just talking about the endowment ballot language specifically states uh can  someone read please the homeless and housing   uh portion of that ballot language and  that is in regards to the endowment. Just a moment, mayor. The ballot. So, if you want, I'll read it. Okay. Thank you. an  amount not to exceed $150 million of such tax   applied to establish a restricted special fund  with and I emphasize with earnings from such   fund to be reinvested into this special fund  to support homeless and housing services by   funding affordable housing projects and programs,  shelter facilities, a multi- agency center and   its operations and related services for people  experiencing homelessness. So my question is   specific to you Mark. According to the ballot  language, it says earnings from such fund which   then means you cannot touch the principle which  would be 150 million. Can you explain that portion   for us? Uh, mayor, the way I interpret the ballot  language is that we would create a restricted fund   that would hold the endowment, which would  be an very effective guardrail, and that any   investment earnings from that endowment would be  completely deposited in that restricted fund. Uh,   I can't speak to whether the ballot language  would allow the corpus to be expended. Uh,   typically that is not the case in endowments. Uh,  but, uh, that's a question that's probably not   within my realm. Maybe it's a law question. Can  the corpus be expended? Look for Sharon Dickraph   who has um looked into this a little further  and see if um she's available speak to that. The the ballot language does show an intent to  get to that $150 million fund amount. Um there is   no specific language in the ballot, however, that  would preclude spending some of that money. Um but   again, I think the the ballot language is intended  to try to get as close to that $150 million. Um   I know I've had conversations with several of  you. Um the $150 million would not be in total   um gathered until that last year. Um, so there  may be some flexibility, some I think it's minimal   flexibility in spending some of that money um  through the process. Thank you, Sharon. Maybe now   a question for Mark. In these types of endowments,  again, can you explain how um the corpus continues   to grow and that the earnings and how much do you  expect in earnings to then be able to be utilized?   Well, on a long-term basis, again, we would expect  earnings somewhere in the 3% range, maybe three   and a half percent. Obviously, we could have years  higher than that. We could certainly have years   lower than that. Uh, you know, $100 million, 3%  is $3 million a year. Three and a half% is $3.5   million a year. When we reach the level of  of$150 million, uh, you would be looking at   closer to four and a half and maybe$5 million a  year in earnings thrown off from the endowment. So again, I think the answer to the  question I asked specifically was,   can the corpus be expended? And the answer is  no. Um, but there are minimal ways that you could   uh utilize some of that corpus according to  Sharon. Is that accurate? Yes. Thank you,   Council Member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. Um this  is big question yesterday and uh ran it by several   people and it's about 5050 on people how they read  this. So some people read it that you do have to   get the all 150 million in there and only use  their earnings. Other people said no it just says   with it doesn't say you have to spend all of you  can't spend any of it on the way. So I think it's   it's up to interpretation. I'm not sure I agree  with our legal team uh on the interpretation.   Um did call the uh u the three people that  presented this ask them what their intent   was and one of them their intent was to keep the  150 million only use the earnings. The other two   uh that was not their intent. Their intent was  to use the earnings. They just did not want any   of the money going outside to anything else  but homelessness and housing. That was their   interpretation of the intent. So, it's open  to interpretation and then my interpretation   is that we can get to the to the corpus of  it. Council Vice Mayor Glasco. Thank you,   Mayor. I'll agree with my colleague uh Councilman  Johnson regarding his interpretation. It doesn't   say with only earnings from such special fund  to be reinvested. It just says with earnings   from such fund. Um and so it doesn't specifically  preclude that. Now, what it does protect and that   I appreciate when we're talking about guard rails  that regardless out of the 150 million bucket, it   would go towards homeless and housing services and  also affordable housing as well. And so, I would   agree with my colleague, Councilman Johnston,  on his interpretation. Council member Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I agree with my other  two council members who previously spoke.   uh who would have the final say, so to speak,  on that one if we went through a process? Well, I'll just jump in here. I think, you know,  as the the research we've shown is that the the   attorney general's opinions generally point to  deference toward a a governing body's discretion   in how to spend this money. Um I think that you  could be challenged on it, but that's that's what   we we would look at that the discretion that you  have um inherently as a governing body to spend   the budget that you have. Okay, I appreciate that.  The goal is of course to try to be consistent with   what the intent of the voters was and that's the  question here today. So not an easy answer. Thank   you uh Jennifer. So I will disagree with my three  council members in that the ballot language says   earnings from such fund and I understand that  there are some immediate needs that need to be   um covered uh in the interim. And so I appreciate  the moderate approach of legal staff saying that   the corpus cannot be expended but rather a minimal  uh could uh if if the governing body would wish   to do that because I think the intent is to have  this endowment be able to live on in perpetuity   to be able to provide these services as they will  be um multiple different ways from sheltering to   actual housing. And so I believe that endowments  are for that specifically so that it can live on   in perpetuity and not touching that corpus.  Um so again I will be in disagreement with my   uh three council members. Vice Mayor Glasco.  Thank you. I'd be interested in hearing maybe   the perspective of the other council members to  see the will of the body. In addition, um I would   like to see if Sally could come up. Um, I asked  Sally to run some of the numbers regarding the   principle that the mayor proposed just to see if  the numbers pencil out. Sally, could you maybe let   us know what you did in running the numbers and  seeing the mayor suggest? Before she does that,   mayor, can I maybe suggest that we go through the  rest of the presentation? Um, because I think what   people see in total in the full context of all  the issues and we do have your language uh for   the ballot on the next couple slides. And so  if we wouldn't mind if it's council's wish,   we can go through the full presentation and  then you can have I think the full conversation.   Council member Johnston. Okay. We will continue  with the presentation. So we'll go through Yeah,   we'll go through. So we do want to part of the  um conversation for today certainly is to give   um voters the understanding about guardrails  and oversight. The language does have some   information on there about oversight is crucial.  Um, all the financial activity will adhere to the   city's standards. You've heard about that with  the purchasing here, but also our investment   policy and other guardrails can be put in place by  council. And that's some of the resolutions that   are proposed that have been put on the public  website. But also, the ordinance does outline   the creation of a citizens oversight committee  specifically for the sales tax use should it pass.   And the scope of the committee's role is to verify  projects funded with the sales tax revenue are   consistent with the purposes and uses that were  approved by the Witchaw voters. Also, you'll see   that the details of the oversight committee that  has to be created within 90 days. No more than 15   members that are appointed by council. Um there is  a three-year term if needed can be reappointed. Um   there'll be a chair co-chair and certainly the  committee will also have to follow the similar   rules that we have for the open meetings and open  records act and also council can determine if you   want subcommittees under these or whatever it may  be who are maybe some other folks in the community   but you have the um outline in the ordinance to  have an oversight committee. So that will happen   if approved. Um also if you look at that it will  be dissolved once the sales tax expires. We will   have at least one independent financial audit  annually during each of the seven years. Also,   it will meet twice annually and it may have  the subcommittees or meet more often should   council want to direct that as well. Um, while the  committee will not make the funding determinations   that will be determined by council. Um, going  forward, we'll also have we have initiative   specific considerations. Each of the five,  as we're starting to talk about right now,   have some assumptions that need to be clarified,  and that's where I think we were just a minute   ago. Um, it does include how we do the pay as you  go cash basis that we just talked about and it's   not one lump sum distribution or payment. So,  we can talk that through a little bit more. Um,   but also we will look to city council to clarify  or outline how they will be administered through   the resolutions. And so, we have one with each  one. Um, on the first one is initiative specific.   We want everyone to see the ballot language.  So on the first item or initiative is a public   safety capital improvements to generate $225  million. The ballot language states an amount   not to exceed $225 million such tax applied to  public safety costs for support of city police   and fire facility construction and maintenance,  the acquisition of vehicles, apparatus equipment,   and other purposes related to providing police  and fire services for the city. Again, we want   to clarify in the resolution, in no manner would  those funds be shifted or utilized for hiring new   um employees for police or fire. So, we want to  clarify that in the resolution. Um we do say it   will be used to cash fund planned improvements  over seven years rather than as you heard from   Mr. Manning about our general 10-year program  for capital improvement. We did put with the   agenda item the explicit CIP projects that were  um developed in this last budget process for both   police and fire. So you can see we're talking  about new equipment. We're talking about new   stations for both police and fire. Um so the CIP  is actually identified and then also updated on an   annual basis. And so you'll have input going  forward on the annual adoption of the CIP.   But we will have those identified as of today and  then we'll work from those. Um so we said right   here it does align with our strategic plan and we  talked about replacing fire trucks and equipment   even talked about a new police training facility.  Talked about things as radios, communication and   other equipment needs and specialy vehicles. Again  we have that all outlined in our tenure um CIP   already for police and fire and we would go down  those lists. On the next one is about property   relief. Property tax relief. $150 million. The  ballot language says an amount not to exceed   $150 million of such tax applied for property tax  relief. Our current mill levy for 2026 is 32.34   mills with one mill slightly equaling about $5  million annually. So again, we would certify the   amounts with the county on June 10th of every year  and then simply we would take a budget transfer   depending upon how you structure priorities of  sales tax revenue to the general fund revenue to   help offset the mill. So we could see anywhere  from a 3.7 to 40 mil annual drop um which is   roughly 11.5 to 12% um reduction. And then again  the value reduction will fluctuate. So it will be   hard to say we can tell you that it's going to be  a certain percentage drop or mill drop because the   um mill value is based on the assessed value  each year and that fluctuates depend upon the   properties that come on the tax roll, properties  that go off the tax roll. And so again there is   some fluctuation. So voters don't have a exact  number but we can tell you roughly 3.7 to four   mills would be the impact. Um talking about the  next ballot language on there is an amount not to   exceed $250 million of such tax applied to pay the  cost for revitalization of Century 2 not to exceed   25 million and upgrade and expanded convention  center improvements not to exceed 225 million. And   I'd like to ask Susie Santo or someone from Visit  Witchaw to come forward and they can give you a   little bit more detail on how they see this being  utilized. Susie. Thank you, Mr. Manager, Mayor,   Vice Mayor, Council members. It's a pleasure to be  here this morning and I'm going to chat about two   distinct and connected investments. modernize and  preserve Century 2 as a community asset and expand   Bob Brown to align with marketup supportable  convention programming. And together, these   two investments will drive the tourism economy. I  think before I get into it, it's important to kind   of look and see what's happening in our our cities  nearby. So, when we look at the peer cities,   our peer cities have um invested significantly  in their convention center product. Oklahoma City   just opened theirs. I know many of you have seen  that back in 2021. Omaha is currently involved in   a 200 million reinvestment. De Moine built new in  2004. Overland Park built new in 2002. And Tulsa   in around 2020 completed a major renovation. It's  interesting to note too, currently right now both   Springfield and Lincoln have active RFPs for a  new convention center. Um so you can see in the   last 20-ish years our peer cities have invested  significantly and um Witchaw has not. So when I   talk about industry standard convention center  facilities these are what is expected by meeting   planners when they come in and they see our  convention product. So think about that contiguous   exhibit space. Exhibit space is the cement space  where you're going to set up your 10 by10 booth   and have those trade shows. It's typically  rectangular. It's subdividable and column   free. They have covered loading docks for ease  in and out. The ceiling heights with a minimum   minimum clearance that allows for hanging hanging  capabilities. Floor utility boxes are critical   with water and power. Again, think of that 10x10  booth that sets up and everyone needs access. They   have significant pre-unction meeting space. Again,  how meetings convene has changed dramatically over   the last several decades. And that pre-unction  space is essential. There's a ballroom space. And   when you look at best practice, best practice  has your uh convention hotel. In our case,   it's the connected Hyatt has its own meeting space  and ballroom as well as the convention center. So,   the difference between exhibit space and ballroom  space, exhibit space is cement. You're putting   those booths up. ballroom is that carpeted, that  nicer um finish where you're going to have your   meal functions, etc. There's natural light,  enhanced technology is critical, and then the   icing on the cake is if it's aesthetically  pleasing. So, that's what's considered industry   standard. I'd like to chat a little bit about uh  the deficiencies and our current product. What   you're looking at at the left is our layout, our  layout for Bob Brown and convention center and Bob   Brown convention center as well as C2. And then  on the right, that's an industry standard facility   and that's an a layout of Oklahoma City. And so  again on the right you see Oklahoma subdividable   covered loading docks, ease in and out. And when  you look at our Bob Brown, Bob Brown has around   90,000 square feet, but it is not subdividable. So  if we have a meeting that comes in and only needs   40,000 exhibit space, they take up the whole  space. So we are losing out on opportunities   because we can't subdivide it. Also, if y'all have  been in Bob Brown, which I know you have, you see   the lower ceiling where we have the consent  the concession stands, that's not considered   prime space because it's lower ceiling and the  exhibitors want to be out in the high ceiling   where you can have the hanging capabilities. So  we have right now about 60,000 square feet in   Bob Brown that would be considered the appropriate  you know meeting some of those standards but again   it's not subdividable. So I want to share with  you how we sell it when we bring a meeting planner   in. So again on the right that's what a meeting  planner is typically used to seeing where they   can subdivide based on their needs. When we bring  in a meeting planner, we take them to Bob Brown.   But what we have to sell is we say, "Okay, we can  set them in Bob Brown, then the connecting lobby,   which is the orange spot, then the green  convention hall and exhibit hall." That's   how we sell roughly 180,000 square feet of space.  So again, if you're bringing in your trade show   and you've got one exhibitor over in the corner of  Bob Brown and another exhibitor over an in exhibit   hall, it make or exhibition hall, it does not make  for a pleasing experience. And that's where we run   into kind of the difficulties with our uh current  product not meeting industry standards. Again,   this information, we've studied this for quite  some time, and all of this uh came out of the uh   Century 2 and Bob Brown Convention Center District  Envisioning originally published back in 2023. So, we know what program can be supported by  Witch on our side. So, when we think about that   exhibit space again, that's that contiguous  space, roughly 130,000 square feet. You know,   it's interesting. I noted that Bob Brown today is  about 90 but we've only got about 60,000 that's   prime. So for Wah about 130,000 square feet of  that subdividable exhibition exhibit space meeting   space an additional 30,000 square feet. The  ballroom space that I talked about again is the   carpet that's about 40,000. Some people have asked  what's the difference between the meeting space   and the ballroom space. The ballroom space are  going to be your larger where you're going to have   your bigger meal functions. And the meeting space  again are those smaller breakout rooms. But again,   flexibility is key. And then outdoor space, again  allowing for people to reconvene outside. So let's   talk about what an expansion of Bob Brown would  look like. Again, expanding the exhibit space,   adding the ballroom and the meeting rooms to align  with the market need that we just chatted about.   upgrading the core building technology  and infrastructure systems required to   operate this modern convention facility. So think  about the mechanical, electrical, the plumbing,   the HVAC technology, lighting, power, building  controls and security systems. Renovate and   better integrate the existing meeting rooms  connected to the Hyatt. So again for nice flow   and connectivity reorganizing the back of house  operations including loading and circulation   to improve efficiency. Expanding the kitchen and  food beverage capacity to support higher quality   service and revenue opportunity. And then it's  important too to align the support spaces and   operations with the modernized C2 facilities  again to leverage both of these investments.   I think it's important to note that when you have  or when we have as a community this expanded um   convention hall that brings regional and national  conventions, it allows then for the round building   Century 2 to be just a great community asset.  So, let's talk about modernizing and preserving   Century 2. I think it's important to note when  we go back to that diagram, in fact, I think   I'm going to go backwards. When you look at the  actual spaces in Century 2, you have Concert Hall   and Mary Jane Teal on the bottom left and then you  have that arch that I told you we would we would   sell. If you think about with the modernized  um and preserving Century 2, the theater stay   intact. I know that Angela is going to chat with  you a little bit about the new performing arts   center and the needs for the professional in  that vein. But what this would allow is when   those tenants move out, it would allow for  that theater to have another six months of   availability. Right now in Century 2, six months  of that is used by um the incredible tenants,   Broadway Witchah. So that opens up that space.  We'd modernize and public facing spaces including   the lobbies and lighting and signage and restrooms  um and in the exteriors as well. could refresh   the convention and exhibit halls that we talked  about how we currently sell into a purpose-built   community event space that supports public events  and trade shows and local meetings. It's going to   be important to assess the parking and circulation  needs during the design phase to make sure that   they support modernized facilities and the needs  of the surrounding district. And again, as I   mentioned with the Bob Brown expansion, aligning  the support spaces and the modernized Century 2 to   align with the expanded Bob Brown to integrate  the facilities. It's going to be important to   note that there's currently about 12.6 million  from what I understand in the city's CIP. be   recommended that that stays and that you evaluate  and address the building systems systems to be   consistent with this modernized and preserved  facility to make sure that it enhances. So when   we think about this modernized convention facility  that drives outside visitors to Witchah, we have   known quite some time we're leaving a lot of money  on the table. In fact, every year that we have a   modernized convention center, direct spending  from visitors, new money is about 32 million   every year. If you look at the total economic  impact with indirect and direct and induce is   roughly 54. But I like to talk about that direct  spending. That's visitors opening up their wallets   and shopping in our shops and restaurants um and  visiting all of our our great uh places to and   attractions and places to see and do in Witchah.  It's also important to note that convention center   will bring those outside visitors. Again, anyone  that doesn't live in the city of Witchah that's   a visitor, they're helping pay for this tax that  would benefit all of the five projects outlined.   And it's estimated by, I believe, um, city finance  that about 20 to 25% of the tax will be raised by   visitors, right? And in this case, paying into  the tax of visitors, anybody in Derby or anybody   that doesn't live in Witchah to help support the  overall tax and it's about 20 to 25%. Thank you. Any questions for convention and century 2?  Sure. I'll ask uh our housing and community   services director to come up now and we  can walk through the housing uh component   initiative of this. So we do see on the ballot  the initiative as the mayor highlighted a little   bit ago an amount not to exceed $150 million  of such tax applied to establish researched   special fund with the earnings of such  fund to be reinvest in the special fund.   And so it goes on to elaborate on that  a little bit and then we can talk about   um how we saw the implementation on this and then  you can um we'll do the rest of the presentation   and then we can get to um difference  of how you might want to address these. Good morning honorable mayor, members of  council. Sally staying with the housing and   community services department for the record. So,  you know, the way we looked at this funding could   be allocated annually beginning the, you know,  fall of 2026 to support homelessness initiatives   with that excess cash flow being used to,  uh, create that endowment fund. At the a,   as we proposed, at the end of the sales tax term,  the endowment could have over a hund00 million,   generating an estimate of 3.5 million annually  for future homelessness and housing needs.   This proposal obviously looks into spending some  of that corpus. That restricted fund can produce   interest uh to provide operational support to a  low barrier multi- agency center currently second   light. um as proposed could provide 690,000  in the fourth quarter of 2026 and then 200   2,750,000 in 2027 with a $50,000 a year step up  through 2032 and then 1,525,000 for the first   and second quarters of 2023. This plan still  requires that community agencies collaborate   in the services and expenses at Second Light.  It also requires um the second light board to   continue to try and fund raise as was envisioned  in both the MAC plan under home AARP as well   as the agreements with the Mark MC board. This  breaks out um based on with every dollar coming in   um it is proportionally put in the five  different program areas. So that was how   this plan was developed. So that first quarter  uh revenue of 377 which is consistent with   um Mark Manning's projections only 6.7 million  of that could go into the endowment. We would   be expending 690,000 of that to support Second  Light in that last quarter of 26. And then this   goes through each year of that in 2027 another  20 and a half million going into the endowment.   interest earned in that last quarter of 179,000  and change. Um and then that 2.75 million going to   support Second Light, a million dollars to support  homeless gap services which are critical so that   um that we have case managers, outreach and other  programs that can move people out of shelter and   into housing. um in 27 you'll note starting in  2029 we see expenditures on the affordable housing   side. So over the seven years we're looking at a  shelter expenditures of eight 18 million775,000 7 million in other homeless services and just over  31 a.5 million towards affordable housing projects   and I'll show you a little bit of how that breaks  down. So the funding to support other gap services   uh as I mentioned are are critical in our  community um would be for example homeless   outreach to extend and expand quickrip outreach  funding. Housing navigation in order to connect   people from shelter or encampments into housing.  Case management to help people stay housed. They   also help to connect people to mental health,  substance abuse, medical employment, all those   other wraparound services. Landlord incentives and  risk mitigation funds. We've seen how impactful   those can be. We've launched programs in the past,  but used grant funds that had expir expiring terms   and we're not able to continue those going  forward. As well as homeless prevention.   If we can't stop the number of people entering  into homelessness, if we can't slow that down,   we're going to have a really hard time um getting  ahead of addressing homelessness. All projects   would be awarded through competitive RFPs and with  recommendations by the grants review committee.   That is a process we've used for decades. Creation  of the restricted special fund coupled with other   resources will permit strategic investment of  a total of $70 million over seven years for   the development and preservation of affordable  housing through the scaling of existing heavily   regulated long-term programs. Some examples  of that pro those programs are the homeowner   repair program that Miss Hoffheine talked about  earlier. This has been funded with community   development brock grant funds and currently  we provide $5,000 grants with an additional   $20,000 zero interest deferred loans to provide  critical repairs to homes owned by low-income   homeowners. So we've provided over 14 million  in assistance for over 3,000 projects since the   year 2000. We have the homeowner a the home 80  down payment assistance and homeowner housing   development loan program. This uses federal home  funds for housing development um and provide sub   sub provides subsidy for the development of those  homes and then up to 20% of the purchase price   and $2,000 towards closing costs for low-income  home buyers. And we've provided over almost 22   million in assistance for 1,374 households since  1993. We also have for under rental housing,   we have the housing development loan program  where we use home subsidies for the development   and renovation of rental housing for low-income  households. These projects leverage and and   provide points for low-income housing tax credit  applications. And we've provided just over 4.3   million for 15 projects since 2000. And then  we have the affordable housing fund and we used   $5 million in ARPA funds to preserve  those 70 uh former public housing units,   35 for affordable home buyers, 45 for section 8  rentals. Funding remains um it's actually program   income from that original expenditure um that will  be used for the some remaining pro properties in   the flood plane and market challenged units  and we'll be issuing an RFP later this year.   These all of those programs are currently  run through the affordable housing review   board which was established by ordinance and  is comprised of seven city council appointed   community members targeting expertise in finance  underwriting, law, housing services, construction,   housing development, capacity building and  community engagement straight from the ordinance.   Um there is current discussion to expand  that board composition to have a greater   number of people serve on that board to  bring additional expertise as well as   assist us in making sure we meet quorum for  our monthly meetings. So, we have existing   funding either currently or coming available  that we could pair with the three 31,53,000 in in revenues from the sales tax to bring  us to that $70 million over seven years. And   that's funding that includes that program income  from the affordable housing fund. We have home   funds targeted to multifamily housing of  just under 1.6. We have funds in the home   A80 down payment assistance program of about a  million dollars. Um we have public housing sales   uh revenue from selling those public  housing units currently just over 2.1   million in the bank with expecting another  14.3 million coming in. And then we have   the annual allocations of CDBG and home  funds which tally 8.87 million and 1.68   68 million for a total investment  leveraging other sources of 38,446,73.77. What is not in here is the $15 million investment  we're doing in 2026. So we have 15 million going   into Park Landing, 10 million in public  housing sales proceeds, 4.1 million from   uh home ARP funds, and a million dollars in  CDBG. So that investment is happening this   year in 2026 and what I have here is projecting  2027 and forward. So that's it from the housing   side and I'll turn it back over to if I may real  quick. Um Sally while just while you're up here   so you don't have to go back and forth. Uh can  you talk about some of the potential cuts coming   down the line as far as your department and how um  impacted we are going to be to be able to adjust   um especially with vouchers and um some of the  potential cuts coming down. So it's looking   a little better than it did a couple of months  ago. So the TUD bill was just released last week   um and passed by the house which looks at level  funding for home and and CDBG. Unfortunately,   level funding means a cut because every year we  have more and more communities that enter into   eligibility for those those uh funding by reaching  50,000 population. So, we'll likely see a slight   cut in that area. On the voucher side, they showed  a very slight increase in funding. The challenge   is we're seeing rents increase much faster um than  the increases in the amount of housing assistance   dollars they give us. To give an example, we are  400 families fewer that we are able to assist this   year than we were two years ago simply due to  level funding and continual rise in rents and   utility expenses. So, we are definitely um seeing  challenges in meeting the demand. We have nearly   7,000 people back on the waiting list for section  8. We're looking to pull maybe two or 300 names   from the list this year. Um, also LITC credits,  could you touch on that? Sure. Uh, LITC, the   application for 9% the pre-applications went in in  January. Um, our community has not seen our fair   share of of tax credit allocations. We continue to  um lobby the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation   um to try and uh position uh projects from our are  our from Witchah to score better and be awarded,   but there's some ambiguity in how they do  that scoring despite the scoring matrix.   