[0:01] Good evening, Witchah and good evening to all of you. Thank you for

[0:05] City Council meeting. We'll call this meeting to order. With us this evening

[0:10] is Reverend Ben Staley of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church invocation.

[0:16] Following the invocation, we will have the pledge of allegiance and ask you to

[0:20] please stand for both.

[0:30] Let's pray together. Oh Lord, we give you thanks for the

[0:34] freedom that is ours to participate in a process that determines

[0:39] the direction for our community. And we thank you for our good mayor and the

[0:44] council members. And we ask that you would give them wisdom as they lead us

[0:51] and give us all wisdom to make good choices

[0:55] that helps us as a community to live according to values that should guide us

[1:01] all. ways that are committed to helping one

[1:06] another and give us the grace

[1:10] and patience to be able to step back as needed, the courage to step forward.

[1:18] Help us to know how to act in ways that are in keeping with uh the values that

[1:24] we care about. We pray Lord that decisions made here

[1:28] tonight will remember that. Help us to remember that every voice should be

[1:34] heard and every life matters and that no one gets left out or behind.

[1:40] » For all that you do, Lord, we'll give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:47] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:53] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[2:00] justice for all.

[2:07] » Thank you, Reverend Staley. Before we continue, I just want to

[2:11] recognize that we have a new Witchah fire chief. Chief Michael Mir is in

[2:18] attendance.

[2:22] [applause]

[2:26] I also want to give a quick shout out to building services and public works for

[2:30] cleaning. There was a little bit safety issue and

[2:35] we got that all clean. So, thank you so very much to the building services

[2:39] staff. With that, Madame Clerk, can you please call the first item? Approve the

[2:46] minutes of the regular meeting, August 18th, 2026.

[2:50] » Council members, are there any items to be edited from the minutes?

[2:55] I see none. With that, I will move to approve the minutes for the regular

[3:00] meeting of August 18th, 20. >> Second.

[3:04] » Motion second. Discussion. See none. Madame clerk, please open the role.

[3:13] Motion passes 70. Before we continue, I also want to

[3:18] recognize that the mayor's youth council is hosting their first

[3:23] and they just came into the chambers. So, we welcome our youth leaders into

[3:28] the council chambers.

[3:35] Madame clerk, please call the next item. >> Public agenda. Uh, from the city's

[3:40] recently adopted civility pledge. The CI the city

[3:45] they stand united. They lead with respect and dignity and they honor every

[3:49] resident in all communities. They are working to create an environment that

[3:52] values shared goals with increased empathy and genuine dialogue. We now

[3:56] come to public agenda. The public agenda allows for up to five speakers to have

[4:00] five minutes each to address the council. Please bear in mind that this

[4:03] is not a period of dialogue with city council or question.

[4:07] This is your opportunity to address the city council with your concerns. I ask

[4:10] that you address your remarks to the city council as a body and not to any

[4:14] individual council member. No action will be taken relative to items on the

[4:17] public agenda other than referral to the city.

[4:22] Speakers will please speak into the microphone. Please state their name and

[4:25] address for the record. A time clock will display the speaker's remaining

[4:28] time to speak. Order and rules of decorum will be observed. The first

[4:31] speaker is William Glander, Storm Drains.

[4:41] » Good evening, council members and fellow I'm William Glander. I live at 235 North

[4:47] Elizabeth. I'm speaking to you tonight because our

[4:51] city's infrastructure is failing to keep up with and it is directly causing the

[4:57] flooding that we are seeing in our streets. I have over 15 years hands-on

[5:02] experience in earthwork, grading, water management. I know how water moves and

[5:07] more importantly I know why it's backing up in our city. The problem is

[5:12] overdevelopment, bottlenecks. The core issue is simple. We are covering up

[5:17] ground with concrete faster than the drainage system can handle. Loss of

[5:22] green space. Water cannot soak into concrete. It needs soil and root system

[5:28] when large developments like new like the new Lo's gas station

[5:36] or massive apartment complexes take over acres of dirt. that rainwater has

[5:41] nowhere to go except to our storm systems all at once.

[5:46] System overload. The massive volume of runoff is overt taxing the main canal.

[5:52] We need the river and and the river rises at at the outlets. Incoming runoff

[5:59] collides with rising water creating a tidal wave effect. This pressure forces

[6:05] flap gates stuck close, sending water straight back up through the structures

[6:11] and out into our streets. Internal blockages inside the drainage network

[6:17] have design flaws where flowing water hits crossing pipes forcing water to

[6:23] spill over instead of flowing freely. That creates immediately immediate back

[6:29] flooding. the solution. We cannot just keep building bigger concrete boxes and

[6:35] hoping for the best. We need smart natural structures fixes. Establish a

[6:43] secondary blowoff. We need an overflow mechanism for the canals so pressure

[6:48] doesn't forgate shut during restore and maintain our ditches and

[6:53] canals. Decades of neglect means parts of our canal system are near collap. We

[6:59] must reestablish and destyle all dirt ditches, especially when paving dirt

[7:06] roads so runoff doesn't pull on the pavement. Integrate smart green

[7:11] infrastructure requires developments to pre functional dirt and tree space for

[7:17] natural absorbent. When old driveways are removed, don't just leave the

[7:22] concrete. Fill them in with curb and trees to capture street runoff. Our

[7:27] growth is great for this city, but if we do not fix the water where the water

[7:32] goes, we are setting our residents up for costly flood damage. I care deeply

[7:38] about making this city the best, safest place it can be. I have the hands-on

[7:43] experience and the practical knowledge to help fix these drainage bottlenecks

[7:48] before the system collapse. I urge the council to review these drainage points

[7:53] and reach out so we can get to work on real solutions to add to this. Someone

[8:00] brought up drainage ditch in West Witchah on the news.