We will continue to try. um but they do  require a local investment in order to get   uh additional points. Despite in some cases  providing some of that local investment,   we're still seeing challenges in getting  projects awarded here. Thank you. And then we'll talk about the last initiative  area and then wind this up and open it up for   your discussion on the different um five areas  and resolutions. So, we do have one last uh ballot   language item. A mount not to exceed $75 million  applied for development construction of a new   downtown public performing arts. And so, we have  a representative from the arts community, Miss   Angela Cassette. Thank you for Good morning, mayor  and city council. My name is Angela Cassette. I'm   the managing director of music theater witchah.  I'm here as a representative to talk about a new   performing arts center because I've been involved  with these community conversations since 2013 and   because music theater witchaw would be a primary  tenant of a new or new primary user of a new   performing arts center. My job is running a  nonprofit and not building performing arts   centers. So I'm not presenting myself as the  ultimate expert, but I can share some basics   as they apply to our situation here in Witchah  and then I'll do my best to answer questions. Witchah and its professional performance uh  organizations have studied the need for a new   performing arts center in downtown Witchah for  more than a decade. Uh a performing arts center   is critical to a city because it supports our uh  it creates a lot of economic impact. It enhances   our quality of life and it expands opportunities  for widgetans of all generations to experience   the arts. Um whether it be a Broadway show, a  symphony performance, etc. Um there are several   relevant studies. Um if anyone is interested in  more research, I we have many performing arts   center feasibility studies. Uh I would also point  to the 2024 through 2028 cultural arts strategic   plan that was adopted by city council in May of  2024. And I'd like to specifically highlight the   mayor's committee report from 2019, which was a  group of appointed citizens who spent more than   a year diligently reviewing other studies  and conducting robust listening sessions.   Their findings are closely mirrored in what I  will say today. Um, and it still holds true.   Really the only significant derivation  from their findings is that they presented   repurposing Century 2 as one of the options for  the round building and the Witchaw forward plan   and the ballot language solidifies renovation and  repurposing as the option for the round building.   Um but notably the mayor's committee spent three  months gathering input from thousands of Witchins   via survey and listening sessions. They appeared  before each district advisory board and conversed   with community groups including users. And I think  it's one clear example of how while timelines may   feel condensed to some, the Witchaw Forward Plan  stands on the shoulders of countless hours of work   to gather widespread community input. Uh, a little  bit about the arts economic impact in Witchah.   Some of this will be very familiar to some of  you. Um the arts and economic prosperity study   in 2022 shows that nonprofit arts and culture are  a significant economic sector in Witchah. The arts   generate $184.7 million annually in total economic  activity with 78.5 million being in spending   by arts and cultural organizations and 106.2  million in event related spending by audiences.   I do want to point out that this is only nonprofit  arts and cultural organizations. We also have many   for-profit arts and cultural organizations in  the city of Witchah that add to the overall   arts and culture um ecosystem. And these jobs  uh the 20 2,929 full-time equivalent jobs in   Witchah generate $108.8 8 million in income  for residents and produce 32.3 million in tax   revenue each year. A couple of interesting things  about this 2022 study. Uh pandemic disruptions for   arts organizations were devastating and had a long  tail. These numbers are conservative due to their   timing. 2022 was still in the midst of um a lot of  slow start of recovery. Um, but what we found at   that point in time was that on average audience  members spend $40.75 per person per event,   not including the cost of admission. So that is  restaurants, shops, babysitters, etc. Out of town   visitors averaged $56.75 per person. And notably  of the non-local attendees who came and were   surveyed, 81% of them said they came to Witchah  specifically for that arts and culture event. Half   of all attendees, whether local or out of town,  said they would travel to a different community to   see an event if it were not available in Witchah.  which means that we are not only talking about um   creating new revenue for the city of Witchah,  we are also talking about retaining what we   currently have flowing through our ecosystem. What  we're seeing at Music Theater Witchah is that um   subscriptions are up. Um the last time we had as  many subscribers as we do now at this point in the   year it was 2019. Um, and over the past two years  just at Music Theater Witchah, we've had ticket   holders from 3,75 unique zip codes. For reference,  Witchita has 42. So that's a lot of visitors. uh some stakeholders that would be need  to be involved in uh presenting ideas   and working through processes with the citizens  oversight committee include music theater which   um we have professional and education programs.  The Witchah Symphony Orchestra also has both a   professional orchestra and many youth ensembles.  The American Theater Guild is the musicals that   tour through Witchah. We have Ballet Witchah  and other local dance companies. Witchah is   actually home to two opera companies, both  Witchita Grand Opera and Opera Kansas. And   then there is additional programming like  comedians that come through, concerts,   etc. Uh this slide doesn't include the front of  house users, that is the community members and   visitors. And for music theater witchah alone,  that's about 40 to 45,000 people each year. Um   they tell us what they think though so we do have  a lot of information on their opinions. Um just to   lay out the industry standard for a performing  arts center. Um this this is a framework that   outlines the basic requirements that we think is  appropriate for a city the size of Witchah. We're   looking at about a 180,000 square foot facility.  uh two theater spaces including a main hall that   has a capacity of around 200 thou or 200 2,000  um and a second theater space that's a capacity   of 500 plus um modern technology and acoustics  uh with appropriate sound isolation. the modern   uh applies to the technology. The acoustics are  quite old. Um but the acoustic principles haven't   changed, but this building would balance the  needs of the primary users. Um and appropriate   sound isolation is um is a major major concern at  Century 2 and would need to be addressed in a new   performing arts center. Uh back of house there  would be storage, sufficient dressing rooms,   and a street serviced loading dock. The front  of house patron amenities would include modern   and accessible lobby space compliant with ADA  standards, sufficient bathrooms, box office,   and then administrative offices for the performing  arts center managers as well as meeting spaces. Wanted to share just a few performing arts  center projects from different cities. Um,   and I've included here um the estimated adjusted  expense. Um, things have certainly changed in   terms of construction costs over the years,  but um the Eckles Theater in Salt Lake City   uh is would be similar in footprint to what we  would be looking at. Um they actually have it's   in a very um tightly a kind of tight spot  in a very busy downtown. Um and they have   done a really nice job of fitting into a robust  downtown area. Uh the Buddy Holly Center in Lebec,   Texas. Uh slightly bigger than what we would  imagine with two theaters. Uh the Shusters   Performing Arts Center is a beautiful building in  Dayton, Ohio. Um and then the Kaufman Center is   included here because many Witchans may have  been to that space. Um it is Kansas City is   a much different city than Witchah obviously.  So we'd be looking at something that felt more   appropriate for Witchah but um felt it was uh  helpful to have this in here for reference. Thank you. So the last three slides we did want  to highlight again if there is revenue shortfall   or excessive revenue protocols but we will uh  discontinue the sales tax whatever is reached   first the 850 or the seven years we would  recommend adjustments including the project   scope timeline sequencing if there are any revenue  shortfalls. Um certainly the required adjustments   would be made proportionally as we looked at  it and then of course public input and citizen   oversight committee recommendations would be  sought with any changes. Then of course any   allocation decision where uh sit squarely with  city council by either approval of resolution or   ordinance. So going forward, the action steps  is have the conversation this afternoon about   clarifying what we can do from the presenters  here today um related to the special election the   sales tax use for each of the five initiatives.  Certainly provide feedback on how we see the   implementation or investments or whatever it  may be. Um staff will develop the educational   materials to be included on the city website for  educational purposes only. And then um again we   will not advocate on the staff side. We are just  here to share information and be a resource. Um   we do have scheduled um with city council to do  a town hall on this once you finalize through   the resolutions or how you want to proceed um  for Tuesday, February 10th at 6 pm. That can be   adjusted based upon your schedule or desire for  more communication with the public after today's   conversation. So I turn over to the mayor and  council and we stand ready for any questions   you may have. Thank you, city manager, and all the  speakers who came forward to provide presentation   remarks. Uh, this board will be discussing a lot.  So, we'll start with Vice Mayor Glascock. Thank   you, Mayor. I have a few questions. I do want  to talk about what the boards up front are. I'm   a very visual person and so I wanted to offer a  visual representation for everybody in the crowd   as well. The one at the far left side is the  ballot initiative passed in 1985 in the city   of Witchaw. And I'll just read that briefly. A  proposition to enact a countywide retailer sales   tax in Sedick County, Kansas in the amount of 1%  such sales tax to take effective on October 1st,   1985. That was the entire ballot language for  the sales tax passed in 1985 was that language   over there. The second ballot initiative, I  won't read that, was the ballot initiative   passed in 2004 regarding interest bank arena.  The one to the right near council member Tuttle   is the SA is the sales tax initiatives for Maize,  Hazesville, Derby, and Sedwick. All passed within   the last three years and their ballot language.  And then this one in front of me, and I think   this is as a result of hearing from the community  and making sure that we're offering guard rails,   protections, and accountability for this is 17  pages long. Um, when you include the resolutions   that will be passed today as an addendum, if you  include just the specific ballot language alone,   it's about a page and a half of this first  page. When I tried to put it all on one page,   I had to take it down to 0.5 font and put it on  three columns to put it on one page. So, I just   want to give a visual representation that we're  hearing from the community about transparency,   about guardrails, and making sure that we're  spending money efficiently. And I just wanted   a visual visible or visible representation for  that as well as we begin these discussions. If   all the resolutions were to pass today, we'd have  more than 17 pages and three columns um as you   could see in front of here as well. And I think  that's as a result of community conversations,   that's a result of hearing people and making  sure that we can restore trust and accountability   um from this body as well. Um, turning over, I  did have one question that I had asked Sally a   minute ago and just wanted to bring Sally back  up to offer some uh, color as well. Based on   your presentation, I know that a different one of  my colleagues um, maybe had a slight adaptation   of that presentation, offering some specific  numbers. Um, and so I asked you to maybe run   uh, those numbers to see if it pencils out. Can  you elaborate what would be different from one   of my colleagues presentations versus what you  are presenting before the body today? Sure. So   my presentation uh made that assumption that the  money would go into the buckets at the percentage   of the overall tax. So it's you know started at  the beginning not prioritizing any of the five   um funding areas and having that money coming  through over a seven-year period. if there was   a prioritization to fund um public safety the  sale the property tax as well as the housing   a 100red million towards the beginning. So  you know when I looked at that first of all   um getting projects started capital projects  takes time. So there is a little bit of time   especially on the public safety side right for  them to start accumulating some dollars. Um I I   put together a model that showed um obviously  the need the sales tax amount that would be   needed. It's representative piece but then  frontloading the uh housing and and affordable   housing endowment hundred million in that first  year. So if if that was front-loaded with that   $und00 million, there's still we still would  not earn enough in interest in order to make the   uh 2.75 million um allocation to Second  Light that would be needed to support their   operations in that first year. Even by year two,  there's not enough in earnings to support year   one and year two of support of Second Light at  that 2.75 increased by 3% in the second year.   The other challenge is it um it it doesn't have  enough funding coming through to support the   other homeless initiatives that are needed to  be able to move people out of shelter and into   housing or as well as providing funding to meet  $10 million a year um to for the development of   additional affordable housing. So, it just  pose some challenges that way. Okay. Thank   you. And then follow up for legal. Um I know  there's uh just some conversation about uh the   language. Would you is Legal's interpretation  that the presentation presented by Sally would   fall within the intent and be uh legally sound?  I think that's that's correct. I mean that's what   we've been discussing. Yes. Thank you, Jennifer.  Followup questions to that. Um it's not for you,   Sally. It's actually for legal. Uh back to the  question of according to the ordinance itself,   it literally says earnings from such fund which  would imply that the corpus cannot be touched.   Can someone please again reiterate? Can the  corpus be utilized prior to earning earnings? As I think I said before, yes, I think it can  with with some limitations. Um, the language   says that the earnings is to be reinvested back  into the special fund. And and again, this can be   interpreted a number of different ways, but I read  that to mean that any interest that is gathered on   this fund is going to go back into the fund,  not to another project. So, I don't know that   I think that language precludes you from taking  a portion of that corpus. And I know Councilman   Johnston and Glascock may not agree with that, but  I do think the intent is to get as close to that   150 million so that you can have this self-  sustaining fund. I understand there are some   competing emergency type issues. Um I think that  the council has some flexibility as long as you   don't exceed that $150 million collected um based  on the language of the sales tax ballot. Sharon,   another question. So, one of the guardrails I  had shared was making sure that Second Life,   which is the multi- agency low barrier shelter in  our community, um gets funded. One of the you said   you can touch the corpus with limitations and that  limitation could that limitation be no more than   $5 million of that fund may be used annually  to prioritize expenditures at the low barrier   shelter. I think it could be. I don't know  whether Sally has run any numbers on that   that what what would what that would look like  at the end. But but I do think those first one   through three years, you are going to be pulling  the majority of that five million from from the   corpus of that fund simply because your interest  isn't going to get to equal that 5 million until   your year three or four. This is a question  for Mark. Now, would there be an opportunity   to provide a loan not from the sales tax, but it  would be paid by the sales tax eventually um in   order to pay for those temporary funds to fund  uh the emergency winter the shelter low barrier   shelter/multi- agency center. um based on an AG  opinion from the legal answer to that is yes,   you could enter into some sort of an agreement to  be repayable um through through the sales tax. The   risk and the financial uh desiraability of that  I am going to defer to Mark who just sat down. Well, mayor, if our attorney tells  me it's something that we could do,   I'm sure that I could figure out a way to work it  out. We would have to identify a a fund balance or   reserve somewhere that we could in effect loan for  this purpose. Uh but again, if it's permissible   based on what our attorneys think, I'm sure that  we could figure out a way to do it. Thank you,   Mark. And just uh for point of clarification, I  won't be saying second light. Uh that because it   is the city's low barrier shelter multi- agency  center, which is capital improvements. Um and   the property itself does belong to the city of  Witchah. Um so it is one uh reason why sole source   in this situation does not apply. This is a city  asset. Council member Hoheisel. Thank you, Mayor.   Um, just for clarification, I am uh supportive  of including housing services and uh affordable   housing within that fund. Um, that was my intent  when I voted to put it on the ballot. Thank you,   Council Member Johnston, for reaching out and  two of the three gentlemen who did push us,   uh, it sounds like that was their intent  as well. So, if we need to do anything   to clarify that from the bench, I would be  more than happy to entertain that. Um Mark,   in regards to the property tax, um it seems  like if we could go back to that slide, which one's that, sir? The  homestead. Yes, sir. Yes,   sir. I'm sure you ears are about done bleeding  from me bringing that up so much. Um, so it says essentially it sounds like what you're saying  here is that this is not something that would be   um able to be covered with the um profit  from the U property tax fund for the sales   tax. Is that accurate on what you believe? I  don't think it would be appropriate to fund   this using any funds generated by the  sales tax proposed in the referendum.   Is that a personal opinion or is that a a legal  opinion? That's legal. My favorite department. Um the the reimbursement of the sales tax is  not one of the purposes that is set forth in the   ballot and um it would be my legal opinion that to  reimburse that from these funds would be outside   of the stated purposes on the ballot. So, is it is  it it's the reimbursement? It's the action of us   giving money back as opposed to us just saying  we're not going to tax you on that. Yeah. I I   mean, yes. I mean, I I think you can exempt food  sales if if the state legislature allows you to   do that, but I think the next question then is if  you are going to reimburse or rebate some of that   money back, that money can't come from the sales  tax proceeds. It needs to come from some other   fund within the city. Is that something we can get  a legal opinion? Would that be like the attorney   general would have an interpretation of that quest  one? It is not, you know, it is guidance. It's   not binding, but it's guidance. Okay. And this is  another one. If this is um intent from the bench,   um this would be another one of the things um  that I would be glad to bring up an intent to   vote on. Um, and if not, we still I think with  some of that savings we get with the CIP longterm   that this is something targeted tax relief to  seniors who are, you know, barely making it as   it is and will will be impacted by this sales tax  is definitely something I want to explore. I had   hoped that it would be covered in the property tax  um aspect of this, but if we need to work on it,   we need to work on it, but I would be  interested to get an opinion on that. Yeah. Council member John Stunn. Thank you, Mayor.  Um, this is the first time I've ever heard of   a loan in this program. This is meant to be a  cash funding, not a loan anywhere. That's been   one of the criticisms of people is, hey,  the city's going to the leaders are going   to do a loan and they're going to move money  around and all kinds of stuff. It undermines   trust in us the city council and government if  we if we inject that it's a possibility. This   is supposed to be a cash funding and I very much  support it. Uh especially for the police and fire   and the homeless shelter and housing. Um supposed  to be cash, not a loan, not paying it back,   robbing from Peter to pay Paul. It it should be  a cash transaction and we should not be talking   about a loan. Um I think we we can definitely  uh get the funds there. U I like Sally's plan   a lot. I think we you can even accelerate it  some more uh by by funding it first along with   police and fire and property tax relief. I  think we can do that. Um and that's that's   why people elect us to make decisions like that.  So, thank you, Council Member Shepard. Thank you,   Mayor. This question is for Mark, and I know you  just sat down, but I'm curious. It was mentioned   uh looking at the reserves or the stabilization  reserves is what what I like to call and I know   that this has been a major point of conversation.  The city has reserves, so we have money, right,   to to fill some of this gap. I'm curious if you  can explain how touching the reserves impacts our   credit rating. Uh yes, sir. As you noted, uh, we  have a general fund reserve, which is the one that   most people are familiar with, and by policy,  it's set at 15%, and that's roughly $51 million   or so. We also have a stabilization reserve that  the city council established a few years ago, and   it is intended basically to smooth uh challenges  that we have based on economic uncertainty or to   fund one-time purposes. Uh, that reserve uh is  currently, I think, a little bit north of $40   million. The challenge we have with reserves is  reserves are very important in our bond rating.   Our bond rating is very important because that  helps determine the amount of interest that   investors want to pay us when we issue debt for a  variety of purposes, primarily capital improvement   projects. It's not the only factor, but it is an  important factor. They generally have benchmarks   on the level of reserves as percentage bases  that they like. uh you know it's a it's not   hard and fast but generally somewhere neighborhood  of 25 or 30% to be AAA which we are of course with   standard and force we are in that ballpark of 25  to 30%. There's two things they don't really like   and I'm not telling you anything that you couldn't  find out by reading their agency reports. They're   very transparent. Uh they will tell you two  things. They don't want they don't like to see   erosion in reserves, particularly if it's for  unplanned purposes. That's considered to be a   a negative. There's probably some flexibility  to use reserves occasionally for very specific   purposes or or align to our policy. But they  do not like to see unpredictable or significant   changes in reserves. They also don't like to see  years in which we don't have a balanced budget.   again unless it's due to a very specific reason,  pandemic, things of that nature. But generally   speaking, that's why reserves are important from  a regency rating agency standpoint. They also   provide us flexibility to handle contingencies,  you know, disasters, cash flow purposes,   variety of reasons to have them, but to answer  your question about the impact on rating agencies,   that's why they're very important to us. So  follow-up question. Um given your expertise,   which you do a phenomenal job and thank you for  being here to explain all of this. Um given what   you just said, I know that we heard the legality  of the risk posed. Can you please share with me   from your expertise the risk being posed given  all that you've shared when we start talking   about a loan for this particular purpose of  operating the city's multi- agency center?   Well, we would be very transparent with everyone,  particularly our rating agencies. They no doubt   would notice it and we would explain to them  the policy direction that hypothetically   uh we followed to do that. Uh I don't know that  they would be too excited about it. Uh they would   definitely want to know what the provisions were  for us to be reimbursed. They would recognize   the risk in a transaction like that. But having  said that uh that you know what it would impact   our rating probably not but they would be very  well aware of it and it's probably not something   that they would view in a favorable light. Again  doesn't mean we couldn't do it. Uh but does answer   your question. A followup to that. Um given  that there would be which we have not gotten   to the prioritization of these five initiatives,  there would be dollars that would be immediately   um be able to be uh reimbursed to the uh agency  that's going to provide the loan, wouldn't that   also play into the credit agency understanding  that there is fund funding available to pay back   that loan? Uh yes, no doubt. And if it was paid  back soon with cash flows that were relatively   immediate, you know, that would obviously mitigate  any concerns they would have, they would view   a longer term loan probably much less favorably  than a they would a very short-term arrangement.   Thank you, Vice Mayor Glasco. Thank you. I want  to echo the sentiments of Councilman Johnston   regarding concerns and I want to ask again, this  is a colleague's uh suggestion. This is not the   recommendation from staff, correct? regarding  a loan. Uh we haven't been asked to make a   recommendation on that. Uh no. Okay. Thank you. I  just wanted to clarify that. I do have a question   regarding something that could affect this. This  is a very complex issue and there's still moving   parts because it's happening in the state house  currently, but I'd be interested in how this   will just affect the city as a whole from what  you know about it already. Um Senate Concurrent   Resolution 1616, which passed uh out of one of the  committees, is now moving towards a floor vote.   um would um cap the amount of assessed value  that the city could offer. Um and looking at   some numbers, it would actually cap out of the  assessed value in 2022 if I remember correctly.   So that actually brings that a cap to about 2.3%  which is lower than consumer price index. Could   you briefly and um succinctly maybe translate what  this could do to the city's budget forecasting   over the next few years? if this were to pass the  Senate, the House, it would move forward towards a   constitutional ballot in August and how that could  affect the city's finances moving forward in 2027,   2028 and subsequently based on our current  modeling, which is to say our financial plan   that's included in the budget that we approved  last August. uh a proposal like that to cap our   assessed valuation growth would be detrimental  to the current revenue estimates which is to say   that we expect assessed valuation growth to grow  higher than a 3% or 2.3% cap into the future and   that's what all our property tax collection uh  estimates are based on and briefly I would say   that growth is based on a variety of components  one is annexation which we're not very active at   one is new construction which adds to our tax  base and the other is reappraisal and expiring   ing exemptions. But yes, depending on how it's  structured, any cap on property tax growth,   particularly at that low level, is likely going  to reduce property tax revenues to the city in the   future. Okay. And looking at some data that was  presented, uh this is countywide. This would not   beat the municipality. If uh the constitutional  amendment would be able to move forward in August,   it looks like the county would need to cut  approximately 45.4 4 million or 21% of the   current pro or t property tax levy to avoid a  tax shift. So just adding maybe something to   the conversation about challenges if this  were to move forward in August additional   pressures that the city would be under as well.  It would no doubt be millions of dollars for us   as well. Okay. Thank you, Mark. Council member  Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. Mark, stay there. Lots of questions. Um another aspect of this is  it is the interest income as it's presented now   interest income from each count each initiative  would stay with that initiative. Is that correct?   Again that that was just consistent with our  initial model of proportional allocation of the   of the revenues flowing in. Again we can you know  our objective is to adhere to whatever guidelines   are provided. Yeah. But yeah, that's the way that  staff initially uh modeled the proposal. Okay. The   way except for the homeless and homeless shelter,  second light and and housing which specifically   says it should be kept in there. Can the other  initiatives can the interest be moved to the   end to to cover up any cover any shortfall  that might happen as a as a safety barrier?   Well, I'll give you my opinion, then you might  check with our attorneys, but in my opinion,   the referendum is silent about interest earnings.  So, I think we could uh do whatever you chose to.   I don't know why we couldn't uh retain those and  then allocate them at some point for whatever   purposes the council desired. Yeah. Because  every every initiative has a cap on it. Yes,   sir. So whether it's funded by direct deposit  from the sales tax revenue or it's funded from   that plus interest earnings, it still has a cap.  So we could put the interest earnings to the back   end the back end to cover any shortfall that might  happen. Maybe may and I I do I'm very much for not   having a sales tax on food. Uh maybe taking that  to zero instead of instead of 1%. Um so it could   possibly cover some of that shortfall. Yes, you  can put the sales tax back into the fund. You   can sell back into the other three four funds.  Um you can save the interest until the end. Um   the ballot does not talk about what's going to  happen with the interest with the exception of   the homeless fund. Let me ask another question  then. If the interest income is it included in the   850 million from the sales tax? So you got sales  tax, you collect 840 million, you got 10 million   in interest income. Are we done at 850 million  or can we actually go over 850 million with   the addition of interest income? I would say the  interest income would not be included with the 850   million. I mean the 850 million was the collection  of the sales tax. So, so the collection would not   include whatever interest the city chooses to  make, whether that's zero, whether that's five,   whether that's, you know, what whatever we choose  to invest that in based on the investment policy,   but it is a collection of the $850 million. Okay.  Is it your legal opinion that let's say it's seven   years from now, we're down to the end and we  have, just make up numbers, we have 10 million   extra. So, we've collected 850 million. We've got  10 million extra in interest income. Uh that 10   million, could it be used for anything other than  these five projects? Yes. The interest income   could be used? Yes. Okay. Unless specified by  council. Yes. Wait. So, we'd have to specify that   that interest income would have to stay within the  five initiatives. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Council member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor.  My question is for housing. So, um, thank you for being here and thank you  for your presentation. I know that this is   a a major priority for many of the colleagues  here, many people in our community as well.   Um, one of the things that I have heard and that  I'm deeply concerned about is is the regressive   nature of a sales tax on working-class families.  And as mentioned earlier by someone, I believe the   Alice report, which I believe showcases that  a household making $65,000, I mean, they're   living paycheck to paycheck, working poor, um,  to make ends meet. That really concerns me. Um,   I also believe that one of the ways that we can  help close the gap, which has been my challenge   of if we're going to have a regressive tax, if if  that's what the community chooses to do, how do we   ensure that there is a benefit to these families,  which I believe should also be a priority. Um,   I see the programs that you have outlined here  and I'm curious which of these programs would   give us the latitude to maybe be a little bit more  flexible with the qualifications and requirements   of folks who can benefit from these programs. in  essence, um, are they federally funded programs?   So, we really can't do much in terms of the  qualifications or do we have some wiggle room   to really look at how do we utilize data such as  the Alice report to figure out how we can reach   the most vulnerable in our community or those who  are on the brink of homelessness even though they   may have a job or employment. Sure. So, the  as far as what the programs that I outlined,   all of the federal programs do have specific  um income guidelines, they're much higher than   people realize. Oftentimes, we are serving people  often making more than $65,000 a year. Uh and   and they are different from program to program.  So, uh public housing sales proceeds have to be   used in section 8 housing. You're looking at 50%  area median income. Home funds and CDBG funds is   80% area median income. those there's there's no  wiggle room on those, but that was representing   38% of the housing and affordable uh or the  homelessness and affordable housing funds. What   was brought in through the sales tax, you would  definitely have some flexibility if you wanted to   expand that that eligibility. This got brought up  in a a meeting at the continuum of care on Friday   in which all of those federal programs often  have um restrictions that keep out, for example,   sex offenders or or other certain classifications.  And it was inquired whether or not funding from   the sales tax could potentially be used to fill  those gaps. Absolutely. There are no federal   stipulations on those. Any additional guidelines  would have to be approved by the council as part   of a program plan. Um, but at the same time,  you know, the programs I listed, it was four   or five of the 35 programs out of our office.  So, we're always trying to connect households   um to the other side, what I call the other side  of the house, which is our uh employment side,   our job training sides, because we absolutely  believe that dealing with housing affordability   is not just keeping housing costs down, but  increasing household income at the same time.   Follow-up question for you. I just want to make  sure I'm understanding correctly. Um, so those   who are reintegrating back into our society after  incarceration, that would be a population that we   could consider doing something with with the  sales tax. Absolutely. And we actually just   last uh with the last PHA plan um launched as  part of the referral-based preferences trying   to work with KDOC to try and ensure that we have  a path for people who are reintegrating. Thank   you. I just want to stress the importance of the  work that you all do. You all do phenomenal work   um running several programs, more than what people  even realize with limited staff. Um but I've also   seen firsthand in District 1, Northeast Witchto  community and all over our city what a world of a   difference it makes when we not just pay attention  to the folks who are utilizing shelter right now,   but we're also serving the folks who are  one paycheck away. And I think that that's   why this is important to invest in the affordable  housing trust fund. Thank you. Before we move on,   I want to be very respectful of um Director Mark  Manning. So, can I ask which council members have   specific questions to uh the finance director,  Council Member Tuttle. Thank you. Um Mark and   or Sharon and you you know how much I don't  like to make sausage from the bench, but you   said something that um answering a question from  one of my colleagues that brought a recollection   a couple weeks ago when we were having one of  these um meetings. I asked if interest earnings   could be used for the cost of the special  election. And I was told at that meeting   that the only thing that any of the funds could  be used, including interest, was for these five   categories. But a few moments ago, it was said  that it could be potentially used for something   outside of these categories. I think it was when  um Council Member Johnston asked the question. So,   I'm not trying to cause drama or be contradictory,  but that's a very different response than I got a   couple weeks ago. So, I don't know if something's  changed. We've learned something more. I slept   in the last couple weeks kind of not. Well, I I  just want to clarify because I the main question   I'm getting asked right now from the community is  really two interest. What are we going to do with   it? How can it be spent? And then people have  had questions regarding Miss Santos. Thank you   for being here. Great job. That if we prioritized  and moved up, let's say, the convention center,   we're going to be generating more sales tax, you  know. So, but interest has been a question that's   been asked many times for me. So, could you help  me to understand? Thank you. Again, I'll give you   my perspective. Uh interest earnings on our pool  right now other than a few specific restrictions   is deposited in the general fund which basically  makes it funible. Uh and that's typically what   we do with the interest funds on all our idol  investments and any referendum funding from my   perspective would be idle funds. Having said that  uh that you know might not be consistent with the   uh policy direction and certainly we can allocate  interest earnings to any place we choose to   including the idle funds in these uh four areas.  Again that's not for me to determine obviously   that's we follow whatever policy the council would  implement. Uh I don't recall whether I mentioned   that to you. I I hope I didn't because uh like I  said, if interest earnings were credited to the   general fund or for any other purpose, I don't  know why they wouldn't be available if that was   the will of the body to to fund an election cost,  but that's certainly not how we have it budgeted.   Yeah. And Sharon is looks like she wants to jump  in. I think I probably answered it. Um I think I   probably answered that and I think I may have  misunderstood what you were asking. you can't   use the sales tax proceeds, i.e. the number that  we the amount of money that we get from the state   um for anything other than those initiatives.  Um the interest on that could be used to fund   the sales tax election. And I apologize if I did  not understand the question. No, and I might not   have asked it well, but I asked specifically a  couple weeks ago if the interest could be used to   refund the city for the cost of the sales tax for  of the vote. And I think the answer would be yes,   you could if that was the policy decision that was  made as to what to do with that interest. Whether   it goes back into one of the initiatives,  whether it goes into the general fund,   whether you earmark it to reimburse the manager's  account where that $170,000 came from. Um, those   are all policy decisions for you all to make as  part of the budgeting process and resolutions. So,   just to make sure I understand what I hear you  saying, and correct me if I'm wrong, please.   always that interest earned from these funds  could be used for things outside of these five   buckets with the exception of the homeless. Oh  yes, thank you. So for the four buckets and I   don't have anything in mind right now. I just  want to make sure as we have further discussions   but again at the time when I asked the question it  was because we were being asked about the $170,000   for the cost of the election. I apologize if I  misheard your question. It's okay. Totally fine.   But um the interest can be used for anything with  the exception of the homeless fund. Thank you so   much for the clarification. I'm going to ask staff  to go to slide number 23 so that we're all talking   um regarding finance with Mark Manning. Um  there are other council members that are asking   questions. I have one quick one. Um what would  be the percentage of um return for any of these   um interest uh for these sales tax dollars  collected? Again, uh if you're asking me what   I can invest at today, I'd be somewhere around  three and a half%. 3.5. Thank you. Uh council   member Ho Heisel. Thank Thank you, mayor. And  this might be more for the city manager. I don't   see public works here. Um the mayor's proposal as  far as guardrails mentions um funding the water   rebate program. Uh I know we've had discussions  in the past about LEAP um which is more of a   utilities program and I I think it's similar in  um intent. I'm just curious between the two which   one would apply to more people to help give them  alleviate the burden between the two programs.   I don't have the answer from I'm sorry on the  numbers who would qualify for or equal. Um so   we'll add that to our list of trying to get you  some more information. Um but again no matter what   if that is going to support the general fund  the water, right? So again that's an impact   on the general fund, right? So I just make sure  everyone's clear. Um I don't have numbers on that.   So I'll work to see if we can get some for you.  I would be interested in that. Thank you. Council   member uh Vice Mayor Glascott. Thank you. Um, I am  interested about Council Member Tuttle's questions   regarding perhaps paying back uh the cost of the  election via interest earnings. I think that's a   great suggestion and I think that would go a  long way uh to earn trust with the community   as well. I'm going to have rapid fire questions.  I promise they're easy. Can and they're just yes   or no questions. Can any money be spent outside  the five ballot categories? Any sales tax money   spent outside? I think that's a no. It's a no.  Uh, can any category exceed its not to exceed cap?   Okay. Can any money be moved from one category to  another? Can the tax be extended past June 30th,   2023? No. Can the tax be increased above 1%.  No. Are we prohibited from borrowing against   future sales tax revenue into this plan? It  definitely would not be a good idea. I don't know   if the referendum prohibits that, but it doesn't  permit it. So, I would say no. Okay. Um, are we   prohibited from issuing debt for these projects?  Again, best practice would say the answer to that   is no. And a lot of I guess those two questions  are addressed by resolution today as well. Should   be prohibited from issuing it. And then will any  project be started unless the cash is available?   No, it should not be. Okay. Thanks for all  those answers. I think that there are no further   questions for you, Mark. Um, so now I'm going to  move to the prioritization question because this   uh contradicts what my proposal is. Um, so I  believe that there are three top priorities that   need to be for sure funded as soon as possible.  Um, and those are public safety, uh, property tax,   and the homeless and housing services initiatives.  Those are three out of the five. And so one of my   um proposals is to prioritize uh the first $300  million collected of sales tax proceeds to be   distributed to homeless and housing property tax  relief and public safety each being allocated   $100 million. Thereafter all initiatives will be  funded on a pro rata basis. So the percentages   that you see here in accordance with the ballot  language up to each initiative's maximum revenue   amounts. So that would guarantee that property  tax, public safety, and homeless housing   um do get funded as soon as possible. Um, so I  wanted to have a discussion with my colleagues   about prioritization. Um, and if this is  the will of the council uh to agree that   there should be prioritization of these five  initiatives. Vice Mayor Glascop. Thank you. I   support the recommendations as presented  by staff. You look at resolution 202652,   specifically item 17. Again, I'll reiterate.  The council has determined that if sales tax   revenues come available, nor if any sales tax  revenues are insufficient to fund all projects,   these projects with a higher priority ranking  shall be funded a manner consistent with such   prioritizations. I believe the resolution by staff  covers a lot of the uh suggestions uh that you   proposed on Facebook and um I'd be interested  to move forward with staff's recommendations.   is I think the 17 pages of guard rails um as  provided by staff ensures transparency in the   process and I think it's a wellthoughtout  and vetted plan. Council member Ballard uh so I actually would not be in favor of that.  I think that prioritization is important,   especially when we keep talking about homeless  services at the city's only low barrier shelter   that currently is housing 365 people in this  winter storm. Um, I think that again I want   to say thank you to Dan Clifford and his  staff and security at Second Light. Also,   thank you to a lot of homeless service providers  in our community, including Union Rescue Mission,   Humankind Ministries, St. Anony's Family Shelter  and several domestic violence shelters. Um,   so I do believe that homeless and housing uh  needs to be funded again back to prioritization   including public safety and property tax. So I  am looking uh forward to again hearing from more   council members about prioritization. Council  member Johnston. Uh Mayor, I would agree with   you. They should be prioritized. I'd also like to  hear from the community what they would like. Um,   and we're we're making sausage today.  We're not deciding anything today. So,   we're making sausage. In two weeks, we'll  come back with another proposal and we'll   make a little more sausage and hopefully come  up with some definite guardrails, but I would   like to hear more of what the community has to  say about that. I would be in favor personally,   but I'd like to hear what they would say. Council  member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. I'm curious if   we were to go this route, how does that impact  the other projects that are not being prioritized? As I said in my comments earlier, these  again because if the referendum passes,   these initiatives have to be funded. However,  I say that it's important to prioritize the   first 300 million of the 850 million to those  three first initiatives. Again, property tax,   public safety, and homeless and housing services.  And so the others would still get funded,   but they would be funded after the first $300  million has been collected. Thank you, mayor.   As a followup to that, they would be funded. They  probably would not be funded at the same rate,   right? If there is an exemption on groceries at  some point, I just want to make sure that the   community has clarity that, and I don't disagree  with you, those three items that you mentioned do   deserve the prioritization. I also think what  I've heard overwhelmingly from the community   is to be clear and that clear is kind. And so if  we're advocating for an exemption on groceries,   we should also be clear about how that would  impact other projects down the road because   we would not generate the same revenue that is  being projected. That would be a great follow-up   question to either legal or city manager.  Um, based off of this council's will, which   I believe all seven of us want to make sure that  sales tax for groceries is removed, um, wanted to   understand what these numbers would then look like  if that did pass at the state legislature level. And I think we did address just initially what we  know from some projections is that we did say it   could have a $81 million term. And if you go with  the proposed prioritization, then you're right.   We'll have to see what the interest income is,  how much that fills the gap of the 81 million.   But again, it depends on implementation. If it  is 2029 where we're shown on this slide here,   there may be a $45 million impact. And so  it's a variable that we won't know until   we know the state legislaturator's um progress  on that exemption. Um but we can say right now,   take a guess at 45 million um could  be an impact um starting in 2029. And again, the buckets or initiatives would  still be funded at their respective percentages   based off of my prioritization uh proposal at  those rates moving forward after collecting the   first 300 million. Council member Hohisel.  Thank you, Mayor. Um, just for the record,   I've been in favor of prioritization from the  start of this conversation. Um, so I do support   it now. Um yeah, that's that's um Dennis,  how many more presentations do we have from   um members of the public coming up? None  are scheduled presentations today. Yeah.   Was United Way? No, they they they um I believe  want to speak during um citizen comment. Okay. Council member Johnston. Thank you, mayor. As  city manager, I'd like to ask Mark to model what a   potential interest income would be. I imagine that  pot would be $100 million within a couple years   uh because you have to design fire stations and  police stations. It takes time to do that before   you actually expend it. So I'd like to model how  much the in estimated interest income would be.   So, and we still I think he said we do  that as a 3.5% return rate. Yeah. So,   we we'll sort that. Yeah. I I would like to  I think that should stay 3.5% or whatever the   very conservative thing is. The just say this  now is I think that the fund for housing and   homeless I think we should look at maybe modifying  that. um to get a higher interest rate. I think   there are safe ways to get higher interest rate  than what we have. Um I realize it can go down,   but I I don't I think there's no reason why  we can't get five to 7% and provide more money   for housing and more money for homeless.  And we've acknowledged that and we agree,   but we would have to change our investment  policy because we'd use some investment   strategies to get higher yields and we could  change it just for one bucket. Is that Exactly.   Exactly. Okay. Thank you, council members.  Anything else regarding prioritization? Um,   again, today is not to approve any of these  uh guard rails proposed by the city staff and   I have my own proposal for guard rails. Um, so  again, this is not an opportunity for that. Uh,   because we did say to this community that we would  continue hearing from them um at the February 10th   meeting. Uh so I do have a couple of questions  regarding procedures for um moving forward uh for   uh performing arts itself. Can we go back  to the slide regarding performing arts? Is there a particular one you wanted to  uh ballot language please? Okay. Thank   you very much. Um this coincides with Century  2. Uh the city actually has a policy regarding   Century 2. Um and I know one of the points of  contention is what's the future of Century 2. Um,   and I believe Angela uh made it clear that it  is about renovating Century 2 while also adding   a new performing arts center. Um, and I want to  make mention that there is a city council policy   number 38 that specifically addresses Sentry 2  and its future. Um, and so one of my guard rails   was making sure that Centry 2 is not um not going  to be torn down. Um that's a commitment uh that   I believe is important to make to the individuals  who are part of Safe Century 2 uh in good faith um   because they feel like that could be in jeopardy  if a new performing arts center would be built. So   I just want to again make mention of city council  policy number 38 regarding Century 2. Um, again,   the intent is to renovate Sentry 2 and provide  more usages uh for the public to utilize that   facility while also having a new performing arts.  So, with performing arts, um, I was the one that   asked for specific guard rails um because as uh  Angela showed in a slide uh earlier, how much it   costs to build a new performing arts. I believe  it was in the 300 million for Kaufman Center   um and in the north of a hundred million for uh  the other ones that she uh showed as examples. So   75 million would not cover building that type  of new performing arts center. So can I have   a clarification of how the other dollars will be  fundraised um for building a new performing arts Um, I'll make an attempt here. Um, there as as  early as 2013, 2014 when these conversations   were had, there has always been conversation of  um, how do we how do we create something that is   a reasonable public private partnership? And a lot  of the cases that I shared had some sort of public   funding component and some sort of private funding  component. So there um there has been conversation   in the philanthropic community for a long time  about there's going to be a time where we need   a new performing arts center and um I believe  there are several who will um step up and help   um get to this $75 million needed uh for the  onetoone ratio in uh private funding. I believe   that Witchaw Forward is planning to take the lead  in consultation with um organizations like music   theater witchaw and the witchah symphony on  organizing that process. Um you have an expert   um in council member Johnston on uh fundraising  and its complexities and how it works and it's   usually a communitydriven event. It's not one  single person that leads that initiative, but   um but there's a lot of confidence that with  this ballot measure and there being that   onetoone funding, we have a lot of great examples  in Witchah of other important community landmarks   where the public funding has merged with private  fundraising and things have been accomplished. Um,   I'd point to our advanced learning library, um,  exploration place, lots of lots of places in town   that are great spaces and we feel really confident  that that could happen here as well. Thank you,   Angela. Uh, one of the guardrails I had was,  uh, no sales tax proceeds shall be released   until at least $50 million in private funds have  been expended. Not just collected, expended. So   that again the public dollars which are taxpayer  dollars are actually protected. So private dollars   have to be expended before public dollars are  expended. Um can can I have um legal clarify   resolution 26-050 regarding performing arts in  section uh 1 6 and 7. Um if the words right now   which says collected can also include uh expended  from a legal standpoint. Yes. Um the policy   implications of that and people's willingness  to contribute if if that's the the key. I mean   you're from a planning process if if they have  to expend their money first which we already   have in this that um all of the pre construction  things are to be um used by their funds. Um this   also doesn't start because it's a pay as you go  project. So there are other provisions in there   that I think can get you where you want to be. Um,  but if the council votes and wants to put in that   they have to spend their 50 million first, you  can certainly do that. The amplifications of this   project is something outside of my area. I think  that is a protection for taxpayer dollars. Again,   we don't want a $50 million performing arts. Um,  if that is truly the will of this uh community,   it's also not a $75 million. It is a onetoone.  So, um, I would really expect that private dollars   have to come first before public tax dollars  come in next. Council member Ballard. Thank you,   Mayor. My question is about the um the performing  arts. I'm trying to figure out how to how to word   this. Um, I am all for prioritizing some of the  projects, but I just am curious what message that   sends to someone that is a private group or um  individual, whoever is coming up with the money,   that if we aren't prioritizing it, but they  come with the money first and we haven't   started collecting for that bucket. I mean, I I I  don't think that's a great message for for us to   send. Well, you spend your money, but we haven't  started collecting it yet. I I don't know. I just   think that's I'm struggling with that a little  bit. Um I would love to chat with it with my   colleagues or if you guys have any questions about  it or comments. Um, I'm just really stuck on um   what that looks like, especially if we're talking  about them expending their dollars first, but yet   we haven't put any money in that bucket yet with  public dollars. So, just curious what that looks   like. Um, and would like to have a conversation  about it at some point. I I can answer that.   Again, prioritization doesn't mean that the  other two initiatives would not get funded.   they just would take a second seat until the first  300 million would be collected. So, it would still   be a commitment to abide by the ballot language.  However, the first 300 million would be the   priority for again public safety, homelessness,  and property tax. Um, so again, the commitment if   this referendum were to pass is to collect those  dollars for those five separate initiatives. So,   it would not allow us to discontinue it uh  without again having this conversation with   this council about uh if they're not able to raise  $50 million. Um and I think that is actually the   segue question. What if Witchah Forward cannot  collect and expend $50 million? What then happens   to the fund? I'll just jump in here. Mayor, the  ballot language directs you to spend that money   for development construction of a new downtown  public performing arts center. So that money needs   to be spent according to the ballot language.  Follow-up question to that then would be we   currently have a performing arts center at Century  2. uh renovate. Could those dollars be then used   for further renovation and improvement into what  would be called a new performing arts center question? We'll see what Sharon says. My  interpretation of the ballot language would   be no. Um, the ballot language is an amount  not to exceed $75 million of such tax applied   for development and construction of a new  downtown performing arts center. I think   when you read that language in conjunction  with your renovation language for Century 2,   you're talking about two separate buildings. And  and again, this is all open to interpretation.   And I think the farther away you get from the  language that's in the ballot, the more likely   that you could get a challenge as to whether  or not um the council is using the proceeds   um in accordance with the purposes stated.  So then that this question is not for city   staff. It's really for Witchah forward.  What if you cannot collect $50 million? Anyone else is welcome to take this question, but  um I I know that at city council we don't   um it's not an it's not a an acceptable answer  to say don't worry, it's going to be fine. But   I would encourage the council not to spend  too much time worrying about the ability to   raise these private dollars. I have a lot  of confidence that that's going to happen.   um that is, as Councilman Ber Johnson can attest,  that is partially how you succeed in fundraising   is by having an incredible amount of confidence  that's going to happen. But um based on the level   of interest and support that I've heard from the  community um over the past 10 years, I I don't see   um it it's not a it's not a possibility that  these dollars aren't raised in my opinion.   