[8:05] We do not need that brought up at all. We need to be able to

[8:11] it makes our city look bad when we get brought up on the news and people say

[8:17] that hey this is a problem. We got standing water. Thank you.

[8:23] » Thank you very much, William.

[8:28] » We will continue with our next speaker, >> Barbara Meyers. Waiver of fee 25

[8:34] military veteran cemetery marker.

[8:41] Hello. Well, I came to you tonight originally

[8:47] to ask for a waiver. of permit fees. However,

[8:52] I was informed last night at 4:45 that those had been waved.

[8:57] So, first of all, I want to thank Reggie for doing that. We appreciate you very

[9:02] much. We appreciate the city for paying attention to this need. And I want to

[9:08] point out that this is for Highland Cemetery, the oldest cemeter.

[9:14] and

[9:17] uh it's for 25 veterans of five different wars. It has been said that we

[9:22] die twice. Once when our bodies give up and once when it's the last time anyone

[9:27] says our name. So on behalf of Charles Adams, Jesse

[9:35] Anderson, Is Baker, Eli Benton, Armstead Bradford, Warren Busel, Samuel Card, Eli

[9:44] Carter, Edward Cook, Roger Davis, RD Still, Eugene Estill,

[9:51] Elmer Foris, Francis Fox, Charles Harrington, William Hincher, Zachariah

[9:58] Lure, Steuart Logan, Walter Marchale, Marcelus McGriff, Henry

[10:05] Molenik, Manford Miler, William Norris, Homer Osborne, and Eugene Whitted

[10:14] and my my team of volunteers. We thank you very much and we appreciate

[10:20] everything that you're allowing us to do with that cemetery and we hope that

[10:24] you'll come to our event on November 14th which is one of the America 250

[10:30] events that's being held acad

[10:44] clerk please call the next individual >> Oswald called Witchaw Public Library.

[11:01] » Good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name is Kurt Oswald and I'm the vice

[11:05] president of the Witchaw Public Library, chairperson of the library advocacy

[11:10] committee and district 3 advisory board member. Concerned citizen, I appreciate

[11:16] the opportunity to speak with you. Last Tuesday, a proposal was made to

[11:21] [clears throat] delay the requested increase in funding for the Witchaw

[11:24] Public Library. Tonight, I want to ask you to think about what the decision

[11:28] really means. So, I want you to imagine imagine if a child needed help learning

[11:32] to read. The child needed access to books, literacy programs, a computer, or

[11:39] a librarian who could help them find exactly what they needed. Now, imagine

[11:44] there aren't enough staff members available when the family need.

[11:49] Imagine if you're looking for a job, you need a computer, internet access, help

[11:54] completing an online application, creating a resume, or uploading

[11:57] documents. The library can provide those sources, but imagine needing assistance

[12:02] and not having a staff member available because the library doesn't have enough

[12:06] people to maintain the hours and service our community needs. Imagine if you're a

[12:12] senior citizen, you need help accessing an online government service, completing

[12:16] a form, or simply learning how to use a computer, tablet, or a smartphone. The

[12:21] library isn't just a building where you check out books. It's a place where

[12:25] people get help. And library service requires people. That's what the funding

[12:29] request is really about. Imagine if the libraries had the staffing they need.

[12:35] Imagine more hours when families can walk through the doors, more librarians

[12:39] available to help children, more technology assistance for seniors, more

[12:44] program for our neighborhoods, more opportunities for people looking for

[12:47] jobs, learning new skills, or simply trying to improve their lives. That's

[12:52] what this additional funding could help make possible. The Witchaw Public

[12:56] Library serves nearly 401,000 through seven locations and a book bus.

[13:03] Last year, our libraries had more than 650,000 visits. Nearly 2 million items

[13:09] were circulated. More than 54,000 people participated in library programs. And

[13:15] staff provided approximately 46,000 technology.

[13:20] Those aren't just numbers. Those are people, Witchah residents, walking

[13:24] through our doors because they need something from their library and the

[13:28] demand continues to grow. Witchah has grown. Library use has grown, but

[13:33] library staffing has been kept at the current level. So when we talk about

[13:39] delaying the library's funding increase, we need to be honest about what we are

[13:43] actually delaying. We aren't delaying the need. The need is

[13:47] already here. We are delaying our ability to adequately respond to it. We

[13:53] are asking library staff to continue doing more with resources that they

[13:57] already have and ultimately the residents who depend on those services

[14:02] are the ones who feel the impact. I understand you have difficult choices to

[14:08] make and other important pri priorities competing for our funding. But I'm

[14:14] asking you to dig deeper into this budget.

[14:17] Look at what can be re reduced, what can be delayed, what can be re reallocated.

[14:22] Ask whether there are dollars that can be rededicated to the library

[14:29] because tonight you have a choice. You can delay this investment and hope the

[14:33] need somehow becomes less or you can recognize that Witchah has already told

[14:39] us what it needs. More access, more staff, more hours and more programs. And

[14:44] we want to leave you with one final imagine if. Imagine a parent finding a

[14:49] job because the library provided a computer, internet, resources, and

[14:54] assistance they needed. Imagine a senior gaining confidence with technology

[14:58] because someone at the library took the time to help. Imagine an unhoused

[15:03] resident building trust and connections because the library staff helped them

[15:07] connect with housing resources, employment assistance, and opportunities

[15:12] to engage with their community. And imagine if the number of Witchah third

[15:17] graders reading at grade level increased because we invested in literacy,

[15:22] learning, and access to information. Imagine if we invested in making those

[15:27] opportunities more avail. You aren't simply voting on a budget.

[15:32] You're voting on what Witchaw will be able to provide with its to its

[15:36] residents in 2027. I respectfully ask you, don't delay the library investment.

[15:42] Dig deeper. find the resources, fund the staffing, protect and expand library

[15:47] hours, invest in programs, and most importantly, invest in the people of

[15:52] Witchaw who depend on their public life. Thank you.

[15:58] » Thank you, Kurt. From district number three, Council Member Mike Hohheisle.

[16:02] Madame Clerk, can you please call the next individual?

[16:06] » David Bradock, Witchah Non-Discrimination Ordinance.

[16:24] Good evening, Mayor Woo and city council members. If you don't know, my name is

[16:28] David Bradock. I live in Riverside, so Maggie's district, District 4. I've

[16:33] addressed you multiple times on this, but tonight I just want to remind people

[16:35] who don't know I was the first person ever to file a complaint that was

[16:39] actually adjudicated through Utah non-discrimination ordinance. It was

[16:44] actually a religious discrimination against me.

[16:48] The company I alleged discriminate against me admitted in writing before it

[16:52] was even office of the law to review that they made a mistake. They already

[16:58] admitted guilt. Our own director of law found my case had merit and initiated

[17:04] mediation and paid funds from the city to do so. Because it was done in the

[17:10] executive branch, not the judicial, the person I was suing or complaining

[17:14] against walked out because there was no force of law behind what we were doing.

[17:21] Unfortunately, I then had my case then reviewed by a subordinate of the

[17:26] director of law who found that my case had no merit at all despite her his boss

[17:32] saying it did and that was done without ever interviewing me once.

[17:36] My case was then buried and trying to get records out and I couldn't. So, I

[17:40] had to pull multiple Kansas open record acts just to find my own data. I thank

[17:45] Maggie Ballard for helping me getting that released under the former may was

[17:49] quite an interesting challenge. I think Becky who was

[38:53] much for allowing that break. We return from that break at 7:01 p.m. Uh, thank

[39:00] you to the communications department. They have been working diligently to try

[39:04] to get sound on YouTube. It is now on YouTube. Uh they also have informed me

[39:10] that any of the sound prior to 7:01 p.m. will be married with the team's sound

[39:16] that has been recording this entire time. But it does take a little bit of

[39:21] time. So it will take until tomorrow before you will have the sound before

[39:25] 7:01 p.m. Um but again, we are now back full sound. Um I do want to recognize

[39:31] that Senator Oltha FaDau is in the audience this evening.

[39:37] » [applause] >> Madame clerk, please call the next item.

[39:43] » Revenue neutral rate self-supported municipal improvement district 2027

[39:47] budget.

[39:51] » Well, good evening, mayor, members of the city council. I'm Mark Manning with

[39:54] the Department of Finance. Well, today's the day that uh we've been uh working

[39:59] towards since January. Today's the day that you will adopt the city's budget.

[40:02] But before we do that, uh we have a couple other public hearings that we

[40:06] need to take care of and those are associated with the revenue neutral

[40:10] rate. So we'll do one for the self-supporting municipal improvement

[40:13] district or what we call the Schmid and then we'll do one for the city of

[40:16] Witchaw and after we conduct those hearings uh then we can get on with the

[40:20] uh budget process. Uh so statutoily we have to set the

[40:26] public hearing date uh for the revenue neutral rate hearing that was set on

[40:30] July 14th for tonight. So that's why we're here tonight. The revenue neutral

[40:34] rate uh is a tax lid created by the state legislature in 2021 and basically

[40:41] uh it determines the level of property tax funding available to taxing

[40:45] districts. So the Schmid is a taxing district for

[40:50] which you do set the uh mill levy rate. Uh typically we set that uh based on the

[40:56] request of the Witsto Downtown Development Corporation uh which makes a

[41:00] formal request to you based on the work plan and the objectives and outcomes

[41:04] that they want to achieve. And then based on that again we will adopt their

[41:08] budget here in a little bit. So they did request a budget for 2027 uh with a mill

[41:13] levy rate of 10 mills. Again, that 10 mills is just within their taxing

[41:18] district, which is essentially the downtown area.