may have witchaw forward answer that question. We'll echo uh what Angela has articulated  that um we support the um opportunity to   spend the private dollars in advance of public  dollars being applied to the project and have   great confidence that the city um will be  enthusiastic uh both philanthropically and   in the participation planning process to build a  new performing arts center in downtown. follow-up   question. Uh because the ballot language does not  specifically speak to private dollars coming in,   uh this is really just a resolution that there  would be a verbal and written commitment that   you would you witch forward and private donors  would be able to raise the onetoone match. Can   you commit that you would be able to do a onetoone  match to 75 million? Yeah, I mean obviously we   can't make promises that we because we we don't  have those money as hand right now, but we will   lead the effort to try to attempt to uh meet the  ballot language that you're proposing to get to   the $75 million commitments within five years. So  the intention um followup question, the intention   is to build a new performing arts center at the  cost of 150 million. Is that accurate? Yes. So,   a new performing arts center in downtown Witchaw  will cost 150 million. I want to make sure that in   the language on the resolution, it is a onetoone  match. So, you would still get that commitment   that if you're able to raise $75 million, then the  city public dollars would come in to match. Again,   I don't believe that the intention is to build  a $50 million performing arts, a $75 million   performing arts. Uh, so I wanted to make sure  that you were on the record saying that this new   performing arts will be at the $150 million  mark. That's our intention. Yes. Thank you,   Council Member Glascop. Thank you, Mayor. The  mayor had mentioned policy 38 in city code. I just   wanted to read that for people that may not know  what policy 38 is. City Council values community   input in the continuous improvement of city's  downtown core. In this regard, it is the policy of   the city council pursuant to home rule authority  to request the sed county election commissioner an   advisory election before any demolition of century  2 performing arts or the public central library   occurs. It's not the policy to limit the number of  questions or issues which may be posed to voters   as part of any such advisory election regarding  the financing proposed uses or development plans   regarding century 2 performing arts or the witch  public central library. loose translation. This   codifies that is the intent of the council to have  an election. If there were to be demol if we were   to demolish century 2. That is not what the ballot  question before the voters is. The ballot question   is in line with policy 38 that would prohibit the  demolition um pursuant unless there was a special   election of the people to be able to do that.  So, one of the mayor's concerns is codified by   policy 38 in city code as it stands now. Council  member Tuttle. Thank you. I have lots of questions   about this one. Several things don't make sense to  me. Um, part of it in the the recommendations for   guard rails that we received yesterday is that no  sales tax proceeds can be released until at least   50 million in private funds have been expended.  Well, that's not how a design build project works,   right? You design the project and you pay someone  for the architectural work, the design, and then   you build construction. And so it wouldn't make  a lot of sense to me to say, "Oh, once you get to   $50 million, then we'll start collecting." So then  the building just sits there like half started,   maybe a foundation, maybe not. The other part  of it that doesn't make any sense to me is that   Witchaw Forward that um I'm sorry, it talks about  how it has to be within three year two years.   Okay. if they're unable to raise uh at least 25  million in private contributions within three   years or $50 million within five years. But  according to the information we received from   finance, we're going to start collecting in year  one. So at the end of five years, there will be   I don't know, I don't do math very well, but you  know 50 some plus million sitting in an account,   but the money can't be shifted anywhere else. So  the money then would just go away. Does anybody   understanding what I'm asking? It just doesn't  seem like a very feasible plan to say you have   to spend $50 million before any money is collected  from the sales tax because that's going to put a   gap. Um and then if the money isn't raised, then  the performing arts initiative shall dissolve and   the sales tax collection shall expire early, but  the money can't go from one bucket to another.   So I I guess there I just have some some  questions. I see some head nods. A few people   understand what I'm asking. So I think this is  too restrictive. Um I agree there should be $75   million collected from the community and then  we have the $75 million from the sales tax to   ensure there's a public private partnership. But  I think putting some of these other guard rails is   too restrictive and could possibly in inhibit the  the project from being successful. My intention   for that uh proposed guardrail was because usually  if someone gets a loan uh to build anything a type   of project, their money is always spent first  before actually receiving that loan. Therefore,   uh yes, you're right. It is much more  restrictive. It's because it's a challenge   to the private dollars that supposedly are  there to collect them over time. And that's   the reason also why prioritization matters.  If you prioritize the first three initiatives,   not saying that you wouldn't collect for Century  2 and this new performing arts, it allows them   time to go and collect those pledges and actually  collect the dollars and then actually create the   plans with engagement from the community. So all  of this is going to take time and I don't believe   that they will be able to raise uh the dollars  immediately. Therefore, it does make sense to   have a prioritization. Again, not the intention  to not follow through with the ballot language.   However, I gave a proposal of a guardrail that  then again was told that that would not be uh able   to be accomplished because our ballot language  does require that fifth initiative to be funded   at 75 million. Yeah. So, it doesn't say though  according to this that we're not going to collect   in year 2026 2027. We're going to start collecting  for performing arts right away just like we are   all the other P categories. That's according to  what staff is recommending. My recommendation is   prioritization. The first 300 million going to  again public safety, homelessness and property   tax. So that again we are making the commitment  that during budget season which is happening as   soon as this comes um through and finished with  the con conversation that we would be talking   about the budget following that. And so property  taxes is part of that conversation. And that's one   of the things that I've heard from communities  saying, "Well, if you only spend $10 on one   initiative, you will have fulfilled it because it  says up to." And I remind them that each of those   initiatives has an up to. However, it may not  have a minimum, but it does. It actually does   imply that minimum. It has to be all of that to  those specific initiatives unless we prioritize.   And again, my intention is to prioritize. Council  member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. Again, I agree   with your position of prioritizing first 300  million. Also agree with Council Member Tuttle.   Uh I don't think that guard really is necessary  because we have a onetoone match. Let's not make   it more complicated than it really is. Uh it still  has to be a onetoone match. Um, Council Member   Ballard, to answer your question, uh, when would a  tax start to be collected? If we prioritize first   300 million, when we start collecting for the  other initiatives and that would be in March,   according to the estimates, March of 2029  in 2026, 27, and 28, it's 274.2 million. So,   it's about about 10 million a month. And so that  would be in March of 29 when you start collecting   those four uh fine arts convention center. So  then it then it would go to all of them. So Anyway, somebody could probably write a check  for that. So, somebody could. Whether they will   or not, I don't know. Angela, I'd like to ask you  a question. I think you've just completed a very   successful fundraising campaigns. Can you go over  that a little bit? You bought a school and you had   one campaign. We're still in a We're still in a  quiet phase. You are. It's not very quiet. It's   It's not super quiet. We're going to get to  the loud phase at the end of April, but yeah,   we have been um and that is something that is has  is only uh private funding and it is ongoing um   but has been successful so far. Um and certainly  we're not talking about this the same amount   of dollars here, but I do think a lot of the  principles were will carry over. Um, and I I want   to say I really appreciate um what the mayor is  trying to do here in creating the the guard rails   and I think we're trying to walk this line of we  want guard rails and we don't want to handcuff   any projects and that's like a really sensitive  line to walk. Um but yeah, I I agree what my   what my experience with the campaign that we're  part of right now and and starting the phases of   um remediation and demolition and construction um  is that there is this long process that involves   the planning and the fundraising and that all sort  of dovetales together um and then comes the part   where like a lot of the expenditure happens at  the same time. So my guess is that in a situation   like this, we would spend the first several  years on seeking community input, making plans,   um determining um you know where the where  this other $75 million comes from. And then   um to Councilwoman Tuttle's point, there's going  to be a point where it's really a press go and all   of those dollars are going to get expended almost  together. So, if it's the if the first 50 million   are the private funds, it's going to be the public  funds that need to come right next to that, right?   Because we don't want to have major pauses in  construction. That that costs a lot of money. Um,   did that answer your question? It does, but also  gives us an opportunity to earn more interest   income if we spend your money first. I think  we should spend money onetoone like we raised   it. That's my that would be my interpretation of  that. I also think there's an option here that,   you know, we've used a lot of um agreements that  are like essentially legal donor agreements that   donors sign. Um and that might be a a step here to  help ensure that this money is forthcoming whether   or not it is literally sitting in account.  Um but to have, you know, legal documentation   saying these dollars are coming from this private  donor might might help um create some more create   a guardrail in that way. Right. Nationally,  you you're going to get at least 98 99% of   commitments. Generally in fundraising that is  the case. Sometimes you get 101%. People give you   more money than they committed. So that can happen  too. I do want to highlight the success you've had   because as I understand it, you started off with a  bare bones project. Funds are raising went really   well and so you added more to it. Went really well  and you added more to it. Is is that the case?   That is the case. I'm trying to be I'm sorry. I'm  not trying to be koi. I'm just trying to save some   things for our big public announcement in April.  Well, I I just think that says a lot about support   for your pro. you're one of many and that that  tells tells a lot of support for for the arts   and for music theater witch. So I think that's is  something that needs to be mentioned that there is   support there. It's been demonstrated by by your  fundraising and what you have planned. Yeah, I   think exploration place is another really terrific  example of you know when the community gets   excited about something um and the the type of um  the type of out of town visitors that we're going   to see because of that fantastic project. And we  would hope that a performing arts center would do   the same. Certainly a convention center. Um so  there's lots of opportunity here. Yeah. Well,   good. Well, thank thanks for the work you do. Any  questions further for performing arts? Thank you,   mayor. Most capital projects would take two to  three years to plan and get off the ground. And   so I think the prioritization is fine in  this case. Um, regarding just uh I think   we need probably need to recenter on what we're  talking about. Staff presented more than 36 pages   um of resolutions before us and those are what  we're talking about today. Those were presented   to the council on Thursday and Friday. I think  a lot of the conversation has been diverted   to Facebook posts posted yesterday at 7:00 and  different suggestions that haven't had the chance   to be vetted. There's the opportunity for them  to be vetted, but I think we should talk about   the resolution and how those things are implied.  Specifically when we look at u maybe a few of them   I think policy 38 covers a lot of my colleagues  concern 26521.4 um 260521.6 260501.7 that is all   in staff's presentations and so I just re want to  recenter the conversation about what was presented   uh to mayor and council on Thursday of last  week not what was um posted on Facebook and   then suggested to the council today to be able to  debate. And so I think that's a clear delineation   just when we're talking about we can definitely  strengthen the resolutions, but I think we should   be looking how to strengthen the resolutions and  bring additional resolutions before this body in   our debate today. I will have specifics after  that. I'm still in the questioning phase, but I   actually have them based off of the resolutions.  Uh Angela, I uh have another question. um wanted   to know how if this performing arts center gets  built a new one what has been the consideration   regarding staff will this all be private staffing  what how is this going to be staffed that's a   great question and one that I think um should be  the purview of the citizen oversight committee   there are essentially three different ways to run  a performing arts center one is what witchah used   to do where city owns and operates. And so  it is city staff who run the performing arts   center. Another is what Witchah is currently doing  which is that city owns the building and it is a   third-party for-profit company that manages the  building. And then there's a third which you see   places like Omaha um lots of places throughout  the country. There are there is a notfor-profit   501c3 that becomes the body that manages and  fundraises etc for the building. And I think that   um as we are going through the plans of what does  this performing arts center look like that would   be like the appropriate time to do a really deep  dive on each of those three models and which fits   best for Witchah. And then I would think that the  citizen oversight committee would bring that back   to council and say here are the pros and cons  of each. Here's what we think works the best   um and and make that determination going forward.  My concern comes from what has happened currently   um with our situation with our low barrier  shelter plus services. The challenge was   for this community to step up and provide private  dollars to help fund the low barrier shelter plus   services multi- agency center. However, we have  not seen a lot of folks step up with those dollars   because those dollars, as I mentioned earlier,  have been allocated to other nonprofits that   are also providing similar services but not exact  same services. So my concern comes from that. My   concern comes from if we build something new, how  we're going to operate it. And that's the reason   why I asked for another guard rail, which was a  minimum of 10% of the total public and private   funds must be reserved for initial operations and  a plan for long-term operational sustainability   with no additional public support, which would fit  the model of your number three, which would be a   501c3 running it. Again, my concern really is you  build it, how are you actually going to operate   it? And that comes again from an experience  we're currently facing regarding our low barrier   shelter. Um so can you help alleviate some of that  concern? Yeah, I think it's really reasonable to   say we need to have long-term plans. We cannot  assume that the building opens on day one and   that it will never need anything. Um and I think  that um it is certainly in best practice to have   endowments set up for buildings. Um, I I think  that when there is that determination of what   is the best way for this performing arts center to  be managed, that would also be a really fantastic   time for to say this is how many dollars we think  should go into an an endowment. This is what we   think the reserve fund should be. Um, I think  certainly like the 501c3 option is very appealing   and has worked well in other cities. um that then  requires though typically when that happens a city   signs over the building for like you know it's  like the lease is a dollar a year for 30 years or   something and I just think that that's something  that should really we don't want to lock that in   at this point and lock into a model before there's  been sufficient time for that to really be studied   and then for that citizen oversight committee to  bring that back to council. But I do think that   the concept of there there needs to be a plan  made at time of construction for what happens   when repairs need to be made. What h like how how  is this going to exist into the future I think is   really important and something we should all be  concerned about. Again, I think it's that question   of like walking that line of like how do we put  on the appropriate guard rails, but not lock   us into something that we might find after more  study is like not the best plan for Witchah. So,   I think that that's that's where I think we need  to just be very careful with that language. But   I think that the intent of having a reserve fund  is absolutely best practice and what we should be   thinking about. Thank you, Angela. Any further  questions for performing arts? Council member   Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. It's not necessarily  a question. I I just want to say thank you. I think it is in these conversations when we're  talking about priorities. I I think the arts   catch it not so great. And so I just want to say  thank you for the work that you're doing. You   talked about earlier, I want to remind everybody  about the economic value of the arts. And when   we talk about a sales tax, we also have to think  about the tourism that we have here available to   help generate and contribute to that sales tax.  But also what we're talking about today is it's   indicative of what a lot of people don't realize.  What nonprofit leaders do every single day is   they plan quietly and they collaborate quietly  when no one is looking. And the mayor mentioned   uh you know the difficulty and the complexities of  running a capital campaign and raising money in a   in a silent phase and getting people on board.  But prior to that silent phase, you you have a   plan in place. that's part of running a capital  campaign. And so I just want to say thank you   for the work that you are doing. Um I've had the  opportunity to see the magic that you're creating   uh with very little resources. Um, and I also  know overwhelmingly when I'm in the community,   I hear millennials, younger people saying that  they want the arts, that it is not just an   economic driver, but it's mental health, it's  emotional health. It's also an opportunity to   unify our community. It's through the arts where  the stories of our lives are told and we see that   we have more in common than we don't have in  common. And so, please know that I support you   and I support the arts and I have no doubt in  my mind that you will raise that $75 million. Thank you. I just want to say for the record, it's  not me personally that's going to raise the $75   million. Um, but yeah, I think that I think that  um what you hit on here is that we have a lot of   um issues facing our community and um and  it's very easy to get into an eitheror. Um,   and it really has to be a both and and I think  that is because uh conventions and performing   arts um are going to add to the economic success  of the community. So, thank you for recognizing   that and thank you for all the time today. Council  member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um, Legal, uh,   the mayor's proposal, is that allowable under  the language of the ballot as far as the 10%   being reserved? The ballot did not specify a  10% reserve or for operating fund. So that is   something we don't believe is is is provided for  in the ballot. Okay. Because my understanding is   it's not to go for ongoing employment essentially.  It's for the the infrastructure cost construction.   Yes. Okay. So not for operations. Okay. Thank you.  Again, I'll uh give you a clarification of why I   set up that uh suggested guard rail. It is really  to get Witchaw Forward to commit that they will   have a reserve. As Angela just mentioned, that is  the most responsible way to think about not just   building something new, but how are you going to  maintain it moving forward? As we've been talking   about public safety, what breaks my heart is that  we have been deferring maintenance for so long   because we build things and forget that they will  eventually have a roof that will need replaced,   an HVAC unit or a boiler replaced. Those all cost  major amounts of dollars. And if you don't plan   for them now, then you're faced with situations  where we have to discuss how we're going to pay   for them. So I think that it's prudent that I  asked that to be put in there not necessarily for   a resolution but more really as a commitment from  which forward which will be raising these funds   that they should have a prudent and conservative  uh reserve that takes into account operations. So   maybe that question is for Witchah Forward and  and I can appreciate the prudency in it. Again,   I'm just not sure that that is something that  we can do according to the ballot language and   I understand that. But I'm here speaking on  behalf of citizens of our community that want   to make sure that if something is built new,  two things. How will it be operated moving   forward and how will it be maintained moving  forward after it gets built? Those are very   valid questions that community has asked. And  so because I'm not part of Witchah Forward,   I'm asking that question to Witchah Forward.  Mayor, if I may, I I think the previous speaker   suggested great things that I think we can  even amend within the resolution of having   that be a task of the oversight committee. And  I think as we are all representing constituents   um and I and I think Witchaw 4 would agree because  I I believe from what I've seen online and then   what I've read that they feel very strongly about  an oversight committee. Even at the Braver Angels   uh debate last night, we heard citizens want deep  involvement in the decision-making process should   this sales tax pass. And so being able to put that  as an amendment in the in the section that speaks   to the oversight committee and taking the last  speaker's advice, I think would be a demonstrated   effort that we're listening to the community  and that we're trying to establish some more   trust. I appreciate that, Council Member Shepard,  and uh that is one of the reasons why one of the   uh additional guard rails I would like to see  in the oversight committee is subcommittees   for each of the five initiatives. Each of the five  initiatives must have a subcommittee. Um, so that   already makes it five subcommittees plus one big  oversight committee. And I think that that would   help with alleviating a lot of these specific  concerns to each of these specific initiatives.   So, I would like to uh see how that language can  be added to the oversight of this sales tax that   it will have additional five subcommittees for the  five initiatives. Council member Johnston. Thank   you, Mayor. Um I see a lot of people leaving.  Uh people maybe that wanted to speak. Um I would   I would suggest that maybe we we go to public  comment and allow six to 10 people to speak. Um   then then break for lunch and then come back and  anybody else who wants to speak could speak. Could   we maybe even just take like a five minute break  just to stand up and then go to public comment? I   know it's it's hard for me to concentrate after  so long, right? And it's cold. So could we even   just entertain a quick break then come public  comment then break for lunch? Any anybody else   agree? I got criticized for not liking 10-hour  meetings. So, I'm for breaks all the time. Second, we could just break for lunch now,   but I think we lose some people that want  to comment. Uh, I see United Way in the   front. Or we could break bring our lunch and  eat it while we're up here. Do that, too. I'm okay with either option, honestly. I could  start uh listening to the public. I want to hear   from the community. Um so community is also uh  wanting to take their lunch break. However, they   don't want to come back in and out of city hall.  So out of respect for them, I actually would pause   the portion of city council continuing to speak to  open it up for public comment first. I agree. So,   I would um I would ask my council members if we  could start public comment now, but continue with   our further detail uh questions following public  comment. If we're okay with that, we'll now open   it up for public comment. Uh five minutes per  person. Please state your name and your address. City Council members, vice mayor, mayor,  city staff. My name is Ben Saletta,   uh Kansas Aviation Museum, also 6406 East  Aberdine here in Witchah Council member,   uh Tuttles District here. A lot has been said here  today. Um and this has continued on for the last   six weeks of conversation related to this. I do  want to take a second to say thank you to this   council who has taken the time to prioritize  some of these issues that you're dealing with   within this ballot language. Uh if you remember  just a few years ago, this council helped shift   money away from a pickle ball complex to address  the needs of both Second Light and fire stations   uh within our community. And that's to be uh  admired for the steps that are being now presented   here within this plan. You all have understood  the needs to make sure that our first responders,   our most vulnerable are taken care of and this  is a continuation of the commitment that you have   made over the past couple years and for that you  all are to be commended uh for this proposal here   that is going to move forward. One of the things  that I think that's very important to talk about   when we address the issues uh as this is a very  wide ranging proposal. There's not a single person   I would imagine in our community that says a 100%  of this is what I love. But I would say venture   to say that there are several who would say that  a majority of this does meet some of the issues   of my concern. If we're talking about perfect,  the reality is this is your perfect is different   than my perfect. And so we can't let progress be  impeded by trying to aim for perfection because   the reality is again none of us see 100% of  things eye to eye. But what this project and   what this proposal does do is ensure that we take  care of some of the most vulnerable people within   our community while addressing issues of second  light and the homeless the housing services that   need to be addressed. It also helps to take care  of our first responders, our police and our fire.   As someone who in our city uh could depend upon  those for life-saving services at some point,   making sure that they're adequately funded is  important and vital. It offers property tax   relief to those who have seen their uh property  tax appraisals continue to go up. I do want to   sit there and clarify that this city council nor  the previous ones have ever raised the mill levy   on citizens over the past 30 years. Uh it's just a  simple tax thing. When you make more, you have to   pay more. uh and that is a very shallow attempt at  trying to to just clarify how the mill levy assess   value works. But this city, the school boards have  no control over the appraisal process and what   happens. But you have done diligent work to make  sure that the mill levy is not increased. And in   fact, this last year has even lowered that there.  But the continuation of that will help offset some   of those things. looking at homestead value or  homestead credits is also extremely important to   make sure that those who are seniors and on fixed  incomes have an opportunity to receive some sort   of credit back uh and not continue to be taxed  out of their home. When it comes to the convention   center, Bob Brown Century 2 and the performing  arts center. The key piece of any sales tax   though is regret though regressive in nature is  that you want to collect as much out of city res   uh out of city revenue as possible. and having  something at the disposal of Visit Witchah who   is a continual proponent of our community or the  performing arts center that continually brings in   people from outside of our community. Having the  proper tools in their tool belt to continue to   bring in outside visitors is imperative and that's  what helps shift the burden away from citizens of   our city to those outside of those who utilize our  services through their programs. I will say this   again. Uh I want to clarify on the visit witchah  side programs like sunflower summer who have seen   who have been extraordinarily helpful to the  citizens within our community and our state.   Visit W which has been a tireless advocate to  make sure that those programs that help our   community are reinvested and we see that money  coming back in. And so again this is all about   how we have proper dialogue. And though there are  various opinions, your perfect is not my perfect.   My perfect is not somebody else's perfect. But  this pro this proposal aims at progress and   that's what this is about. Lastly, I will say  this is that the vilification of people simply   because they bring forward a proposal is something  that should stop within our community. We have   individuals who have supported our our community  philanthropically through employment and through   tax dollars. and simply to vilify them because  you don't like a proposal should stop. That is not   what is what is best in our community. And while  we might not agree people don't we don't have to   look at them as enemies. We look at each other as  community residents who care for our city and want   the best thing. We might just have a few different  approaches of how we get there. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'd like to echo my friend uh  Ben's uh comments commending all of you uh for   the discussion this morning. Um I am more hopeful  and optimistic around these initiatives hearing   the very practical discussion that all of you are  having, the very serious topics and steps you're   taking forward to make this initiative successful  for our city. Uh for those of you who don't know,   my name is Pete Nahara. I am the president and  CEO of your United Way of the Plains. We are   headquartered at 245 Northwater Street in the uh  elected under the elected leadership of Maggie   Ballard in district 6. Um but as you know we do  community building work in all of your districts.   Uh we do work in all five districts of the of Sic  Cedric County Commissioners as well. And in fact,   because of the thousands of local donors  and advocates and volunteers and hundreds   of nonprofits that we partner with, our charitable  services help neighbors and families here in South   Central Kansas over 1 million times every  year. We believe that that scale of work   only happens when you see public, private, and  nonprofit sectors aligned like we are right now.   