[41:22] That 10 mill levy would be identical to the mill levy rate assessed in 2026 or

[41:28] the previous year. So, this slide shows you the impact of

[41:34] the revenue neutral rate. Last year, uh we levied $1,396,000

[41:40] on behalf of the Schmid. Based on the state statute, we cannot levy $1 more

[41:46] than that unless we exceed the revenue neutral rate. So whether we levy $10

[41:52] more or $38,000 more, in this case, we will exceed the revenue neutral rate if

[41:57] that's the desire of the governing body. So to exceed the revenue neutral rate,

[42:04] uh we have to take a few steps. Again, these are prescribed by statute. Uh we

[42:08] have to provide notification, which we have done. we have to hold the hearing

[42:12] prior to consideration of the budget, which is why we're holding this hearing

[42:16] right now. And then finally, if it is your desire to exceed the revenue

[42:20] neutral rate, uh you need to do that based on state statute by a individual

[42:25] roll call vote uh to exceed the RNR. Last thing I would note is even if you

[42:30] do vote to exceed the RNR, you will set the level of taxes levied later in our

[42:35] budget uh discussion. So you're not are not committing to a tax levy by

[42:39] exceeding RNR with this activity. You're just allowing yourself to determine a

[42:45] tax levy during the budget hearing that is higher than the tax levy of last

[42:49] year. Uh so based on the proposed budget

[42:54] proposed by the city manager in concurrence with that staff would

[42:57] recommend that you do approve a resolution to exceed the RNR for the

[43:00] self-supporting municipal improvement district and that is the recommended

[43:04] action. Uh Heather, I believe from Witto Downtown Development Corporation is

[43:08] here. If you have any questions about their work plan or the outcomes that

[43:12] they have proposed based on the tax levy, I'm sure she'd be happy to address

[43:15] those and I'd be happy to address any questions if you have any.

[43:20] » Thank you, Mark. I would like to ask Heather to come forward and share

[43:26] highlevel executive summary what the $1.4 million would fund.

[43:40] Thank you, mayor, council members. Uh the $ 1.4 million budget proposed for

[43:45] 2027 uh would continue the daily operations

[43:49] of our um downtown stewardship. So downtown Witchdaw is responsible for um

[43:54] maintaining 103 blocks that comprise the Smid. Um that entails making sure that

[44:00] our development community has the resources that they need. Our business

[44:04] community um is supported both in terms of retention and recruitment. Uh we are

[44:09] marketing the district proactively um both internal events that we put on and

[44:13] everything else that's happening uh in the Smid. We have a big year coming up

[44:17] with NCAA returning downtown. So that'll get quite a bit of our attention in the

[44:21] springtime. And uh of course my favorite um focus area that we have is enhancing

[44:27] vibrancy. Um that's everything from our downtown clean team that provides uh

[44:32] maintenance services six days a week in the core. Um to our uh public art

[44:37] initiatives to programs like our free yoga in the park which starts up again

[44:41] on Wednesday, September 9th. Um, so really just making sure that uh downtown

[44:47] is a uh clean, welcoming, vibrant place to be um for stakeholders and business

[44:52] owners. >> Thank you, Heather. Um, do you have any

[44:57] data so that the audience that maybe is just now joining us regarding the

[45:02] downtown clean team? It was initially a pilot and it looks like that pilot has

[45:06] been successful and has continued on as a full-time operation and the 10 mills

[45:12] would help in portion support the downtown clean team.

[45:15] » Absolutely. So, uh, with the additional support that we had by raising the

[45:19] downtown mill levy last year, um, again only on downtown properties, we were

[45:24] able to hire a full-time clean team, which is, um, a fourperson crew, uh,

[45:29] that is working from, well, in the summer hours, 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 6

[45:34] days a week. Uh, the only day they have off is Sunday. Um, so they are out there

[45:38] making sure that we're picking up litter. um since the program was started

[45:43] on February 1st of 2026 um through its uh you know first 5

[45:48] months of operation ending June 30th of 2026 uh we measured more than two tons

[45:54] of litter that they had collectively removed from our public realm. Um so

[45:58] that's sidewalks, streets, um anything that's a public space. Um, you know, we

[46:03] assist our our city departments by providing that extra layer of services.

[46:10] » Thank you, Heather. Uh, one more question. What is the biggest challenge

[46:14] in downtown Witchah right now? >> Oh, goodness. I don't know that I I

[46:19] don't know that I could say. Um, implementing our newly adopted action

[46:23] plan. Um, we have we have a host of

[46:26] challenges, mayor. Um, you know, we we have a housing shortage. Um, so making

[46:32] sure that we're both building enough housing and also taking care of our

[46:36] unhoused neighbors um who reside in and around the downtown district. Um, making

[46:41] sure that we have a full range of amenities uh for our, you know, daytime

[46:46] and evening populations of employees and residents. Um, transportation is a huge

[46:51] challenge. Um, so we're we're tackling all of these and and more.

[46:57] » Sorry, I'm asking a lot of questions. There's no one on the board, but I do

[47:01] have one more. And you just talked about unhoused neighbors. Uh would there be a

[47:05] possibility to utilize some of the budget to help with funding homeless

[47:09] services in the downtown area? >> So, the increase that we're anticipating

[47:13] this year is not sufficient to hire that additional position, but it's something

[47:17] that we're looking at in the future. >> Thank you, Heather.

[47:20] » Thank you. >> I see no further questions. Um I do know

[47:24] are there three members who are part of the downtown Witchaw board? Is that two?

[47:29] » There's just uh council member Maggie Ballard and

[47:34] three members. So, council members for district 1, four, and six are

[47:38] represented as part of downtown Witchah. Thank you very much.

[47:41] » Thank you. >> With that, we will open it up for public

[47:44] comment.

[47:48] I see no one from the >> I'm sorry.

[47:58] Thank you, mayor and city council members and uh city manager. I'm Eugene

[48:03] Snyder. I live at 515 South Maine. And I came tonight to respectfully

[48:10] request that the city of Witchita identify the specific legal authority

[48:16] that supports the inclusion of the residential condominiums at 515 South

[48:21] Maine being part of the downtown self-supporting municipal improvement

[48:28] district. Kansas law establishes specific zoning criteria for properties

[48:34] eligible for inclusion in a SMID district limiting participation to those

[48:41] designated for commercial or industrial use as

[48:46] reflected by the requirement in the statute that says none of which property

[48:50] is zoned for any use other than commercial or residential. In contrast

[48:56] with that, 515 South Main residential condominiums are classified under a PUD

[49:03] zoning designation. Given the zoning and the state statute, we are requiring the

[49:08] Kansas statutory basis which these residential condominium properties have

[49:13] been included in the district and subjected to this 10 mill tax

[49:17] assessment. It was 10 mills last year. Before that, it was about 6.6 six and it

[49:23] has been raised and that's what brought all this to our attention. It's one

[49:26] thing to contribute six mills but all of a sudden to be paying practically 10% of

[49:32] your total tax bill to live downtown based on and we are residential not

[49:38] commercial not industrial but it doesn't matter because our zoning does not meet

[49:44] the requirements of the Kansas statute. So therefore, based on the Kansas

[49:49] statute and the zoning code, these properties have been incorrectly

[49:52] included and assessed. And accordingly, we respectfully request that the Smid

[49:58] budget be reduced by 25,000 until this matter is fully reviewed and resolved.

[50:04] And that is based on the fact that we have 46 residential units at the

[50:09] Waterwalk. And I went through the tax sheets for every residential property

[50:13] and I added it up and it comes to $22,238.99.

[50:20] So I think to be safe I would set $25,000 aside. [gasps]

[50:26] And just to assure you that we will still be contributing the commercial

[50:30] part of Waterwalk pays in $8,19

[50:36] a year. The Fairfield Inn contributes $19,822.

[50:42] The realator's building pays in $5,819. And the King of Freight puts in

[50:48] $19,3625.

[50:52] Approximately $55,000 would be collected by the other four buildings.

[50:59] I thank you for your time and I look forward to working with the city on this

[51:03] statutory issue. Thank you. Thank you, Lugene.

[51:17] Good evening, Celeste, Witchaw native. At the last city council meeting, August

[51:22] 18th, a comment was made that no one had spoken about the Schmid last year. So,

[51:27] I'm here to correct you on that. I spoke. In fact, I'm going to read my

[51:32] comments from August 26, 2025 about the Schmid.

[51:37] Today, I want to speak about the proposed self-supporting municipal

[51:40] improvements district's budget, what you all call Schmid. This downtown Schmid

[51:45] was approved by the city council in 2000. Special taxpayer property tax

[51:49] funds are given to a Witchaw downtown corporation for improvements in downtown

[51:53] Witchaw, Washington to our Kansas, central to Kellogg. However, condo

[51:58] owners and private residences in this area may not know they have to pay this

[52:02] extra mill levy. So, if any property tax increase, there needs to be

[52:07] justification for them to pay this expense. Why is this budget increasing

[52:11] to 1,400,000? Last year, that was a 55% increase. The

[52:17] city of Witchaw is supposed to provide downtown cleanup and park maintenance.

[52:20] So, why is the city giving up what it does to this private entity, downtown

[52:25] Witchaw? Is the city not able to take care of downtown parks? Is the city not

[52:30] able to maintain downtown flower beds? How would we request spending records?

[52:36] How would we see what the dollars go for? Can I file a Kansas open records

[52:40] request to request the travel expenses or the meeting expenses? How would I

[52:45] request the salaries? Now, remember this is last year. I find this interesting.

[52:50] Is this a way to hide taxpayer money? Would a slush fund be created? And how

[52:55] would I know? Taxpayers can't look inside downtown Witchaw finances to see

[53:00] individual salary, travel expenses, and marketing costs. Once you give up

[53:05] control, taxpayers are count cut out of the picture. So, I would suggest, and I

[53:11] still suggest this year, we use the nearly $500,000 budget increase to hire

[53:16] more parks department staff. Employees have dropped from 158 employees to

[53:21] barely a hundred. The And this is still true. This is so ironic. I was just

[53:25] there today. The graffiti on the West Riverbank has been there for over two

[53:31] weeks and no one has responded to the request I made to clean it up. Hire more

[53:36] maintenance public staff. The irrigation system for the flower beds and a Price

[53:41] Witter Park has been broken for months and here a year later, I'm here to tell

[53:45] you it is still broken. It has still not been fixed.

[53:50] Um, we worked really hard with Lowe's Home Improvement Store Heroes Project to

[53:56] plant a thousand flowers. The flowers have not been watered the entire summer.