And we believe this work can be even more  amplified and create even more good in our   community if we vote yes on March 3rd. Our work  is data driven and it is closely aligned with   the social determinance of health that when met  can ensure a strong community where everyone can   thrive and in that regard a yes vote would provide  a more robust public safety environment driven by   well-resourced police and fire. Uh that means  preventing uh that means a focus on prevention,   timely response and safety across our city. And  we would end up preventing violent crime and we   as we've seen, keeping illegal drugs off our  streets, ensuring our school children are safe   and providing life-saving measures in a timely  fashion. A yes vote would really strengthen the   complex multi-layered system we have in place  now to achieve functional zero homelessness by   appropriately resourcing our city's multi- agency  center. It's a critical part of our full spectrum   of services in Witchah's continuum of care from  street outreach all the way to safe and affordable   housing. I mean, just this past weekend with three  straight days below freezing, Second Light Safety   and Shelter provided uh shelter to more than 300  unhoused neighbors every day. It's hard not to   ask ourselves what would have happened if that  resource wasn't in place. What if we didn't have   this acid in our community chest of tools to  address this this human crisis? It's systemic.   What will we do next year if we don't have  uh the money to keep it open and the weather   dips below freezing again? Today, Witchah is  on the verge of becoming just the 15th city   in the nation to achieve functional zero  homelessness in our veteran population.   With a reliable funding source, we can accelerate  that progress and extend it to women and families,   foster children aging out of the system,  people with disabilities, seniors,   the chronically homeless, those struggling with  mental health and addiction. And a yes vote would   strengthen our local economy by giving us the  inherent 21st century capability to bring in   millions of new dollars every year through a more  functional convention center and a more usable   performing arts center. In both cases, we bring  in 20 to 30% of estimated revenue from people   who don't live here to make an investment in the  people who do live here. This kind of investment   creates pathways to economic mobility and more  financial opportunities for the 40% of working   families who are living paycheck to paycheck  commonly referred to Alice, right? Asset limited,   income constrained, and employed. That's how  cities grow opportunity so their residents   can live better and begin saving for themselves  and and for the future of their families. Voting   yes in this special election isn't just about  March 3rd. It's about the next seven years of   March 3rd. It's about investing in ourselves  with the same grit and determination that   our pioneering forefathers founded our  state in 1861. There are no guarantees,   but with the same grit and determination, we can  give ourselves the opportunity to build a future   just like they did 165 years ago. In two days,  it's Kansas Day, and we're going to be celebrating   uh the fact that we became the 34th state  in the union. and in a uniquely canen way,   we can vote yes on March 3rd and take a chance  and bet on ourselves and lift this community for   another generation and for the future of Witchah  uh for a long time going. Thank you very much. Good, excuse me. Good afternoon, Mayor Woo,  council members. My name is Heather Schroeder.   I'm the executive director of downtown Witchita  located at 505 East Douglas A in Council Member   Shepard's District, District 1. Downtown Witchah  supports the 1% sales tax initiative because it   provides timely avenue to fund our most  pressing concerns. Last year in Witchah,   our community counted 736 individuals experiencing  homelessness. This year's point in time count   where volunteers go out to survey people living  outdoors is scheduled for this Thursday and we   expect that number to rise. Our homeless shelter,  Second Light, housed at least 350 people during   the extreme cold temperatures this past weekend.  I also, like Pete, hate to think what would have   happened if this shelter was not available,  but we may know the answer to that question   as early as this October if this initiative fails.  Federal funding to operate Second Light runs out   this fall, and we have no identified source of  funding after September 30th to keep it going.   The 1% sales tax initiative will provide funding  to operate Second Light in perpetuity, providing   no barrier emergency shelter to people who need  it. Downtown Witchah is committed to a strong,   vibrant city center, but our downtown is only  as strong as our most vulnerable neighbors.   I ask my fellow Witchans, isn't it worth  a penny to help them? If I spent $5 under   the new sales tax, I'd pay an additional  5 cents to the fund that lets us build a   better city and a better place to live.  Visitors to Witchah would pay that,   too. Whether they're from nearby towns or  they're visiting to attend an NCAA game,   a play, a museum, or a show at the arena, Derby,  Goddard, Andover, Maize, and Valley Center already   have a penny tax. This is not something new to our  region, and their residents are better for it with   funding for new parks and community amenities  and resources that benefit everyone. Again,   I ask my fellow Witchans, doesn't Witchita  deserve to invest a penny in ourselves? Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Matt Low and I'm um  here I'm also with the United Way of the Plains,   but I'm not here wearing my United Way of the  Plains hat. I'm here wearing my hat as the uh   lead staff for the coalition end homelessness in  Witchah and Seduit County which is a partnership   of organization uh that together form the  community's homeless response system. We have   currently 24 uh voting members that are a part  of our uh coalition and um as this sales tax you   know uh discussion came about we've had several  opportunities to meet with them and to discuss you   know like what what would our position be you know  should this thing go to a vote. We are supportive   of this initiative and are here today to share  how it can meaningfully strengthen our community's   response to homelessness if it's done right. I  want to emphasize the urgent need for sustained   evidence-based funding, coordinated implementation  and decision-making that is informed by both local   providers and people with lived experience. This  special election on March 3rd pres represents an   important step forward. With the adoption  of the plan as presented by director Stang   and city staff, the coalition, we support a yes  vote to move this effort forward. Homelessness   already cost our community more than $20 million  each year, and without strategic investment,   both the financial cost and the human impact will  continue to grow. We believe the proposed sales   tax presents Witchah with a once in a generation  opportunity to meaningfully address homelessness   and the shortage of affordable housing. To  do so effectively, the coalition urges the   city to adopt a balanced holistic approach to  using the anticipated $150 million in sales tax   revenue revenue. First, establish a restricted  special fund with reinvested earnings to support   homeless and housing services for the continued  operation of the Second Light shelter. Secondly,   provide sustained funding for an affordable  housing trust fund to spur the development   of long-term affordable housing for people  exiting homelessness. And third, commit to   seven years of funding to address the gaps in the  homelessness services ecosystem and stabilization   services. Uh services that are that keep people  housed once they get there and support long-term   stability after they are housed. The need for  this investment is clear. Uh in 2025 alone,   nearly 2,000 households experienced homelessness  for the first time in our community. That same   year, the coalition served more than 4,100 people  through shelter, street outreach, and traditional   housing programs. Uh these services that are  funded by a fragile mix of federal grants,   local dollars, and philanthropy. Affordable  housing remains a major barrier in our community.   Over the past 20 years, housing costs have  continued to increase uh twice as fast as wages.   According to the 2025 uh state of Alice report  that's been referred to a couple of times today,   more than 27,000 low-income households in Sedick  County spend over 30% of their income on rent,   putting them at high risk of homelessness. Among  those served by the coalition in 2025, 43% either   re-entered homelessness or remained homelessness  at the start of this year due to a lack of housing   options. Prevention and stabilization services  are equally critical. Without a path from shelter   to self-sufficiency, we will continue expanding  shelters without reducing homelessness overall.   Last year, 211 received over 10,000 calls in  Sedick County for rent utility assistance alone.   Clear evidence of how many families are just one  crisis away from losing their housing. The winter   storm this past weekend was a good example of  how important it is to have a coordinated plan   and place for people to go to find shelter from  the elements. And I also commend uh the work   of Second Light Union Rescue Mission, our local  police, and the way that they came together and   communicated and was able to serve everyone who  needed shelter this weekend and without any deaths   that I'm aware of or any major issues. And here  in a couple of days, as Heather mentioned, we we   do our point in time count that we do annually.  Um over the last four years, we have seen a 57%   increase in unsheltered homelessness across  our community, and that will continue. I have   no doubt that that will continue to rise without  uh these local investments into homelessness and   housing resources in our community. Witchah has  an opportunity to transform its homeless response   system and create lasting pathways to stability  for our most vulnerable neighbors. With strategic   investment and coordinated implementation in  homelessness in Witchah can be rare, brief,   and non-reoccurring for all of our neighbors.  And that is why the coalition end homelessness   in Witchah and Sedick County urges the city of  council to adopt the plan that was presented   today by staff um by director Stang and others  and supported and we support a yes vote on this   sales tax init tax initiative. We believe that it  gives Witchaw the tools that we need to move from   managing homelessness to truly ending it. Uh thank  you for all of your time and your leadership. Good afternoon mayor, vice mayor, council members.  My name is Tim Stohoff. I'm the executive director   of the Witchaw Symphony. We're located in Century  2 at 225 West Douglas. Uh so I'm going to speak   a little bit about the impact a new performing  arts center could have on our community. As I   walked over from Century 2, we had 1500 students  in the concert hall. Those kids are long gone by   now and have gotten back on their buses to go  back to school. But uh by tomorrow afternoon,   we'll have had 6,000 students from USD 259,  private schools, districts across the region.   and they'll all all have walked through those  doors. One of the greatest challenges we have   with those concerts is that the facility struggles  to meet current standards for accessibility. When   we have students who use wheelchairs, they're  often forced to sit far away from their friends   and classmates. And these accessibility challenges  extend to our regular concerts as well. When there   are limited wheelchair spaces, and many of those  are taken up by subscribers at every concert,   we often have to turn interested ticket buyers  away. We need a venue that matches our values,   one where dignity and accessibility are built  into the foundation so that no student or patron   is ever sidelined from the experiences that  bring us together. This facility is also about   matching our infrastructure to our talent. We have  a world-class orchestra of professional musicians,   most of whom live, teach, and work right here.  And when guest artists visit from around the   country or internationally, I often get this same  backhanded compliment. Wow, you have a really good   orchestra here. They're surprised because the  building doesn't reflect the caliber of the   artists inside it. And I know from conversations  throughout Witchah that that preconceived notion   extends throughout our community as well. There  are people who think they need to drive to Kansas   City or Oklahoma City to hear great live music.  Our musicians are the backbone of our performing   arts economy. They are the teachers in our  schools, performers at our weddings and community   events. By providing them with the professional  home they deserve, we can give Witchah's talent   a stage that commands the same respect as the  cities we're trying to compete with. Ultimately,   investing in a new performing arts center is  a commitment to Witchah's long-term growth   and our local workforce. This project directly  supports the livelihood of the working-class   musicians and artists who call our city home  and contribute to our local economy every day.   A modern, accessible landmark will elevate our  downtown and our cultural landscape to signal   that Witchah is a place where new businesses  can grow and homegrown talent can plant roots,   ensuring that our best and brightest want to  stay and enrich this community. Thank you. Mayor, vice mayor, council members, Mr. Manager,  welcome to town. I'm Evan Roselle. I hail proudly   from District 1. Thanks for the opportunity to  uh to be in front of you today. I'm speaking   uh in support for the Witchaw Forward proposal  because I believe at the most fundamental level   that communities, businesses, families thrive when  they invest in themselves. I think communities   are like bicycles. I think we're moving forward  or we're falling over. And I think in the fastm   moving world that we exist today, uh there's not  a positive neutral gear or or cruise control. And   Witchah is at a point where the needs around  infrastructure and public safety and long-term   quality of life are real and they're not going  away on their own. And there's no cavalry on the   hillside that will swoop in and save us. And  yet at the same time, it's an opportunity for   a community to come together and and create  our own solutions and chart a path forward.   What I appreciate about this proposal is that it  focuses on the basics that make a community great.   Public safety, infrastructure, and the kinds  of community assets that keep Witchah a place   where families want to live and businesses want  to invest. I see this plan as a responsible way   to make critical investments that Witchah can't  afford to keep postponing. It's consumption based,   so you buy more and you pay then you pay  more. It it captures revenue from visitors   and non-residents who avail themselves to  our city's assets without contributing always   uh to those that support. It also helps avoid  paying bond interest so that we get more bang   for our taxpayer buck. And it's a time limited  and it's tied to specific capital needs rather   than inflating uh an operating base. And today's  meeting focuses on on guard rails. zooming out,   I think the biggest guard rail that exists is  on March 3rd where we get to discern the will of   our community. And I've heard I've seen several of  your proposals and I've been incredibly encouraged   by the discussion today around those guard rails.  Uh and I appreciate the tension you're having to   navigate between uh a robust vision and protecting  the trust of our community. And so hear me say   uh I trust you to make those decisions. I trust  you not just not just in the next couple of weeks   but in the years going forward to lead us and  to make the decisions that we need to make in   order to to grow this vision and to build trust.  I understand the objections uh and I completely   understand that in a community like ours there's  going to be a host of perspectives on issues like   these. Some believe the plan is too vague. I don't  I don't see it that way. I think it lays out our   project categories and funding totals. And at  this stage, I think we're voting on direction,   priorities, and safeguards, not the paint color  of different facilities. That detail comes through   design and oversight and responsible process of  implementation led by the city and the citizens   advisory committee. This is a question about  whether we had the will to invest at all. Others   say it's rushed, but I think we've been having  these conversations uh about these investments   for a very long time. Some say that we're not  actually financially pinched, but you know,   and I'm not a CFO, but I think if the if our  needs outpace our current funding levels,   then that gap was going to show up somewhere.  And some would argue that it has already.   Deferred maintenance, aging equipment, strained  or decreased services. As for me, I say we go out   and meet these challenges directly rather than  to have to play defense for the next 10 years.   And one last thing I want to say because I  think it matters a lot in this moment far   beyond the immediate proposal and the safeguards  that we're talking about. Just just a a burden   I feel for our community. We're living in a  time of real exhaustion. People are tired and   they're frustrated and trust is wearing thin.  And a lot of that frustration is landing on   leaders and institutions of every kind. civic  leaders, business leaders, church leaders, and   some of that frustration is well earned. But I'd  encourage us all with this. I think what we need   more than anything is vision and resolve. See,  we're always becoming something. And this is a   moment where we get to choose what we're becoming.  I don't think anger is a great strategy. I don't   think cynicism is going to help uh businesses move  here or kids stay here. I think opportunities like   this where we can stand up together, choose  an imperfect vision and move toward that is a   great opportunity beyond the projects to unite our  community. Thank you for the opportunity to share. Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, city council  members, new city manager. Good to see you again,   sir. Jeff Flur with president of the Grey Wall  Partnership, 505 East Douglas Avenue. Um just   wanted to come on behalf of the partnership  again just to say thank you for the steps you   are taking. Uh perseverance is extremely important  in this moment uh because our future really relies   on it and one of the things you've heard us talk  about uh as we work as the economic development   entity for this community, this region, working  with the private sector and the public sector   um is that we really do believe this referendum  is critical. It's essential uh to our future as we   look to where we want to go. You've heard me say  often about what cities in the Midwest are doing,   what cities in North America are doing, and even  globally, uh, to really position themselves for   success. And part of that is creating that  distinctive city that people want to stay in   if they're here, uh, or they want to move  to because they hear what's happening uh,   with opportunities and they see themselves in  those opportunities. You know, one of the things   that I was reminded of here recently is that  we've done a lot of city-tocity trips uh, a lot.   And I I know being in that audience, if you will,  that delegation, while we're there in that city,   we talk about, well, what if? What about this  opportunity? And then you come back and you say,   what's the piece of action that we can take?  This referendum is an action step that we can   take to move our city into reality of those things  that we've seen in other cities and we want for   ourselves because we do believe I do believe our  community deserves to have a worldclass performing   arts and a convention center uh of that nature and  to take care of those that need additional help.   Um these additional referendums I do believe are  positioning us for future success. Last night um   you know one of the things I'm very privileged in  the role that I have at the partnership is to be   a part of a lot of conversations. Last night I was  a part of a group around biomed. It was out at the   innovation campus a campus that didn't exist 10  years ago but today it does. And you look across   it and marvel about the excellence of it but also  what are the opportunities is positioning us for   in the future. last night was around biomemed.  And as we had different physicians and different   disciplines together, it just excited me more  and more and y'all know I can get excited   uh about where we can go, but we have to have  the infrastructure to support that. And one of   the things that came up last night, and we talked  about this previously, is that a convention center   does play a role because if you have an industry  standard center, you want to bring in not only   people from North America, but around this world  to see what we're doing. You've heard me talk   about the International Air Show. We talk about  biomed there because of space companies dealing   with pharmaceuticals. It's a reality that we  can have incredible industry of that nature,   but we have to have facilities to be able to meet  in. The other is performing arts. Um, Councilman   Joseph, I I love your aspect about the arts. Uh,  it they are important to me. They're the unique   fingerprint that we have the privilege of having  as a community. Um, and so I think about Nasser   Park. Um, Nasser Park, I'll never forget meeting  with the previous city manager and seven figures   needed to be raised to make that park happen. the  city had enough money to do maybe phase one and   we were like you can't you can't not do it all. Uh  now we walked out of that meeting with Bob saying   go raise the seven figures. Now I'm not going to  say I'm going to raise 75 million but the deal   is this. I do believe the money is there for the  performing arts. I believe partners are waiting   in the wings to see what's the directive and once  that directive is known they will step forward.   I really do believe that. In fact, I'll go on  record on being a part of trying to help do that u   because I believe so firmly that that's important  for our community as we look to the future. You   know, one of the things that um Melissa and  I moved here from Baton Rouge. We're not from   Witchah, but I will tell you what keeps us here.  One of the things, there's several, but one is is   that this truly is a community that I believe at  its core is working to create new opportunities   for individuals and families. And I think that's  a noble thing for a community. Certainly, our city   has seen significant progress in our downtown and  industry growth and depth, but we can't let up.   Uh if anything, this is the time to double down  because other communities are and we need to make   sure we're keeping in pace, if not exceeding that.  This referendum provides an avenue to address key   issues that we need to address. But it also helps  us accelerate our growth. So again, thank you for   your leadership. Thank you for leaning in.  the private sector is there with you to help   lead and also make these things become a reality.  So, thank you, Council Member Shepard. Thank you,   Mayor Jeff. Thank you for being here and thank you  for the work of Greater Witchaw Partnership. You   mentioned something um about Innovation Campus  and uh it brought back lots of memories. I was   I was the student body president when innovation  campus was happening and anybody who can recall   that time they know that I flipped over a couple  tables during that time and I was very opposed   to innovation campus and 21 22year-old Joseph  did not know what 32year-old Joseph knows now   and though I didn't do everything right and  I certainly wasn't wrong in every aspect then   what I can say is I agree with you that if former  President John Berdau was still here. One of one   of the biggest wishes that I have is that I would  be able to sit across from a table and tell him   thank you for moving forward um and for investing.  And I appreciate the diversity that has come with   innovation campus. Again, not perfect, but it  certainly has had its benefits. And so I just   wanted to acknowledge that because I know that  that is an example of a lot of consternation that   folks felt and we definitely have to do more work  in that area to bridge the gap between the campus   and the community. Um but the benefits of what  Innovation Campus has brought to our community,   the lives that it has changed, it is it is so  evident and so thank you for mentioning that. Good afternoon. My name is Dan Clifford  and I'm one of the many people working at   Second Light to keep our unhoused neighbors  safe. This past weekend was a crisis. It was   a crisis to the scale that Witchaw has never  seen before. We have served over 365 people,   keeping them safe. The temperature got  well below 0 degrees. At that temperature,   frostbite can set in in under 30 minutes. I  personally took someone to the hospital this   weekend that had frostbite in both their  hands. she was admitted to the burn unit. There was incredible work this weekend as  well. We had staff working multiple days,   several of whom were working 16-hour  shifts to keep people safe and to keep   them alive. I want to thank and acknowledge  the work that WPD, Witchaw Fire Department,   and Cedric County EMS did in bringing folks to  us and also responding when we had emergencies.   I can say that we did not turn away a single  individual that came to our building. And we were   able to keep every guest that came to our building  inside for as long as they chose to stay. That is   a reflection of the work and the dedication of the  people that show up to Second Light and do this   work every single day. Homelessness is a crisis.  It's a humanitarian crisis and it's an economic   crisis. We've heard about the economics already.  Over 11 million dollars from local government goes   into responding to homelessness. That is not  solution focused. That is reactive. That is   responding to a crisis. We can be proactive.  It's also a humanitarian crisis. Last year,   we lost 72 unhoused individuals in this community.  There is a solution. We can use an evidence-based   model to solving homelessness in our community. We  can take a multidisciplinary holistic approach of   meeting people where they're at to being able to  connect them to services and putting folks on a   path to housing. This is not speculation. This has  been proven in other communities to work and it is   and will work here in Witchah. in partnership  with the city of Witchaw working with some of   their housing case managers in a very short amount  of time we were able to house 10 individuals just   in a matter of a few days for some of them. So I  want folks to know that there is just incredible   collaboration and work happening at Second Light  to not only keep people alive in extreme weather   but also try to solve the homelessness crisis our  community is facing. So, Witchaw has a choice to   make. I would ask folks to consider, do we want  to let 365 people potentially perish and the   next extreme weather event? Is that something that  we can live with? Because I will tell you, after   being there all weekend, these folks had nowhere  else to go and it was a crisis. We used every   inch of that building to bring people in and keep  them safe. So I would ask the people of Witchaw to   consider what's the value of human life. What do  we need to do to keep these folks alive and not   just keep them alive but solve their homelessness?  Extend them that hand up, that invitation to   rejoin society. Since the start of our shelter  plus services program in August, we've had over   a thousand people come through our building. In  just five months, over a thousand people. We can   help them. We can house them. And we can solve  this crisis together. Thank you, Council Member   Hoisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just want to say  thank you for your work and the work of everybody   who's been out there. Um, we have seen in the  past when weather events like this happen where   we have multiple people out on the streets dying  and passing away and having limbs and fingers and   toes and whatnot amputated from the cold weather  exposure. So, thank you to you um, Second Light,   everybody who's working on this issue. Um,  also WPD and the fire department because   they've been out there offering rides for free to  anybody to come down to Second Light, checking in   constantly on all of our unhoused neighbors. So,  uh, just a special shout out to everybody who has,   um, any hand in trying to help people, especially  during this time of year. Council member Ballard.   Thank you, Mayor Dan. I just also want to say  thank you so much. Uh, I think most of us know,   but not to the full extent that you do, that this  is really hard work. Um, and the weather elements   only make it harder. So, thank you to you and  your staff. And, um, I know you guys didn't do   it alone. You had lots of, um, collaboration,  actual collaboration from from partners across   the community. So, thank you so much. And  please pass the word to your staff as well. We'll continue with public comment. Hi, my name is Bob Nelson. Uh, 14 years ago  I moved to Goddard. Um, but I am a proud   uh person who uh spends all his money in Witchah,  most of it at Central and Mace. Um, and my roots   are in Witchah since uh 1965. Um, I have heard so  many objections from uh uh the city in meetings   um that hopefully weren't representative of the  whole city and I understand your concerns at um   listening to those objections and criticisms. Uh I  would just uh want you to keep in mind that if you   make it too complicated, you may even inspire too  much trust. So or or too much distrust, excuse me.   So don't over complicate it. I also would like  somebody to do an analysis someday. Uh I hate the   fact that sales taxes are regressive, but I don't  know of any other uh income source that you have.   And so, can somebody compare the net benefits  uh of the millions of dollars you're spending   on Second Light and affordable housing and fire  and police protection to the net expenses that   uh how uh housing burdened person would uh incur  or a homeless person would incur. Uh that's kind   of a cold cruel way of looking at it, but I  would still like to to hear that. Uh, and then,   uh, another point of confusion for me that I  would like somebody to explain at some point,   uh, is you have, uh, four buckets that require  writing checks and one bucket that sounds like   it's going to be a mill levy reduction. We're  taking in money for this fifth bucket of uh,   property tax. How does that work? Um, and I've  never heard that process uh, enunciated. and that   affects uh Mayor Woo's plan. I am very much  in favor of uh prioritization of the capital   improvement program and housing and second light.  Uh I don't know how uh an extra hundred million   uh goes into uh property tax relief in the first  three years. I'm confused about the process and   so I would like to see some explanation of  that sometime. So, I uh thank you very much. Would anyone else from the public like to speak? Hello, council. Uh my name is Russell Fox.  