[54:01] So, now we're going on year two. They have still not been watered now for over

[54:06] a year. This is still true, too. There are weeds, trash, graffiti. Several

[54:11] trees have been cut down, leaving bare stumps. The broken branches are still

[54:15] lying in the streets around Century 2. Hire more maintenance staff, please. So,

[54:21] here we are a year later. You did raise the budget. Downtown Witchaw supposedly

[54:26] is doing the cleanup, and everything I talked about last year, I'm horrified,

[54:32] is still there today. In fact, I was there today with someone who's going to

[54:36] give us Save Century 2 and Witchah area sister cities a grant to help us with

[54:41] watering. And I was so proud of the work we did. I took them down there, two of

[54:45] them today, to see the work we did at a price park, a park that was created in

[54:50] honor of the first black mayor of Witchaw. He was a wonderful man. Um, I

[54:55] won't go into detail, but my father knew him. And here I was disgraced and

[54:59] embarrassed to see the state of that park. So, we've given him more money.

[55:04] Something's not working. I say bring this back in house with city employees.

[55:09] And I know part of the problem is you're not offering enough salaries. Not any

[55:14] more than someone can make in a fast food restaurant. And I can't even turn

[55:18] the irrigation on because I was told I don't have a backflow certification. So

[55:23] I have to water by hand or with hoses around Jon of Arc. This is ridiculous.

[55:29] Please hire people. Give them a decent salary. Fill those positions. Fix the

[55:34] irrigation. And this is the riverbank that downtown Witchah was. so critical

[55:40] to expanding the vision of Witchah to our visitors. And today I saw a visitor

[55:46] with a name badge around her. Headed down there to look at Price Woodard. You

[55:50] know what she did? She beat a hasty retreat because of how awful it looked.

[55:54] You can see my pictures on Facebook. I posted them on my Save Century 2

[55:58] Facebook page and you'll see what it looks like. But I will give kudos where

[56:02] kudos are due. So Maggie, you joined us when we planted those thousand flowers

[56:06] and you were the only one who did. So, hats off to you. But if you look at what

[56:11] it looks like now, you'll think we didn't do a dang thing. Thank you.

[56:16] » Thank you, Celeste. [applause]

[56:21] » Council member Shepard. >> Thank you. Uh, city manager uh or

[56:26] Reggie, I I know that there is a plan in the works for a price. Can you please

[56:30] update the public on that plan?

[56:37] And also can you add the caveat of how long that plan has been in place and how

[56:41] have we communicated that that plan is moving forward?

[56:47] » So we're in the process right now of looking at doing renovations to a price

[56:50] woodard. Uh we put a selection committee in place to look at uh respondents to

[56:54] the RFP. Uh we had approximately 60 uh companies that applied for that. Uh we

[57:00] reviewed that and narrowed it down and we're beginning discussions again this

[57:04] week to start looking at next steps with that project. As part of that, it will

[57:08] get community engagement to see what that space looks like moving forward,

[57:11] which include addressing some of the issues that's with the irrigation that

[57:14] they're talking about there, as well as seeing some of the artwork that'll be

[57:18] incorporated into that project as well. So, we're actually scheduled to meet

[57:21] this week to discuss the next steps in that project.

[57:24] » Thank you, Reggie. What has been done to communicate with those interested in a

[57:27] price winter park and those who are contributing to the vitality and

[57:30] vibrancy of the area surrounding the park? Okay. So, we have uh have

[57:35] opportunities to get information out so once we move forward with it that we'll

[57:38] have community engagement for them to see what that space looks like moving

[57:41] forward. So, as part of that, once we have the consultant on board to do that,

[57:45] we will have uh listening sessions and information for the community, provide

[57:49] feedback on what the envision for the space once we start moving forward with

[57:53] the project. >> Thank you, Reggie. And I know that we've

[57:55] met about this and one of the things that I've stressed is that the community

[57:58] must be engaged to include the volunteers who have contributed so much

[58:02] to the park. And then when we also talk about the irrigation system, can you

[58:06] also talk about what discussions are happening from the city lens uh in

[58:10] regards to that irrigation system? >> Sure. So, one of the challenges that we

[58:13] have with that, I know that we were in the the the point where we had the

[58:17] drought previously where we didn't do any improvements to that fountain during

[58:21] that time frame and we discussed getting those back on board again this year and

[58:25] the cost to be able to get that functioning and then the work that's

[58:28] going to be taking place with the master plan. We didn't want to spend dollars

[58:31] for something that may be replaced in the long run once we do the additional

[58:34] development. So, that's why it's been a delay with the sprinkler system there

[58:38] and moving forward. I hear a commitment from you that we will engage the

[58:41] community about the future of a price winter park. They will be involved, not

[58:46] just a subset. Everyone will be welcome to the table to share their thoughts on

[58:50] that and that we actually have funds allocated to invest in that area of the

[58:55] park. >> That is correct. We will have community

[58:57] engagement for everyone to have an opportunity to participate in it and

[59:00] there are dedicated dollars in the CIP for those improvements.

[59:03] » Thank you. I just hope the public heard that. Council member Johnston Sten.

[59:09] » Thank you, Mayor. Uh Jennifer Legal, um regards to the uh first speaker, the

[59:15] Waterwalk Condos. I know several council members reached out to you for a legal

[59:20] opinion on on that. Uh would you either mind sharing a summary or meet with them

[59:25] later and share it with them? >> Happy to. Yes.

[59:28] » Thank you. >> Is is [clears throat]

[59:30] » would be able to visit with council members or however you'd like to arrange

[59:33] that. I've asked attorney Magna to share that privately with Waterwalk, but she

[59:39] shared a memo with us, Lugene, to uh we met this morning. We got the legal memo

[59:44] back this afternoon, and I've asked our attorney to meet with you privately so

[59:48] that way we can have those discussions like we've discussed. Thank you so much

[59:51] for being here. >> Thank you.

[59:54] » We'll continue with public comment on the Smid.

[1:00:17] Well, unfortunat

[1:00:23] [clears throat] I'm looking at the ordinance. It says,

[1:00:26] "Ordinance number 53-080

[1:00:32] published in the Witchah Eagle on August 28th, 2026."

[1:00:38] Is that right?

[1:00:43] Is it going to be published in three days?

[1:00:45] » Sorry, this is five minutes for you to speak. We will ask staff or else it will

[1:00:50] count against your time. So >> that's just a a question that I look at

[1:00:53] this and it says it's going to be this is this is what you have on your

[1:00:58] website. Uh the other thing is uh this is listed as item six. The item before

[1:01:05] was listed as item seven. So whoever does the uh numbering should pay

[1:01:10] attention.

[1:01:15] » City manager, can you please address both items?

[1:01:20] Mayor the first item was seven because it was u moved to the agenda out of

[1:01:25] order. So it was taken up. It's usually in that category of seven on your

[1:01:29] agenda. That's why. And as to the ordinance, um this hearing has a we're

[1:01:33] in has is is a strict hearing right now on just the RNR for the SMID. The

[1:01:39] ordinance I think he's referencing is part of the budget item. So we're not

[1:01:42] there yet. >> Thank you. We will continue with the

[1:01:47] public comment. I see none. We will close public comment

[1:01:52] on the RNR for the SMID. We'll bring it back to the bench.

[1:02:01] » Council member Shepard. >> Thank you. I would recommend that we

[1:02:05] close the public hearing record, approve the resolution to exceed the revenue

[1:02:09] neutral rate for the self-supported municipal improvement district SMID,

[1:02:12] conclude the public hearing, and authorize the necessary signatures.

[1:02:15] » I will second that um with comments as well. I know that I've talked to Lugene,

[1:02:19] members of the Waterwalk, and this conversation won't end. I think you

[1:02:23] brought up really good questions that we should get answers from the state and I

[1:02:27] think I've expressed to both of you that this is not going to be solved by today,

[1:02:31] but I think you brought up questions that we should look at um regarding

[1:02:34] what's in the Smid, what's not in the Smid. Um and I will be happy to go over

[1:02:38] the uh legal opinion with um Jennifer as well to figure out a way that we can

[1:02:43] make sure that you're represented. But I think you also brought up a really good

[1:02:46] point that there's not a a representative um that lives downtown on

[1:02:50] the Smid and I think that has to change next time we do appointments. I believe

[1:02:53] that's in April of every year um that will do appointments and so that's

[1:02:58] something that we'll take in consideration when it comes because you

[1:03:00] should have a representative um on that as well. So much more to come and I'm

[1:03:04] sure that we will continue conversations.

[1:03:08] » We have a motion and a second discussion. I will just add a couple of

[1:03:12] points. I will be in favor of this because this is specific to the downtown

[1:03:17] area. Uh for many of the residents who are present this evening, um you're not

[1:03:23] being taxed this extra levy. However, those in the downtown area to provide a

[1:03:28] lot of resources for everyone else in various parts of our community. Uh this

[1:03:34] specific tax is to provide added opportunities for downtown Witchaw

[1:03:39] including a clean team and I am in favor of that clean team. Uh that is because

[1:03:44] the city manager has informed us that again public works and parks do a lot in

[1:03:49] our community and this specific area, the downtown area needs extra attention.

[1:03:56] Therefore, the downtown Witchaw board has been thoughtful about adding a clean

[1:04:00] team specific to the downtown area and I am in favor of that um as I was in favor

[1:04:06] of that last year. However, also taken into account what Lugene and various

[1:04:12] other property owners who came before us last week to share their feedback about

[1:04:17] being a property owner uh a residential property owner. I am looking forward to

[1:04:21] the leadership of council member Shepard who represents uh water walk that area

[1:04:26] and look forward to them following up with you and moving that uh forward for

[1:04:31] the next round. So again um I am also in favor of adding someone from the

[1:04:36] residential area into the downtown witch board. With that we have a motion

[1:04:42] second. Any further discussion? See none. Madame clerk please open the role.

[1:04:47] » Mayor we have to do a verbal vote on this. So, Mayor Woo, what is your vote?

[1:04:51] » I, >> Vice Mayor,

[1:04:53] » I. >> Uh, Council Member Shepard,

[1:04:55] » I. >> Council member Tuttle,

[1:04:57] » I. >> Council member Hohisel,

[1:04:58] » I. >> Council member Johnston,

[1:05:00] » I. >> Council member Ballard,

[1:05:02] » I. >> Motion passes seven to zero.