I'm a professor of political science at   Friends University. I live at 605 Northwest  Link Avenue in JB Johnston's district. Um,   I came here to sit with uh the people from justice  together. I am not in a leadership position in   that organization. I do not in any way speak  for them. Um, but I do know a few things about   politics and voting and elections. And I thought  it would be important to put into the record here   something that might be very, very important to  the passage of this sales tax. I wanted to put   into the record something that the co-president  of Justice Together said this morning at a prayer   meeting before this meeting began. Today, Justice  Together is in a season of discernment. As a   40 congregation multifaith coalition, we are  prayerfully considering our position related   to the proposed sales tax and its connection to  housing and homelessness in Witchah. Our intention   is not to move hastily, but to move faithfully,  rooted in our values, informed by relationships,   and accountable to the people most impacted. To  guide that discernment, we are holding ourselves   to three clear considerations. The second  and the third of those three considerations,   and I'm speaking for myself now, are ones  that are somewhat more uh subjective in their   determination. Does it make a significant effort  towards a holistic solution to our housing and   homelessness crisis? and does it avoid worsening  inequities for the le for those with the least   among us? Those are things that can be debated  about in connection with all of the priorities   that have already been mentioned thus far uh by  representatives from United Way and Second Light   and the Cedric County Coalition for the Endling  of Homelessness. They do important work and I have   nothing but respect for what they are hoping for  out of this particular vote. And in regards to,   you know, uh, trying to prevent inequities  worsening, it's been recognized by, you know,   council member Shepard and others that of course a  sales tax is by definition regressive, but you can   make it less regressive. And there are different  ways to talk about, you know, rebates to property   tax and working with uh people on the state  level to try to exempt uh food from the sales   tax. Those are all very important considerations.  But the first of the three clear considerations   that Rabbi Pepperstone read out was, does  this proposal secure $10 million in annual   funding for the Witchaw Affordable Housing Fund?  That's less subjective. That's more objective.   It's an objective that came out of literally  hundreds of hours of research and interviews that   Justice Together did with dozens of stakeholders  and experts. And it is a number that is a serious   reach. It is a number that involves asking  questions about prioritization of sales tax funds.   It's a question that might require looking again  at uh digging into the principle as opposed to   merely the interest that can be generated by the  sales tax funds. I wanted to read off this because   I've been listening all morning and I've been  talking with others and I really want the best   out of this, especially in so far as its ability  to serve our affordable housing and homelessness   needs. And I know that that feeling is shared by  thousands of other members of justice together,   hundreds of whom are likely to vote one way or  another on March 3rd. So to the extent that you   want this to pass, I hope that there can be inc  there can be in additional efforts made to try uh   to mount a genuine good faith effort to reach that  one particular objective ask. Thank you very much. Thank you to the 10 speakers who spoke  during public comment. Uh appreciate   each of your comments regarding not just  the sales tax itself but the guard rails   that are being discussed from this bench.  Um with that we're going to take a short   break of 15 minutes. We will return at 1:45  for the remainder of this council meeting. That's right. Bless you. There we are. Thank you. Uh specifically here,  city manager, can you talk about um the 3.7 to   4.0 mills? Um if this was to get prioritized, how  would that work in the 2027 budget? If um you do   the priority amount, um we are saying roughly a  hundred to $120 million would be generated by the   sales tax each year. And so if your prioritization  proposal goes forward, I would then say roughly 30   or maybe 40 million would be in those first three  buckets. So if you say 40 million in property tax   relief in the first year would be generated. Um  it's when it's generated. So this is where the   fluctuation will happen. If you have 40 million,  we would simply there's more to it, but we would   simply take the sales tax money, credit it to  the general fund. So that way we could reduce   the millillage and again that would be 40 million  reduction. I think would actually be more than   the four mills that we had projected. Um but as  you think about that going forward that could be   diminished a little bit as you roll in the amount  of money in the year six and seven. So it is going   to fluctuate but for the first three years if you  say roughly $40 million we could then just simply   take that off from the general fund need that we  have in millillage for the general fund allowance   and use the sales funds sales tax funds to help  with that. One of the comments made by community   has been there's going to be a 12% reduction  uh in the property tax and here it looks like   it's a fluctuation again depends on valuations and  what the mill levy will be set by Cedric County's   um portion. So is there any way to codify that  at least a certain amount of mills will be   reduced per year and if so would that be in one  of the resolutions and specifically how can that   be captured so that we can guarantee that again a  certain millled millillage will be reduced? Well,   I think it we are challenged about locking in  because for instance, as we just said, this   is projected, we say one mil is equal to about $5  million. And so this was predicated on the buckets   being filled um proportionately in first year,  second year on out. Um so really we're saying   the 3.7 to four mills is based on 20 million. If  we're going to put $40 million in there, you're at   a higher percentage. And so this is changing the  equation to go higher in the first couple years um   than what we're slowly gradually moving it up to.  So unless we actually put an amount and said we're   going to reduce property taxes by four mills each  year over the next seven years. Is that accurate?   If you say that I'm just Yes, you can say that as  one of the res resolution items, but again you may   constrain the general fund. So if you say you're  going to certainly reduce a millage by four mills   and the sales tax for whatever reason doesn't  materialize, I don't think under your plan that   would happen. But you could constrain the general  fund and that would just mean we may have to   identify two or three million dollars. It just  depends on how the sales tax generates the   revenue. I think people are asking for a specific  amount that will be guaranteed and I think that   uh the current resolution that staff presented  does not provide an actual mill levy reduction.   It just says it will be reduced. Um it will be  reduced by how much is an is a fair question that   community is asking. And so if the intention of  this council is to provide a mill levy reduction,   it should be stated um and then again if this this  gets prioritized, you would still have some funds   in there if you went with a 4 mil reduction. Um so  I would like this council to talk about do we want   to make a commitment that we're actually going  to reduce the mill levy? Council member Hoheisel.   Thank you, Mayor. Um, so is it required that as  the money comes in, if we do prioritize that it   gets spent that year on property tax reduction?  Well, I think it depends on how you structure   the prioritization. If you're saying three buckets  will be filled equally first and if you just do a   basic math revenue$1 to $120 million will come in  the first year, but it won't be generated except   for a quarterly basis when we get the money from  the department revenue. So when you're making your   budget decisions in August, we'll have a decent  revenue projection, but we will not have a lot   of certainty to tell you that actually I think in  the first year of the fiscal year. Um if you go   with the prioritization that you're talking about  in the first year, we may only be able to do 3.5   mills um just because how the revenue is flowing  in that first year and then the second year   you might be able to go a little bit higher. um  actually um depend upon on prioritization again.   So keep in mind 1 mill equals $5 million roughly  if there's no deduction for the sales tax on food   as well. That's also going to impact revenue if  that hits in year three and year four. So if you   want to try to lock in a millillage each year, you  do have to factor if the revenue would be adjusted   based upon the exemptions as well. So there's a  lot of variables and when the staff when we put   this out here to say and it wasn't our 12% number.  We did hear that from the community from I think   um some folks from Waw Forward. We said to get  to that it would be about four mills would equal   $20 million and that is what we saw the revenue  projections under the proposal that we had fill in   these buckets. So if we do the 40 million, if we  do the prioritization and we get 40 million that   first year, does that mean we're we have to spend  that 40 million in the next year or do we hold on   to it so that way we spread it out and it's a  consistent number from it's somewhat consistent   because if we have to spend it more on the front  end on the back end of this deal, there will be   little to no property tax reduction. So, well,  I do think you um you hit on something in terms   of say yes, you do raise $40 million where you  contribute $40 million in the first year in that   bucket. You're right. We're just headed towards  150, but that's where the millage will be smoothed   out, so to speak, in terms of you may only get  four mil credit, but that bucket would still have   maybe another 15, 20, 25 million. So, it will be  structured however you want to prioritize it. But   yeah, you very much could have it if you have a  minimum millage of say three, five or four mills,   you could easily accommodate that I think in  say easily in the first or two years and you   have some excess funds in that bucket until you  keep filling it. So it's got a little bit of   variable because the years the money collected in  the time frame then how much you want to withdraw   from that insure. Okay. Yeah. I'm just wondering  if it might be more prudent to keep this one on a   just a split just a basic one that we were looking  at for the rest of them. So just curious. Thank   you. I here's a follow-up question to that because  I believe that again clarity is kindness and right   now people are saying if we only used $10 we  would be fulfilling this ballot language and   I remind them that that is not um the case.  However, there's no clarity of how many mills   will actually be reduced other than there will be  a a reduction. So, if we put in place a four mill   reduction every year, uh whether it collects more  or less in that uh fund, four mills is roughly   $20 million. Is that accurate? Correct. Um, so  even if um for 2027 you had a 4 mil reduction,   you still would have funds in the property tax  um initiative that would be collecting interest.   Is that accurate? It would start, we said July 1.  July one. And so, um, I would I personally would   like to see a 4 mil reduction in property tax that  it's written in there so that people have clarity   of what that mill levy reduction would be. And I  think and I understand your point I think um for   the language just to be clear if you can say that  the four mil reduction would be achieved with the   sales tax offset meaning if for some reason in  the first year it doesn't generate that or you   don't contribute that you're not putting the  burden on the general fund to be reduced by   four mills only with the support of the sales tax  and so I think you can achieve your goal but also   make sure that we can account for the fluctuation  should something happen that if the sales tax does   not generate in this bucket that amount it's  based upon what's available or four mills at a   minimum. I think you've got an opportunity. Thank  you, Council Member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. I   had a similar question. Um, I almost think we'd  be better just to have a set four mills like the   mayor said, so people know. Now, in year seven, we  might have to reduce that because it was a maximum   of $150 million. So, as Mark said, it's slightly  over five mills, five five million per mill. So,   it's probably 20 million and something for four  mills. Um, so we might be a little short on the   on the back end of that. Um, but I think we  do need to codify exactly how much it is every   year. That's just my opinion. I I think you're  correct. I think it's the first year and the last   year that are the most fluctuation because just  when the timing is if we're getting the revenue   where our budget timing is in August for adoption  and then implementation January one. So it's just   a little bit of the fluctuation on the beginning  and the end. When do we have to fund that? When   do we have to make that transfer? Is it in January  of 27 or is it anytime during 27? Can't speak to   that without the finance director to be in here.  Um I think you could probably transfer it anytime.   I see. I think we can transfer it any time. So,  okay. I would think so. Come on. I don't know our   process. Yeah, sure. Um, so we do have a process  for inter fund transfers between our different   funds. So there's different schedules for those  based on so you could do this on a monthly basis   since the revenue would be remitted monthly or  it could be done on a quarterly or even annual   basis. Okay. So we could adjust it to even the  first year we could have four mills because it   starts six months earlier. We we can't adjust it  until January 27 anyway, right? If the sales check   tax started in in July, we would have kind of a  runup to that anyway, right? So the this the that   transfer schedule is just set administratively  just based on timing, but Okay. Okay. It doesn't   wouldn't need to occur in January. Okay. All  of it. Okay. Thank you. Vice Mayor Glascock, I   support the mayor's recommendation. You don't have  to stand. I was just I support the recommendation.   and if it's possible then um I would support  my colleagues in saying that as well. Would this require us um to go back to the  conversation about prioritization? Because again,   would it allow for enough funds to start talking  about um a four mill reduction if this passes and   collections start July 1? Do we need to go back  to the prioritization question first? Yes, I I   believe so. because that way you will then guide  the three buckets for sure if that's where you're   headed. Absolutely. If you can uh resolve that  first, I think that will lead to the rest of the   clarity on the conversation. Thank you. So, I know  I asked about property tax, but it really goes   back to the prioritization initial goal of all of  this and in prioritizing the first three equally   at 300 um 100 million each. housing, property  tax, and public safety. So, I want to hear from   this council because I do have um the resolution  that this would be in place um for prioritization   and that would be the overall uh guard rails  resolution. That one would allow us to talk about   prioritization. So, I wanted to see if I have  consensus if this body would like to prioritize. Not everyone said yes. So, prioritize those  three. Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, one part of this that is just going to  make it real tricky is I still just want to wait   before we do any resolutions on property tax uh to  get a ruling on the homestead exemptions with it,   which again I think are big to make sure that we  actually get um relief to our seniors who are just   hanging on. So, um I'm okay with prioritizing  it. I think I've been consistent in that. So,   uh, just one aspect as far as enacting a property  tax relief, um, proclamation today. Council member   Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. I I would also be, uh,  like to prioritize those three buckets. I would   say not let's not try to get the numbers right  now. Let's we have two weeks. Let's have staff   go back, figure it out how that would work. Bring  back a couple options and let us decide instead   of us trying to decide up here without all the  experts in the room. Vice Mayor Glascop. Thank   you, Mayor. So, that was my question. Legal given  that staff presented one, two, six resolutions for   us to consider. What is the timeline? What's the  process for those to be brought back? When do we   expect first read, second read? Theoretically, we  could do that today, but when would you recommend   first read, second read? Obviously, voters are  going to be going to the ballot box in just a few   weeks. They might want to know these guard rails  beforehand. And so, would the best recommendation   be if any member of this body have, you know, any  strengthened suggestions they want to, they point   to which resolution they want that a part of and  then staff could prepare those resolutions to be   brought before this body. Um, the cool thing  about resolutions is there's not two readings,   there's just one. Okay? So, we don't have to do a  first and a second. You can certainly, you know,   defer this as a packet. You can defer half. Um,  but I think we can either go through these and   make sausage at the bench or you can provide me  and the city manager your recommendations and   guidelines and we can come back and massage these  as long as we get some direction. Um, and I wrote   these based on other cities kind of guidelines  and what I had gleamed from conversations with   some of you. Um, but certainly I mean the  prior prioritization looking at what options   there are for some sort of maintenance fund with  Witchah forward and I have some ideas about that.   I don't think that we can bind them to that, but  I think we can make that a a goal or a aspiration   or a negotiation that the city will attempt  to negotiate or will negotiate with some of   those maintenance funds that some of the earlier  speakers had talked about. So, so I think that   we can get there um by just providing me the input  that you wanted some idea of whether we're talking   about all three funds being prioritized, one being  prioritized, and then I think in particular how we   wanted to handle the nucleus of the $150 million  in homelessness, whether we wanted to peel some of   that off, just use the interest. Um I think some  of those things would be helpful for the drafter.   Yeah, I think the latter suggestion makes a lot of  sense. So, we can start moving forward on this as   well to make sure that we could have something  presented. And so, I'll start uh because we're   also into the discussion phase. Sorry, I think we  still have one. I'm not making a motion. I'm just   it's still part of conversation. Um particularly  in resolution 2649 um I believe in section two   item five we can add um quarterly regular reports  for the community instead of just the regular   reports that would just take a slight adjustment  from staff. Um, in addition on page three, item   six, when we're looking at the first bullet point,  agenda, minutes, and project updates, financial   summaries are made publicly available, including  but not limited to be published on a digital dash   dashboard showing taxes collected and expended. I  think those would be two small changes that would   also um be in line with what we've heard from this  bench and just small changes. So, I just wanted us   getting moving in the right direction to make sure  we're editing uh these guard rails as well. And   then really the last thing, I know that Councilman  Hohheisel and the mayor have both talked about   this as well. Um, regarding the rate relief  water assistance program or LEAP program and   that could be a separate resolution also presented  as part of I know you have resolution 26054, 2605,   26053, 26052, 26049 and 26051. if that could be an  additional one that talks about um if the um sales   tax on food were not to pass the state legislative  body that that resolution would then be enacted um   and that way there could be a separate resolution.  I don't think it makes sense to be tied into any   of these, but as a separate concurrent resolution  if um so I just wanted to start the discussion of   actual tangibles and guard rails. Those would be  the ones I have now. I don't really have much more   than that. I know some of my colleagues will that  way we're giving you guys direction right now. I   just did want to come back to one comment that was  made on the property tax and tying it to a mill   levy and I certainly understand that. Um there  is the bill that we talked about earlier in the   Kansas legislature for constitutional amendment  that would cap property taxes. Um and and we need   to be careful that we don't get into some budget  law violation by saying we will or we shall or we   must. Um and I know the voters want concrete  guidelines. Um, but a budget is a flexible   thing and there's a sales tax variable. There  could be a property tax cap that would severely   um, hinder the city's finances in the next five  years. So, so I think we need to be careful in   we're going to guarantee something that we may  not have the funds in five years to guarantee a   four mill levy. And I'm talking in Mark's arena  at this point. Um but that I think that's just   something for us to think about that you need to  maintain some sort of flexibility um as we look at   this long term and there's a lot of variables.  I have a followup to that specific question or   comment that you made. If we do prioritize though  there are there would be funds in that specific   initiative to be able to pay down that 4 mil.  you have a hund00 million for if you're doing   $20 million worth of tax relief that would get you  through years one through five. You got six and   seven. And I agree with you. I just want to make  sure that again community is asking for clarity   on how much they expect as a homeowner and then  not only as a homeowner but as a renter as they   are renting from individuals who own homes, what  they may or may not see as a reduction in their   property taxes. So I think clarity saying four  mills is if that is the intention of this body   and again we haven't I'm counting who has said  they want to prioritize first and I see that there   are already four people that want to prioritize.  So I guess we can move to the property tax but we   have not reached consensus on the property tax  portion. So I want to make sure that we're all   again in line with that conversation. So, let's  start since you've uh asked about the property   tax. Who here is in favor of specifically  saying there will be a 4 mil reduction? I have questions first. Sure. Council member  Ballard. Thank you. Sorry to interrupt. Um   I just need help trying to understand this. How  can we talk about lowering the mill when we can't   afford we can't afford it already? We I mean I  didn't support lowering a half a mill or whatever   it was a couple months ago. We can't afford to  do that. It's one of the buckets in this. Right.   I understand. But I'm trying to I'm trying to  understand we're just trading tax for tax. So,   we're saving money in property tax and then taxing  people, which I understand we're leaving a lot of   money on the table with people coming into our  community and all of that stuff, but I feel like   I'm just missing something like same. I think  a little bit more clarification. I know it's   one of the buckets and I understand, but I just I  understand the the overall, but when we're talking   about lowering the mill for four mills, I mean,  we can't a We can't afford to do that as it is. Because you can. Sure. Council member uh Vice  Mayor Glass Cop. Yeah. And so I'm going to go back   to other communities that have done this as well  and done this successfully. This portion is to   offset the property tax component. So this portion  150 million will allow for the property tax. This   isn't going to affect the rest of the general  fund that's currently funded by tax obligations.   This is funded exclusively through this additional  sales tax revenue to be able to offset funds. If   you look at May's uh in their 2025 bout initiative  said 15% of the sales tax revenues will be used to   reduce advalor and property taxes in the city.  They specifically addressed advalor and property   tax in Hazesville as well. They did uh they  reduced theirs by 10% of the revenues social   tax we reduced to property taxes. And then um  in addition uh ours comes out to about 17.6%.   6%. And so for this portion, it is a different  mechanism or tool to be able to offer relief for   families in the community. Coming out. Yes, it's  coming out of that 150. Correct. Council member   Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. I did have  one question. Um, now it talks about the   um on section one item three. Based on this  amount under the property tax proclamation,   the city will pledge to utilize this amount of  funding to relieve the tax levies upon taxable   tangible property located within the city  with continued compliance with the provisions   of the state tax lid law. Can you give me a  little background on the state tax lid law? whoever might be the most familiar with it. Council member, clarify which resolution  are you talking about? 2649 053. 053. Yeah,   I have it online. It doesn't have the the numbers  at the top of the ones that we got online. Section one, item three. So you're asking about item number three with  relation to the revenue mutual rate uh with   the state tax lit law. Okay. Yeah. So yeah, we  always prepare budgets and have a budget process   that's in compliance with the state tax lid law.  So for the last It changed maybe three or four   years ago and since then that's why there's been  um the notice that the county clerk provides in   July and then um the hearings and so forth. So um  the compliance with the provisions of the tax law   is really more related to process I think in this  case. Okay, I appreciate that. Yeah, I just wanted   to make sure I had all the background on that  particular you're welcome. Council member Shepard,   thank you so much. Um, mayor, I will yield my  time to anyone who doesn't have Oh, never mind.   I I have recommendations that I'd like to discuss  if we're still on section two. I think it'd be   easier. Mayor, I think you were mentioning going  section by section. I think we're currently on   property tax right now. So, resolution 053. Okay.  Which is again property tax relief. I just have   a question then, mayor, on property tax relief.  And um again, I'm asking this question because I   believe that the public wants to know the answer  on this. I think we all know the answer on this,   but just for legal, I want to clarify that we are  not able to per the Kansas Constitution tier who   would qualify for that property tax relief.  Correct? So, for example, if we wanted to put   in the resolution that homes or individuals who  own homes at a certain value amount are the only   people who qualify for that property tax relief,  that is not legal per the Kansas Constitution. Correction question correctly. I believe  the answer is no. Unless Sharon disagrees,   I that's my understanding. It's no. Okay. I just  I want the record to reflect that several council   members have heard that we've asked about it  and unfortunately we are we are not able to   do it. It's not that we don't think it's a good  idea. It's that we are not able to do that per   the law. So I'm back to um this 4 mil specific  reduction. Um I want to see who who is in favor   because I asked the other one which was about  prioritization and there were four that were   willing to go to prioritization. Now in terms of  specifically saying four mill reduction council   member Hohheisel. Thank you. Thank you mayor.  Um, I am not at this time until I get further   clarification on the homestead tax rebate because  that might figure into the actual mill levy number   that we are aiming for. So, I'd like more time  and wait till the 10th to make sure we get all   the information for that. Vice Mayor Glascott  in favor of the resolution presented by staff   and also pending confirmation. I'm I would be  comfortable with the 4 mil reduction. If there   could be a way to also say if the Senate or if  the um legislative body were to pass something   that would let's say they do pass the constitution  amendment that would affect our ability to offer   that or put us at any further risk. I would just  want the ability to have flexibility if the state   legis legislature put us at further risk. Council  member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. And I appreciate   the question. And I echoed the sentiments  of council member Ho Heisel. Without all of   the proper information, especially um while I was  campaigning saying that I would be a big supporter   of the Homestead Act and looking into that, I  would feel more comfortable until we know more   information. Council member Tuttle, I concur with  my colleagues. I think we need more information   and I'm especially concerned about what's going to  happen in Topeka because that could greatly impact   us for the next year, how many years. So, um, I  don't feel comfortable making a decision at this   point and I don't think we have to. So, thank you,  Council Member John Stunn. I would also concur   with that. I think on all of these, we don't need  to make a decision now. We need to process it, vet   it, and then come back and make a decision on the  10th. Let the record show that I'm the only one   that wanted along with Council Member Glascock.  um that a four mill reduction needs to be spelled   out in a resolution so people understand that  that's a concrete portion that will be funded   uh through these sales taxes and without that I  will not be in favor of a lot of these uh things   moving forward if I don't for sure know that  four mills out of property taxes will be taken   um off so council member Tunnel thank you the  board lit up and I bet we're all going to say   the same thing none of us didn't agree with four  mills. We just said we want four mills and more   information. So, I think it's unfair to say to  make that statement and and to the public. So,   um I if I I'm not speaking for my colleagues, I  never do and I never will, but we all blew up at   the same time. So, I'm anticipating that's why.  Thank you. I will correct my statement by simply   asking staff um can I please have two versions of  uh section 13 of resolution 053 that specifically   states out a 4 mil reduction and one without so  that during the February 10th meeting we can have   that debate. Thank you Council Member Johnston.  Thank you Mayor. I did not appreciate your first   statement made us look bad. I said I was for  four mills. So I don't appreciate that. Uh I I   much rather like your your statement now to give  a couple different options and we can talk about   it again on the 10th. So thank you. Council  member Hohheisel. Thank you, Mayor. I concur   with Council Member Johnston. And can I also  please get a third draft that would include any   uh potential Homestead Act um actions on that  one as well, so we can make sure to have the   full debate. Do you want a separate resolution or  do you want that to be part of 053? Part of 053 if if it's permissible. if that actually  works as far as a property tax language goes. Council member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor.  I think my colleagues uh are already   uh shared the the same concerns that I did. I  don't like words being put in my mouth, so I'll   be looking forward to this continued conversation  on February 10th. Council member Shepard. Mayor,   I appreciate the conversation we're having here.  I just I want to bring us back to a level of a   purpose and engagement in what we're trying  to do here today. I I agree with all of my   colleagues who have spoken. None of us disagree on  the on the reduced mill levy. I think we need more   information. And so I think if we just take the  opportunity to take a step back and really engage   in meaningful conversation. Um, and I also want us  to be mindful of all the things that we're asking   staff to do and keeping in mind particularly that  that public needs to be educated about what they   are voting on. And the more that we add to this,  the difficult that becomes. So, let's let's just   be mindful of who's the most important stakeholder  in this conversation. And everything we do here   today either makes it a little bit smoother or  a little bit more complicated for voters to make   their choice. Clarity is important and I think  that um the outside group that is in favor of this   has said specifically 12% reduction which means a  4 mil reduction which is why I want to make sure   that they are actually speaking accurately. That's  why I wanted to make sure that it does say four   mills unless that is not the intent. And so my  again recommendation for my proposed guard rails   is spelling out how much of a mill levy reduction  there will be. And I appreciate that there will be   more discussion on February 10th and that nothing  will be passed today um because obviously there   are three different versions of what people want  to see out of property tax relief. Vice Mayor   Glascock. Thank you. I'm going to go back to what  I had said earlier at the start of the meeting.   Now they're down there. They're not on the walls  anymore. But when we're asking the voters to   be able to go to this, we're already with what  staff's presented presenting them with 17 pages   of guard rails that are currently be presented  by staff. It was a as a result of listening in   the community and as I think to council member  Shepard's point, we're providing the information.   A lot of these continue to be part of our budget  cycle in the future where we will have another   opportunity for the public to have input on every  single item that will become before us. We also   have the ability to have a public hearing  um after the sales tax were to pass every   single issue has come before the council. And  during our budget cycle, we set the mill levy   rate every single year and then send that to the  state. And so there are multiple opportunities   for the public to engage in that beyond what this  is when they're going to vote on March 3rd. They   want to know if there's going to be $150 million  of property tax reduction. This will do that. We   are codified by the law and ballot initiative  to reduce property taxes by $150 million. That   is in the resolution presented by staff and  that's that is the will of every single person   on this body as well. I don't see anybody else in  here. I would love to still talk about the other   resolutions too. There's resolution 202651 about  public safety. I'd be interested if everybody is   fine with the general purposes of that. I have no  suggested changes to the recommendation presented   by staff. I have changes. Um actually  before we go to changes on public safety   um I want to make sure that community understands  that this is not an irresponsible staff that they   have been trying to prioritize. So um I would  like to know um what specifically will be   um replaced or new when it comes to fire stations.  Um and I believe Chief is not here anymore. I'll try to address some of that. Yes, we did  have our uh team here earlier, but they had to   take care of something. Um, we are going off of  the CIP list, which was um pulled directly from   the city's 10-year CIP program for both police and  fire. So, we do just call out specifically it says   fire facility um trying it says fire apparatus new  stations. So, we got fire trucks coming in for the   new stations. We do have some on the books, but  if you look on um I don't know if you have in your   agenda packet, they were included the CIP program,  but we talk about the fire station, we've got um 8   million identified, but that's in 2031 for one of  those. If you look, um also fire new station. Um   yeah, basically 2031 is where we're looking at. um  plus 2026 we're doing some funding to start saving   for the new fire station as well. So that goes  back to ones that we have planned. We have two   planned. Um so we will move that implementation.  So this still does reflect what you already have   approved which is the two new stations. We have to  do I believe um land acquisition on one of them.   And then if you go down just fire specific talking  about there is new equipment replacement that   could be anything from extract extraction tools  to hoses to we even talk about their breathing   apparatus is a separate one but could even be  turnout gear and hats. So equipment could be all   of that um based upon the information I have from  the CIP. Vice Mayor Glasco. Thank you. To answer   your question directly, mayor, on page 26, well,  I'll actually go back to the resolution first.   Resolution 202651, section one, item number  six, annually as part annually as part of the   annual CIP budget. The city council recommend  a prioritized list of projects be funded with   the stale tax proceeds. Again, another hearing as  part of our CIP and budget process to codify this.   And if you go to page 26 of the CIP, it lists  in specifically uh what's going to be there.   Fire rappers and equipment at 54 million,  fire communications system at 6 million,   fire CCBA at 3.4, fire facilities maintenance at  4.9. Again, the maintenance component that uh you   had questions about. Fire station 62.4 million.  Under police, police vehicles 5.9 million. Police   equipment 12.3, police facility maintenance 3.1,  police stations 24.8, police training facilities   at 15 million, and police storage facilities at  3.8 million. That brings the police to 65 million,   brings fire to 132, and that is codified by the  ordinance as we specify here. The only way that   can change is our priorities during the typical  budget and CIP process, which will have more   multiple hearings. I think we have three budget  hearings every single year for the public to offer   uh thoughts. Council member Tuttle. Thank you.  This for city manager Marshall. Um dur It's been a   while since we started this meeting, so I'm sorry.  Um I I'm looking through the PowerPoint. I'm not   seeing it in here, but I think I still have the  PowerPoint from Friday versus yours. You mentioned   during your presentation, correct me if I'm wrong,  that this would be for capital only and not for   salary. Is that correct? Correct. But I don't  see that codified in the resolution anywhere.   And if I'm missing it, I very well could be. Is  it in there? We did. Yeah. Okay. I just want to   make sure it's in there. I have said consistently  from this bench for the entire time I've been here   going on year 8 that I would not support sales tax  for operations. I support sales tax for capital   projects. So I just want to make sure that's  clear. So we read it out in public here. So,   what should be on the website with the agenda  item on number 14 related to the resolution,   it's page three for resolution number 26-051.  Sales tax proceeds are not to be used for   staffing costs to employ additional public safety  employees or increase salaries of existing public   safety officers, employees, and other city staff.  Yeah. And that's great. But could we even and   maybe not maybe I'm just getting in the weeds,  but any operational costs, right? Because you can   shift one thing from another. I just I just want  to make sure that operational costs at all like   so just just my thought. Thank you. I would agree  with council member Tuttle if that language can be   added. Um again, we want to make sure that only  capital projects when it comes to public safety   um are being considered. Uh, in addition to that,  in section one, um, number six, the portion that   council member Glascock read, I want an additional  mention, uh, that deferred maintenance at   facilities will be prioritized first. This does  not preclude new buildings. Um, I understand that   Southwest uh, Witchah will get a new fire station.  The last one that was built again was fire station   22 in 2009. Um, and so I'm grateful that council  member uh, Vice Mayor Glascock in District 4 will   get a southwest fire station and there's already  one plan in Northwest Witchah, but I want to make   sure that deferred maintenance at facilities will  be prioritized. So that language, if that language   can be added to number six, Vice Mayor Glascock,  uh, I'll withdraw. Council member Hohheisel. Thank   Thank you, Mayor. I might push back on that one.  I think that's something that we actually should   let the chiefs decide on their own because it  might be that buying equipment, new bulletproof   vest or something like that tops to the top of the  line over some ongoing maintenance issues. So, um   unintended consequences there. I think um that one  again should be left best to the chiefs to decide.   I actually had conversations with both Chief  Sullivan and Chief Snow just yesterday and   they have prioritization lists. Um, and I  understand that deferred maintenance has   been something that has been pushed um because  CIP dollars continue to get pushed and so I want   to make sure that deferred maintenance is we've  seen some of the fire stations that have been   um shared in public uh that they do get that  deferred maintenance. So, I believe we need to   be specific that deferred maintenance has to be  prioritized. Council member Tuttles, I'm going   to go with Council Member Hullheisle on this one,  and I have a little background if that's okay to   share. Um, first of all, I I adore our police and  fire chiefs. I think they're 21st century chiefs,   but they may win the lottery and go away. And  if they do, then a new chief in each of those   departments could have different priorities that  I think they should be able to set. And we have a   precedence for this. In 2020 when there was the  George Floyd murder and we were trying to make   sure that we had rallies and not riots, our police  did not have some of the gear that they needed to   make sure that they were safe and the public was  safe. And so we entrusted our police chief to make   the decision to repprioritize things so that they  could get what they need. So, I'm going to lean in   to council member Holisel in this one and say that  I I'm going to trust the police and fire chief to   make the decisions of what the priority should  be for their departments. Thank you. Um again,   since two council members are not in favor of that  language, can you put that in parenthesis and we   can again debate whether or not we should have  the words deferred maintenance at facilities will   be prioritized at the February 10th meeting.  Thank you. Uh are there any other changes to   resolution 51 which is regarding public safety?  I see none. Uh we will now go to resolution about   overall which is uh resolution 49. Now we can go  back to that conversation about prioritization.   Um, again, as I was taking notes, it looks like  there are four individuals who would like to   prioritize uh at least. Um, and so I would like  to see language uh before section one, which   currently states section one sales tax oversight.  There should be a new section one, which should be   prioritization. Um, and in that language, I would  like to see language that specifically states Give me one second. There we go. That  specifically states, "Prioritize the first   $300 million of sales tax proceeds to  be distributed to homeless and housing,   property tax relief, and public safety, each  being allocated $100 million. Thereafter,   all initiatives will be funded on a PR rata basis  in accordance with the ballot language up to each   initiative's maximum revenue amount. Vice Mayor  Glascott. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to   reerate maybe my two suggestions. Um, and I think  they're already a staff, but now that we're on   this, I think it might be easier on page three,  just turning um item section two, item five at   a quarterly regular reports. I think that would  um provide more oversight. And then item number   six to make sure that there's a digital dashboard  showing that the taxes are collected and expended. Any other changes to 49? Council member Shepard.  Thank you, Mayor. Since Council Member Glascock   mentioned section two, uh item five, I have  several that I'm happy to share with you all   so that way you don't have to jot them down right  now. And um I know that this I'm not looking for   consensus right now either. Um but mentioning  that the committee should be comprised of 15   individuals, six of which should be from the  respective council districts, three of which   should represent a member of the continuum of  care, housing, and public safety. In addition   to the advisory functions, the committee shall  have the authority to review expenditures for   compliance with adopted guardrails, flag deviation  for council consideration, recommend corrective   actions, pauses, or audited when warranted,  recommend operational functions for the performing   arts facility as we heard earlier today.  And finally, the oversight committee will be   comprised of five subcommittees. I would ask for  one friendly amendment instead of just six council   members. Usually we have seven. So I'm considered  a council member at large. So seven. We'll we'll   put mayor in there and one one for the mayor.  Got it. Thank you. Uh council member Johnston.   Council member Shepard, can you repeat repeat  the content of that committee again? Yes. And   the synopsis of it is based upon making sure that  there are guarant uh for the oversight committee.   I think we heard last night when we went to the  branger, right? pray for angels debate um that   our community is actually really excited about  being involved in this process and I think these   items which just expands really on what's already  in there if I'm being completely honest but it's   reviewing the expenditures for compliance with  the adopted guard rails flag the deviations for   for council consideration recommend the corrective  actions pauses or audits when warranted recommend   the operational functions for the performing  arts facility as we heard today by the speaker   in public forum and then additionally as we heard  from the mayor I added the oversight committee   will be comprised of five subcommittees that's a  nod to the mayor's recommendation today as well   as in alignment with what we heard yesterday um  considering that a lot of folks wanted to expand   the oversight committee and I think that this  is a good way to do it uh with subcommittees but   still ensuring that the 15 people are the ones  is kind of having those main conversations and   making those decisions. Okay, I'd support that. I  do have one adjustment just thinking about this.   I think we should fund 100 million for homeless  and housing and public safety. But if we fund a   hundred million right away for property tax relief  and we're only going to give four mills or 20   million, we're going to have 80 million sitting  there collecting interest. Correct. And I'm not   sure that's what people want is just for us to put  money in the bank and collect interest. I think   they want to go towards things. So I I would make  an amendment to to fund 100 million for homeless   and housing, public safety. And just to be safe,  we could go 24 25 million for property tax relief.   Um, it'll give us more upstart to council  member Ballard's point of getting the other   things funded too a little earlier. So,  I think I think that might be good. So,   I hear two options for the prioritization. The  mayor's one, which is 300 million in thirds for   the three initiatives mentioned, public safety,  homelessness, property tax, and then I hear a   change uh a second option. Um that second option  is actually 225 million. Prioritize the first 225   million at um 100 for homeless, 100 for public  safety and 25 for property tax. Is that accurate   on the for the first year? Is that correct? No,  this is to get it up to 300 million. Mine is   different than yours. Over what period of time?  however long it takes to get to 300 million. And   I think Mark mentioned March of 29 possibly. I  I mentioned that. Um so March of 29. So then I   would say we need to fund it for 50 million  then for property tax relief for two years. and make sure I want to make sure I'm hearing  you correct even by the proposal for the 300   million because say we do get in the first year  we said we might get $36 million for that halfyear   collection. So, if under either scenario, if  we do the three-year recommendation, I have   $36 million to allocate. Under the prioritization  plan, would I put a third of the 36 million in   each of the three buckets? I'm starting with the  mayor's proposal. If I'm funding those priorities   of tax relief, homelessness, and um and the  other one, I would I would agree with that.   So it' be if we have a hundred million it would  be 30 30 and 30 but the first like we said the   26 the first six months collection will come in  and could only be 30. Yeah, exactly. The 37.7.   Under the mayor's proposal, we would do a third of  that in housing, a third of that in property tax,   and a third. Under your proposal, I think you'd  still do a third, but you want to get up to 50   million after two years to fund prop, make sure  you can fund property tax, then up to 100 million   for the other ones. So if I have $36 million to  distribute among the buckets in the first year, we   can talk offline at how those all would be funded  under the different scenarios with the different   proposals I've heard now. I think we need to  flush that out. Okay. And with Mark Manning,   too. Yeah. Yeah, I do. Vice Mayor Blasco, thank  you. People just want to see property tax relief   every year and it comes out to about 17.6%. 6%.  However we do that, I'm fine with it. Um, now   regarding going back to uh the other resolution  that we're debating right now, the uh 049,   um, I'd be interested if we uh open up a portal so  people begin nominating individuals that want to   serve on this committee. I don't think there's any  harm in getting buyin from the community to start   recommending names, start recommending themselves  as well. We have a great online portal system that   I imagine would be pretty easy to turn on. That's  usually what I advise people is our on our boards   and commissions page. I think that would be an  easy space for people to start submitting names   and their applications to serve on this board.  Um I think it would show the community, hey,   these are the names of people that are suggested.  Uh there's momentum as well and um that we can   begin to get excited about the possibility of  um some significant advancement in our city.   Council member Shepard, I echo and support the  sentiments of Council Member Glascock. I think   we also heard this last night and I agree. I think  when we talk about building trust in the community   um knowing that we are willing to to open up the  doors for people to start submitting interest and   serving on the committee and possibly even what  we heard last night was select the committee   prior to the vote. I do think that could also  um solidify some trust in the community as well. any further uh edits to 49 which is the overall.  Um I do just have one more items 11 1213 uh to be   modified to make sure that it includes language uh  from my proposal uh which said that we will have   um all contracts be awarded uh through a sealed  bidding process. No bid or sleource contracts   are not permitted and no special treatment  to individuals for or against this sales tax. Council member Tuttle. Thank you. Didn't Josh I  mean it's been a long time ago since we had him   here, but didn't he say some of this we couldn't  do or we already do? Yes, but we want to codify it   since we have a resolution specifically about  the sales tax. I just want to make sure that   uh items 11 1213 show that um intention mayor  if I may I think that's and maybe legal could   speak to this too when I'm looking at the next  resolution 26052 item five I think codifies what   you're suggesting or it says um regarding this and  then there's also one on the performing arts that   all city land acquisitions formal solicitations  for professional services procurement processes   will be followed in terming the site design  construction as approved by the city council   and that have to come before but um Sharon,  could you maybe elaborate a little more too?   Yeah. And and and I think that um to to be clear,  not all contracts are going to be bid. Yeah. And   I think we spoke about this yesterday. A lot of  them are are requests for proposals or requests   for specifications. They're not bids. They're not  bid through the bid process. You wouldn't want to   design your performing arts center based on a bid.  um you would want to see diagrams and pictures and   have a proposal on who's going to be involved.  So, so I think I would suggest language that all   contracts will be awarded following compliance  with the city's purchasing and procurement   processes unless approved by a vote of the city  council. No bid or sole source contracts are not   permitted. No special treatment will be given  to any business entity or organization in the   awarding of any contract. And that should cover  your concerns, I think. Um, in reference to, um,   Vice Mayor GlassCox, I like this language better  than what I put in there earlier, um, because I   think that really talks about the land acquisition  process and this is going to cover a lot of   different things um, through the scope of the use  of the sales tax. So, I would probably move that   language into all of the other resolutions. All  in, and I'm gonna jump back in because I didn't   get to follow up. I I really appreciate that  because I did not um like the what we were sent   where it said no special treatment for Witchaw  Ford. I thought that was way too vague. Who is   that mean? It doesn't list any entities. So So  I like what you have a lot better. Thank you so   much, Sharon. Are there any other changes to  the overall resolution 49? I see none. We'll   move to the next one. Um, we can go to homeless  and housing services. Uh, this is resolution   54 and the name of it currently says housing  assistance fund. But I believe that the intention   of the language from the ballot is homeless and  housing services. Is that accurate or inaccurate? Maybe Sally, it did say home and housing. I mean,   I know the ballot had both those words  in it. Um, I would like the resolution   to reflect that. Right now, the resolution 454  says to establish the housing assistance fund. The ballot language says $150 million to  be applied for a special restricted fund   to support homeless and housing services by  funding affordable housing shelter facilities   max its operation. So it doesn't provide a name  for the fund. And I know is Sally still here?   There were certain names that I had suggested  that I think were closer to the ballot,   but Sally had concerns that they were already  used by existing programs. So, I think the the   council can name this fund whatever they want to  name it. We just want to make sure that it isn't   already taken by another program to add confusion.  I think for clarity, I I want to make sure that   homeless and housing is part of that language.  So, if we need to call it 316 homeless and   housing assistance fund, it's clear um because  I don't want uh to give the false impression   from four community members that there's a  free-for-all assistance fund for housing. Thank you. Uh with that, I have several and I  think this one will require robust conversation.   As I mentioned earlier, um the ballot language uh  specifically states earnings from such fund. Um   and I see that there has been robust conversation  about it. Um, and I am in the minority when it   comes to this, but I want to make sure that  my intention is with the ballot language,   which is not to touch the um principle or uh touch  this portion that should be collecting dollars for   um this fund. And so I I personally um would be  in favor of simply stating that the principal   will not be touched. Uh C Vice Mayor Glascock,  thank you. I would like maybe some clarification   because I think your proposed guardrails that  we saw on Facebook talked about establishing a   baseline of 2.7 which would be in conflict with  your other statement that the principal should   not be touched. Is it just the principal shouldn't  be touched after the 2.7 or should no principal   be touched because it would be two conflicting  thoughts. So there's a specific language that I   have updated. No more than $5 million of the fund  may be used annually for priority expenditures.   These expenditures will be utilized for  the operation of a low barrier shelter   multi- agency center and for wraparound homeless  services. I would support the full recommendation   from housing and staff at 26054 and I have no  suggested changes. Um, I believe a lot of the   concerns that you've expressed are um in 26054,  12.1, 26054, 12.2, 26054, 12.4. And so I support   the resolution as presented by staff. Again, I  want to be clear that my intention is that the   corpus is not touched and that's according to the  ballot language. The ballot language specifically   states and again the interpretation or the more  moderate interpretation from legal is that the   $150 million as stated in the ordinance earnings  from such fund to be reinvested into this special   fund. And so that intention is for it to grow to  150 and then you start collecting the earnings and   only the earnings would then be utilized for the  these services. But in the stop gap period, you   would have to have a loan. That is accurate from  the questioning I had of Mark Manning earlier that   it would require a loan uh with full intention  of paying it with these sales tax dollars based   off of again what I just read. No more than 5  million of the fund may be used annually. So   very tight parameters of what you could touch in  the corpus. And I'll follow because I was still   part of the questioning of that thought. Legal  26054 hits every legal concern we have. Correct. As recommended by staff. Yes, as recommended  by staff. Yes, we're comfortable with that   recommendation. Okay. Thank you, Council Member  Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I interpret the   uh the battle language different than you do. I  feel like the rest of council does as well. Um,   I am in agreement with council member Glascott.  Council member Tuttle. Thank you. Um, I just want   to confirm with legal. I know it was just said,  but I want there's been lots of confusion. Legal   what housing has presented the resolution that  was presented to us is what you would recommend.   Correct. Or you you stand by this. Yeah, we're  we're not making a recommendation. I understand.   I'm sorry. My bad. legal would legal would not  object to the recommended section resolution   254. And then the other thing that I heard earlier  and again anybody feel free to correct me is Mark   Manning, our director of finance, who's incredibly  competent, capable, skilled, been doing this for   a long time, said he would not recommend a loan  and it could hurt our credit rating. And so I'm   not going to be supportive of any type of loan.  Thank you, Council Member Johnston. Thank you. I   agree with Councilman Glascock, Council Hohheisle,  and Councilman uh Tuttle. Um I think our staff   recommendation that our D housing director put  together was ex exceptionally good. Uh whole   hardly do that. There is no way I ever want a loan  on this thing because it is a cash cash that goes   to capital and we get putting loans in there here  and there and know we're going to pay them back.   you know, that's when people start questioning  that we're playing with the money and we're moving   money back and forth and I think that just gives  us a bad name. So, I definitely will not support   that. Council member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. I  want to agree with the sentiments already shared   by my colleagues, but I think it's uh Council  Member Johnston also shared something that I   think is really important. Um the fact that if  this passes we would avoid bonding anything and   utilizing cash actually saves taxpayer money. And  so like that's important um to to mention that I   don't think was mentioned a lot throughout this  process. But the second thing is is I have serious   concerns about a loan as it relates to I know Mark  Manning said there's a a potential that it could   or couldn't. Um but I I just don't want the city  to take the risk on the credit rating. Council   member Ballard, I share the same concern as my  colleagues. Um, yeah, I'm not really interested   in a loan. That's primarily the whole point is to  cash cash fund all of these projects. And I will   restate my statement, which is I don't believe we  need to touch the corpus. According to the ballot   language, it says an amount not to exceed $150  million. And again, it says earnings from such   fund. If you took a conservative um approach to  a fund that had $150 million in a endowment that   is projected to uh generate $3.5% earnings per  year, that would equal to about $5.25 25 million   per year in perpetuity. The endowment is exactly  that. So that it can live on in perpetuity. That   there will always be that safety net for a low  barrier shelter for individuals who will face   homelessness in our community. As so eloquently  stated by the executive director of Second Light,   365 people Saturday, 365 people Sunday have  been at the low barrier shelter multi- agency   center known as Second Light. And so I want to  make sure that that asset, which is a Witchah,   city of Witchah asset, gets funded first. That is  a commitment we made. um last year, actually 2024,   when it came that we as a council wanted to  provide funds for Second Light to live as a   place where anyone, man or woman, over the age of  18 would have a place to have sheltering. And so I   want to make sure that that shelter actually does  get fully funded. And right now it only allows   for us to look at it for just a portion of its  existence and a portion of what they need. And so   again, I am not in favor of not of what my fellow  council members are asking which is touching the   corpus of this fund. Council Vice Mayor Glascott.  Thank you. I think we're in general consensus that   a majority of council supports as is. So I would  like to move on to 26052 regarding convention and   expansion of century 2. Um I have no suggestions  to the resolution as presented by staff. Council member Johnston. Before we do that, I'd  like to point out that there would still be over   hund00 million I can't pay attention this in a  corpus to fund Second Light. Um, that'd be $3.5   million a year. If we kept our current investment  policies, if we change them, we can easily get up   to 5 to 7% return, which would be 5 to7 million  a year. Council member Hohheisel. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, I just want to go back. Um, I was going  to leave on, but then Council Member Johnston drug   me back in. Um it's $150 million of such tax  applied to establish a restricted special fund,   with earnings from such fund to be reinvested in  this special fund, to support homeless and housing   services by funding affordable affordable housing  programs, shelter facilities. To me, when I read   this ballot, it's saying that the earnings must  be reinvested into the fund. the rest of it. It   seems like it gives the community and council  and the uh the board, the oversight board,   the ability to actually dip into it for affordable  housing services, affordable housing projects,   uh shelter facilities, and whatnot. So, I I just  want to bring up that's my interpretation of the   ballot language. Vice Mayor Glascop, thank you.  But I also got drawn back just because my phone   loaded with uh the endorsers of the coalition and  homelessness. The coalition in homelessness and   Matt spoke about this when he presented uh have  endorsed housing's plan as presented. I'll read   the members of the Coalition Against Homelessness,  the Alliance of Our Look Neighbors, Breakthrough,   Catholic Charities, Children First, Family  Promise, Grassroots Bridgebuilders, Healthcore,   Humankind, Street Team, Mental Health America,  South Central Kansas, Open Door, Passageways,   DualVa, SACK, The Salvation Army, Comare,  Union Rescue Mission, Wall Children's Home,   and Second Light has endorsed the  plan as presented by uh housing staff.   member Tuttle. Thank you. Um, Council Member  Hull Heisel, thank you. And and I think you   did a really good job of reviewing that.  I I love Grammar. Commas matter. You know,   the whole thing and and I interpret it the  exact same way. Never did I ever interpret   it another way. Sally, we haven't made you run  near enough today. Could you join us for a moment first? And I forgot to do this earlier. Thank  you. Thank you for your exceptional work on   this. Do you have any angst or any concern at  all? I do not. I see the plan as presented as   a a means to address many challenges. Um, I do  see the need to I I mean the MAC it's kind of   my baby when we go back and um but if we don't do  things to address housing all we're going to do is   continue to increase the number of people who are  stuck at the back or at second light. So I I just   put a lot of thought um trying to make sure that  we're addressing and even that the funding for the   gap services is so critical. We have resources  now for rent assistance. We can't get people   out of the shelter into housing simply because  there aren't case managers. Okay? And so it's   a complex problem and this has a complex I often  say regarding the unhoused and affordable housing,   there isn't a silver bullet, there's silver  buckshot, right? And and that kind of addresses   that. So as a many decade housing professional,  thank you for your opinion. I truly appreciate   it. Thank you. Council member Shepard. Thank you,  Mayor. And I just I I cannot reiterate enough of   what our director of housing just said. I see  again echoing the sentiments of council member   Hoheisel as well as council member Tuttle. Um  you know, a lot of folks know that I experienced   homelessness as a child. We went from shelter  to transitional housing to subsidized housing   to permanent housing. Right? That's a lot of  steps in someone's journey. And so when we   talk about addressing the issue of homelessness,  we have got to do a good job do a better job and   I I say got as council member Tuttle mentioned  commas. Uh but we've we've got to do a better   job of making sure folks understand the profile  of someone who's unhoused. It's not always what   we put in in our mind. And then we also have to  unlearn what we've taught ourselves about what   it means for someone to be houseless. Um, and  so I do see the language in the ballot as a way   to say it's not just the folks in Second Light  that need our support. It's the people who are   um on our voucher programs and and getting the  support there, but it's also individuals who   are moving into transitional housing like the unit  that we're building on the campus of Second Light.   And I will also say that on Sunday of last week, I  hosted a virtual guardrail session. And to council   member Glascock's point, the president of the  uh coalition to end homeless, Laura Britt Bush   was there to affirm her support in person and to  un to make sure that I understood the importance   of moving this along. And for that, I trust the  experts and I believe that they've done their due   diligence here. And with that being said, I' I'd  encourage us to move on to the next resolution. I see none again on homeless uh and housing.  We're still at performing arts now. Um again,   I have mentioned it and I still stand by  it uh that collected and spent must be 50   million from the private sector  before public dollars come in. And I see no further comments regarding performing  arts. Um with that we will now move to the last   one which is resolution 52 regarding century 2. I  want to make sure that um the city council policy   38 is referenced in the resolution regarding  century 2. so that individuals know uh the fate   of Century 2 is at the hands of the public. In  addition um clearly stating the intention of the   performing arts uh sorry Century 2's performing  arts renovations and the expansion of convention   center. Um there is one point from there that I  want to highlight and that is regarding parking.   Parking has been a major topic uh on this council  and so I feel it's prudent that we need to clearly   state that there needs to be a sufficient parking  plan if we're going to expand a convention center.   Um I believe that it's just again prudent that  we codify it or put it in this resolution so that   that cannot be forgotten. Vice Mayor Glascock.  Um, out of those suggestions, the only one I'm   interested in is codifying um and putting  in and maybe referencing uh city code 38 or   uh policy 38 um out of your recommendations.  Other than that, I like it how it is. Any other comment? Council member Shepard.  Mayor, I'm wondering if you can provide me some   some clarity and I three weeks in, so be patient  with me. When you say the parking plan, is there   a specific are you speaking to adding additional  parking? This is going to be an expansion of the   convention center. And right now, we don't know  the actual designs of this expansion. Expanding   could include moving expanding east. It could  also mean expanding north. So because we have no   clarity on that design, parking may be affected.  And so I feel like it's prudent that we have   something in that resolution that speaks to having  some sort of parking plan. Thank you, mayor,   for that clarity. With that being said, I would  not I would not be in favor of that, particularly   if it included adding more parking meters. I think  we have overwhelmingly heard that there are some   concerns about that. I know that we also just  recently um saw some data from downtown Witchah   actually that meeting of the utilization rates of  parking and um that data alone leads me to believe   that um we we are enjoying becoming a walkable  city slowly but surely and I think we need to   encourage people to walk more. Council member  Hohheisle. Thank you, Mayor. um city manager.   Um do we have anybody out here sees zoning, but  anybody here maybe Troy um who might have some   background as to what our city policy would be  in the case of a expansion like this? Are there   already parking requirements that are baked in  the cake? I'm sure answering more questions about   parking is uh the way you wanted to start off your  new year, Troy. Uh Troy Anderson, assistant city   manager. Um to answer your question, downtown  generally speaking and the location of the   convention center uh and Century 2 is located  within a uh CBD uh central business district   zoning. Uh there are no parking requirements  within central business district zoning. So   there's not a requirement to add additional  parking. Um the advice uh would be that a parking   study be conducted as part of any uh addition  or expansion or renovation. Uh during those   those parking studies, an analysis can be done  of uh what parking is available within a block,   two blocks, three blocks, right? Trying to better  understand utilization, demand, all of those kind   of things surrounding land uses. uh and then folks  can make an informed decision on whether or not   additional parking needs to be uh constructed or  whether there is sufficient parking already. Uh   my advice would be that um as those plans progress  if ultimately this passes that a parking study's   conducted to uh ascertain exactly what parking  if any is needed. So we'll have the power to kind   of decide that. Yeah. Anyways. Okay. Thank you.  Mayor Glascox. Thank you, mayor. I would encourage   everybody to go to witchdaw.govparking, you can  click on paid parking statistics, um when you   look at the oh gosh, where is it? The um usage of  the parking space utility or utilization, uh you   can look at in November, uh total spots utilized  were 6.21%. In December, it was 6.68% 68% and uh   over the course of the entire um life of the paid  parking 17.9 17.95% numbers at the front end were   a little bit higher we were ramping up our paid  parking in different zones and so those numbers   skew a little bit higher so in the last two months  since almost all the lots were come online you   know 6 point well 710 in October 6.21 in November  and 6.68 68 in December. So, I would just echo um   Troy's comments that as we um begin the design  elements that a parking study will be included.   I don't think we need to add it in this and that  will be a best practice as part of the design.   Last uh but not least, I think Vice Mayor Glascock  asked for resolution 55 and resolution 55 would be   the addition uh to if the legislature allows for  a grocery tax exemption versus a non uh approval   by the legislature. So that resolution would then  be a new one for the community to also consider.   I see no further uh comments regarding the  specific resolutions. Um I went over all of the   ones that I had proposed and multiple things have  been crossed off um as part of these resolutions   that will be again further discussed on February  10th. Um and so again um I encourage the community   to look at what currently is available which is at  witchaw.gov/city councsil. Council member Shepard.   Thank you, Mayor. I'm I'm I'm curious. I'm not  necessarily um committed to this being in a   resolution, but I would like for us to explore in  the case that the grocery tax does not pass in the   legislature. You mentioned that the resolution is  already forthcoming from Vice Mayor Glascock. Um,   I'm wondering if we can also look into  what a mitigation plan should look like   um for prioritizing the households earning at or  below the federal poverty level um and identifying   other relief mechanisms that can um support them  to include but not limited to grocery rebates,   utility assistance offsets. I think council member  Hohis Hohheisle has already mentioned the LEAP   program, but I'm curious if if we'd be interested  in exploring more. And then ultimately, um, this   is a side note to all the resolutions mentioned,  but I'm going to keep saying it that I believe   the public deserves to understand where we are by  explaining to the public what is what does it look   like? What is the contingency plan if this sales  tax fails? I want to be careful not to fearmonger.   Um, but I also want to be honest about where we  are and with the projected budget deficits. Um,   manager, you'll have some tough choices to make if  this fails. And I think the public also deserves   to have that information so that way when they  make their choice either way on March 3rd, they   know what may be potentially coming down the road.  Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um,   I echo Council Member uh Shephard's points there.  Um yeah, anything we can do to make this tax less   regressive and take less of a bite out. Um I also  encourage people um or staff to look at um other   ways we can help with the property tax rebate  as well. Um for example, there's some affordable   housing tax rebates that can happen to people who  do do section 8 housing. So, um, some some other   options like that might be good if any of those  come to mind to bring up the discussion over the   next couple of weeks. Mayor, if I may, um, we'd  reference the coming resolution 55. To be clear,   that is more addressing if the legislature  puts a cap on assessed value. Is that correct? I No, mine was the mayor's intention. I would  be interested in what knowing or what effects   that would have. But when we're talking about  how we're removing sales tax on food and what   are things we can mitigate as a result of that  whether that's the LEAP or whether that's the   water rate assistance program. So I do want  to bring up to make sure that um when you   talk about the rate the relief water assistance  rate assistance remember that solely is touching   our rates and things on a totally different fund  structure enterprise. So I want to be cautious.   That's what we can talk about is you may not  want to penalize rate payers on the utility side   to generate funds or whatever or support for the  general fund. So there is a lot of different funds   to keep in mind as we talk about where can we find  some relief as it may be. And so that's what we'll   uh see if we can spell out some of those for  you and where your intended action may not lead   to where you think it may based upon you can help  someone here, but it may hurt them on another side   with the rateayers elsewhere. So, and I I will  quickly echo a message that the city manager just   mentioned. Uh this body will actually be going up  to Topeka tomorrow to talk to legislators about   um the exemption of the grocery tax. Um and  so we will not only put official comments   into the record, I will be testifying in favor  of having the reduction um for the grocery tax   locally just in Witchah. Um so again the purpose  is that we are not trying to hurt individuals who   uh have the lowest income in our community. Um  so we will be in favor as a body of um advocating   for that grocery tax exemption. With that I see no  further comments. Uh oh Vice Mayor Glascock I just   had a final comment because I think we got through  all of our uh suggestions from this body. this is   what healthy democracy looks like and debating and  I think yesterday that conversation started with   KC's hosting of Braver Angels. I think as a result  of you know the seven of us come to this bench   with a lot of different lived life experiences.  We have different constituencies and so obviously   we will not agree on everything. We cannot  expect everybody in the community to agree on   everything. It's not fun and that's not a healthy  democracy or a healthy community. Our diversity is   what helps strengthen us and I believe that the  suggestions put forward by staff with the tweaks   that'll be coming from council only strengthens  the process. I believe that the ballot language   did a good job at putting out guardrails as  you could see from below more guardrails than   really any sales tax in our uh community has  historically. But I think our conversation   today only strengthens that process. And it's  because we heard from supporters, skeptics,   and people who are still undecided as well. And  regardless if this passes or if it doesn't pass,   all those voices matter and all those voices can  still strengthen this conversation. And so even if   you plan to vote no, you can still strengthen this  conversation. You can still be involved and make   sure that if it were to pass that we have a better  community. We all want Witchaw to win. I think I   know everybody at this bench wants that as well.  And I still believe that this can be Witchaw's   moment, not because we avoid any disagreements  up here, um, but because we listened and we also   led responsibly. I think that's what we exhibited  today. And I think that's what we heard from the   community and uh I'm excited for the community  conversation over the next month and a half.   Council member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. And I  am going to lean into some vulnerability here and   uh take some risk. Um I echoed the sentiments of  Council Member Glascock or Vice Mayor Glascock   as we were sitting in the Braver Angels uh debate  last night. Um we we heard some things that kind   of made me even go home and and reflect on wow,  how can I show up better? How can I do better?   And I I've had in the midst of listening to  guard rails, I've also taken many calls from   folks across the community who are being  impacted by their choice to utilize their   voice in this democracy and what they support  or don't support. So as we are talking about how   do we find ways to strengthen our community  regardless of where you fall on this issue,   yes or no. Um and this is a learning moment for  me too and I take full ownership that I fall   short. I did on Saturday. Um I fell I fell  victim to something that I should not have   and I took ownership and I apologized. Please  recognize that from our small business owners   to our grassroots leaders who feel that their  mission is to protect the most vulnerable that   everybody is truly just doing what they believe  is is in the best interest of our community. And I   urge you I urge you I urge you these are people  with lives. They are people who are trying to do   the best that they can. And you may not agree  with them, but the name calling, the threats,   the posting on social media, the dehumanization of  who we are as Witchans, that's not okay. It's not   okay. I don't care who you are, what side of the  aisle you stand on. But please, let's do better   collectively. And I think that starts with us.  And I hope by me modeling that I've had a learning   moment and a moment of weakness and saying I'm  sorry to those who I impacted. I hope that can   be a start for all of us to just lean in and have  better conversations where we can disagree better. With that, um, we are done  with that portion. However,   we still have the remainder of the meeting. Um,  madame clerk, can you please call the next item? Approve that pursuant to section 204090, council  member Ballard and council member Tuttles's travel   expenses as estimated on the travel authorization  and expense form to attend NLC's congressional   city conference in Washington DC March 15 through  18, 2026 for the purpose of representing the city   of Witchaw by meeting with federal officials  consistent with AR 3.1 be approved. Upon   return from travel, actual expenses shall  be reported to the controllers's office. I will move to approve that travel second motion   and a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, please  call the next item. Approve that pursuant   to section 204090, Council Member Johnston's  travel expenses as estimated on the travel   travel authorization and expense form to extend  his travel at government day in Topeka, Kansas   on January 27th through 28th, 2026 to testify  about a bill to allow golf carts on sidewalks   outside of the court area consistent with AR3.1  be approved. Upon return from travel, actual   expenses shall be reported to the controllers's  office. I move to approve that travel. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, please call  the next item. Council member appointments   and comments. Council members, are there any  appointments? I see none. Council member comments.   Mayor, before you start the comments, I did want  to highlight that we did say on February 10th that   we would have a town hall related to the sales  tax question. We also have a meeting next week,   February 3rd. We don't have any sales tax um  agenda items. We will have these resolutions   that you just discussed today on the 10th. And I  think the intention is to vote in the resolutions   on the 10th so we could use the town hall as  the information session. I think to level set   with everyone if we can maybe even turn around a  PowerPoint or whatever and do a presentation on   the 10th about the guard rails that have or will  be adopted on the 10th during the morning meeting.   Um, but if there's some other structure you want  to the town hall meeting, we um actually I don't   think we've said if it will be in the chambers  or elsewhere, we can consider the town hall if   you wanted a different location, but we do have  it tendedly scheduled at six o'clock at night on   February 10th. So, if you want to structure that  differently, certainly open to suggestions. I see   several council members who would like to speak.  Council member Tuttle. Thank you very much. Um,   I received an email from one of my constituents.  She's very active in the community. She's a   retired librarian. Um, and I think I think maybe  y'all were copied on it as well, but she every   year always takes a picture of her end of the year  receipt. So, if you p if you check out equipment   um materials at the library, more than just  books, you get a receipt and it tells you how   much you potentially saved. And so every year she  does this and I'm trying to work with the library   to see if maybe we can have a competition in the  community to see who will save the most. But when   I um congratulated Jamie Nicks, our fantastic  director of library services, and thanked her,   she sent something back to city manager and  I just wanted to highlight it to everyone in   case you didn't know because I didn't know  this. In 2025, Witchah residents saved just   short of $16 million using the Witchaw Public  Libraries. And so I'm proud too because of my   efforts in childhood literacy and in child care,  we are going to do a much better job of trying   to partner child care providers with Witchaw  Public Libraries so they can understand the   vast number of resources that are available to  them to help them with early education all for   free. So thank you to our fantastic staff at  all of our Witchaw Public Library branches and   to their fearless leader Jamie Nicks. Thank you,  Council Member Hohheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Uh,   nothing on particular on the proclamations. I just  wanted to give a shout out to our first responders   and public works employees for the great work that  they've done over the weekend keeping us safe. Um,   I didn't get out much aside from some sledding  with with my son and he got a cold from that,   so I'm in trouble. Um, but uh, special thank you  to everybody out there. It's again putting your   lives on the line. You don't get the benefits  of staying home and being comfortable. So,   um, we do appreciate you, Council Member Johnston.  Thank you, Mayor. Point of clarification for the   manager. Is it envisioned that the we will vote  on the ordinances in the morning meeting and then   just have a town hall to explain them? Correct.  Evening. Correct. That's how it's scheduled,   right? That's how it's structured right now. We'll  have those agenda items for you for the regular   meeting at 9:00 a.m. on the 10th. On the 10th.  Is everyone okay with that or should we get more   public input and then vote on them? You can get  if you want public inputs more. I mean, if people   want to come for public comment, the five speakers  on the 3, you can encourage some public comment   between now and the 10th individually or whatever.  But we can change the structures you want. But as   of now, that's how we have the agenda set up for  the 10th is in the 9:00 a.m. meeting. It'd be nice   if people could see what the ordinances exactly  are that we decide and then comment on them. So,   I don't know how we accomplish that.  Clarification. If it's on the morning of   the 10th and it's an agenda item, you're going to  have the same type of opportunity that we do today   that somebody could comment in it. Yeah. So, staff  will present it to on the third Thursday before.   We'll get it. the community will get it that day.  On Tuesday morning, we can debate it. We have   open public comment just like we did today. We  pass resolutions that evening or that afternoon.   Staff can work on a presentation to then present  that evening to the public saying, "Hey, these   are the guardrails we established and have an open  opportunity for people to give comment on what at   that point is the official guard rails. The voting  will begin very shortly after that. that I texted   um Laura Rainwater, the election commissioner,  just to ask her when um voting begins. The uh   Central County Election Office will begin  mailing advanced ballots on February 11th,   uh the first day. So that means people could get  them up to two to three days after that. And so by   passing it February 10th and showing that night,  people will know what guard rails are in place   and what the council's voted on before moving  forward. And then February 17th is the first   day of early inperson voting. Okay, that sounds  good. I just want make sure people know what they   are before they vote. So, thank you. I think it  would be appropriate to ask this question. So,   if we're going to have our city council  meeting the morning of uh February 10th,   can we just keep that public comment open, meaning  we will recess out of the meeting, but that public   comment will be part of that record, not just a  town hall, but part of the record um that evening. I'm sorry, I'm just not understanding  again. If you could say that again. So,   we have a council meeting on February 10th at  9:00 a.m. and keep the public comment open. In   other words, we don't close public comment and  then it's until that evening when we actually   truly adopt it because there might be feedback  from the community that would say otherwise on   some of these resolutions. So, mayor, that town  hall meeting is not a regular meeting. It's not   a meeting in which you can take a vote. It  town hall is something different unless you   vote to have a regular meeting. That's what  you would have to do if you want to vote on   something on Tuesday evening the 10th. Could  we have two regular meetings in the same day?   I think you could I think someone had told me  that one of the procedures would be to have the   morning meeting which is 9:00 a.m. and instead  of adjourning we call it a recess until 6:00   p.m. when that meeting would resume. Mayor, it's  technically possible, but I will not advise that.   It is a risk under the Kansas Open Meetings Act to  have a recess that long in my opinion. And I just   think it's a it's a challenging um issue to to  comply to have a recess that long. I'm not saying   we couldn't, but it's not advisable as a practical  matter. The reason why I'm asking is we've heard   from several community members who have said  you only take public comment at 9:00 a.m.   We're working or we're at school, which is why we  decided a 6 pm opportunity would be available for   them to speak about this. here somewhere I heard  a suggestion I don't know who to give credit to   but it was that the town hall be moved to the  evening of the 9th and I don't know if that was   I'm fine with that someone who suggested that I  think that's probably better than doing a town   hall afterward I I think that would be a better  solution I'm okay with that I'm just passing on   the Monday before the council meeting and I sorry  I'm going to just jump in because by the time my   name gets called, it'll be onto another topic,  but my dab was supposed to be that evening,   but we cancelled my dab because we don't have  any planning cases. Council member Ballard,   is that the night of your dab? That would be the  only concern. I think that's why we had talked   about the 9th and then we said we couldn't do the  9th, but I I don't know. Council member Ballard,   could you maybe switch your dab meeting or I mean,  no, I know I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry.   I don't mind doing that at all. I know we have um  a planning case at least. So I can't just skip it,   but um I'm happy to have that conversation.  Whatever is convenient for the majority,   we can Well, we can also talk time frames in terms  of the DAB meeting if it's short for the agenda   item. My DAB meetings are never short to that  question. How long would it take staff? Sorry,   just to hop in, but how long would it take staff  to present uh maybe adapted resolutions? So there   doesn't seem that many changes. There's just  a few. Could we just do it on February 3rd?   We already have a scheduled meeting that date  and then we could do it that evening as a town   hall and that way then there's still a week if  there's any additional changes that council's   talked about but do February 3rd. I don't know if  any of you are you saying do on the third meeting   on the evening town hall on the third that evening  instead of the evening of the 10th and that way we   don't have to worry about a Monday. It's still on  a Tuesday evening. We just move to the 3. I think   that would be doable. going to be back. Oh, Mark  Mark will not be back. Um, but we can talk about   the resolution. I think to your point, if it's  specific to the resolution at the town hall on   the third, yes. Um, but we will not have the  full finance um, understanding if that's what   you need. Um, still the homestead question. We'll  see what we can get done before the third. That's   part of the wild card, too. Um, but yes, I think  it's plausible certainly or possible um to have   draft by the third town hall for you. Um, but I  would say maybe not by Thursday of this week to   get it out to get ready for the third meeting.  Um, but we could have it for you on Friday,   Monday. Sorry for button in here. Um, do we  expect a full agenda for the 10th? How many I   mean it's been pretty light the last couple.  Yeah, I say as of now thinking uh initially   on the agenda items it's fairly light. I mean we  could just move the meeting to an evening meeting. You guys all okay with moving the February  3rd meeting to an evening meeting? The 10th   the 10th meeting now. Well, that's what I was  thinking. I don't like the idea of moving it to   the third a whole week sooner. I think we need  to give people as much time as possible. So,   personally, I'm okay with the 9th or  10th. I really like the 10th because   it stays consistent with what we've  been saying for a couple weeks now,   but we can have that conversation, but I like  the consistency and possibly moving the the   10th to an evening meeting. I'm in favor of  that. Council members, are you guys all in   favor of moving the February 10th meeting to  an evening meeting? So instead of a town hall, are you guys all okay? Okay. So  we direction to staff to move the   regular meeting for February 10th to  6:00 p.m. rather than 9:00 a.m. Mayor,   we'll need a motion and a vote on that  to change that regular meeting time. I   move that the regular meeting will be changed  to February 10th at 6:00 p.m. Second. Motion   second. Further discussion. Council member  Tuttle. Oh, Madame Clerk, please open the role. All those in favor say I. I. All those  opposed, same sign. It passes 70. So, point of clarification is  a good question by Vice Mayor   uh Glascock. It's not a cancellation of the  town hall. We're just moving the city council   meeting to that evening and we will be talking  about the 1% sales tax and its guard rails. So   that public comment will be that in itself.  Any further comments from council members?   I see none. With that I move to adjourn.  Second. Motion second. Madame clerk please   open the role or all those in favor say I.  I. All those opposed same side. Motion passes   56 61. Thank you. Back to an evening meeting  experience. You're back to your normal exact. So there's