[1:05:05] » Madame clerk, please call the next item.

[1:05:15] » Revenue neutral rate. City of Witchah 2027 proposed budget.

[1:05:22] » Good evening again. Mark Manning with the Department of Finance. Uh to our

[1:05:26] next item that we need to discuss is the revenue neutral rate for the city of

[1:05:30] Witchaw. Again, we have to have this hearing prior to our discussion on the

[1:05:34] budget. So, some of this will be repetitive. Again, the revenue neutral

[1:05:38] rate or what we call the RNR is concept approved by the legislature in 2021.

[1:05:43] The RNR, if we choose not to exceed it, does not allow any growth in property

[1:05:49] tax revenue. Not $1 of additional growth from the prior year. No growth from new

[1:05:56] construction, no growth from annexation, no growth from expire expiring tax

[1:06:00] abatements, no growth from anything if you uh do not exceed the RNR.

[1:06:06] Now, property tax revenue is very important to the financing of the city

[1:06:10] of Witchaw. It is the largest revenue source in the general fund. And I would

[1:06:15] remind you that the general fund funds mostly public safety. 67% of the general

[1:06:20] fund funds public safety. And again, the property tax is a very significant

[1:06:25] revenue to the general fund uh which funds that public safety. It's also the

[1:06:30] uh primary revenue source to the debt service fund. The debt service fund pays

[1:06:35] for the infrastructure costs of public safety, fire stations, police stations,

[1:06:39] things like that. and it also funds a significant portion of our maintenance

[1:06:43] activities primarily on our building maintenance side. So, property tax

[1:06:47] revenues are important uh to our operating and capital improvement

[1:06:51] budget. So, this slide shows you the taxes levied last year uh just a little

[1:06:56] bit north of $175 million. Uh if we do not exceed the revenue

[1:07:02] neutral rate in 2027, that means that the city budget would be built around

[1:07:08] the exact same 175,61,325

[1:07:15] with no increase. Now, the budget as proposed by the city

[1:07:19] manager does keep the mill levy flat on an estimated basis. uh but it would

[1:07:24] result in additional property tax revenue between both the debt service

[1:07:27] fund and the general fund of approximately $13.1 million.

[1:07:33] Again, with a flat mill levy, that means that most of that or all of that revenue

[1:07:37] is generated by changes in our assessed valuation. Assessed valuation changes

[1:07:42] due to reappraisal. It also changes due to new construction and annexation or a

[1:07:47] variety of other factors. But again, the budget is based on an increase in

[1:07:51] property tax revenue, but a flat mill levy aligned with last year's mill levy.

[1:07:58] Let's look at what other communities do uh with the revenue neutral rate. I just

[1:08:02] picked three of our larger counties in Kansas as the example. Seduit County and

[1:08:06] Shauny County, Topeka, and Johnson County. Uh you can see that all three of

[1:08:11] those counties have voted to exceed the revenue neutral rate each of the last

[1:08:14] three years. All the school districts in those

[1:08:18] counties have voted to exceed the revenue neutral rate in each of the last

[1:08:21] three years. And in Seduit County, uh you can see last year that 17 cities,

[1:08:26] including the city of Witchaw, exceeded the RNR. Two cities did not. Uh you may

[1:08:32] be interested to know those two cities were Andale, which has a population of

[1:08:36] 924, and Clearwater, Kansas, which has a

[1:08:40] population of 2,682. In other words, some of our smaller

[1:08:44] neighbors are able to uh fund their operations apparently without exceeding

[1:08:49] the RNR, but uh the vast majority of other municipalities in our area have

[1:08:54] and do exceed the RNR. Again, same checklist. We'd need to pro

[1:08:59] provide notification, which we have done. We have to hold a hearing prior to

[1:09:03] talking about the budget, which is what we're doing right now. And if you choose

[1:09:07] to exceed the RNR, you must do so with a roll call vote. Again, final reminder,

[1:09:13] your vote on this does not commit you to a level of taxes levied. We'll determine

[1:09:17] that when we talk about the operating budget, but it does allow you to

[1:09:21] consider a level of taxes levied that is greater [music] than the taxes levied in

[1:09:26] 2026. So, with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions and the recommended

[1:09:31] action is to approve the resolution by roll call vote to exceed the RNR for the

[1:09:36] city of Witchaw. >> Thank you, Mark. Questions for staff? I

[1:09:41] will start. Um, can you go back to slide number 25?

[1:09:47] » Sorry, 28. >> 28.

[1:09:51] » Yes, ma'am. >> So, it appears right here that the

[1:09:55] budget will increase by 13.156 million. That is a 7.49%

[1:10:02] increase. >> Yes, ma'am. Um I have previously asked

[1:10:06] um I would be in favor of exceeding revenue neutral if it only captured

[1:10:11] inflation which is roughly 3% and new growth uh new construction that is

[1:10:17] » can you tell me what that total would have been if it was just inflation and

[1:10:21] that new construction? Yeah, we estimated that uh those two uh would

[1:10:26] mean growth of about $9 million. U

[1:10:33] » and the percentage would be what percent?

[1:10:36] » Uh [sighs] 3.8

[1:10:40] I believe it was somewhere in the neighborhood just north of 5% if I

[1:10:43] remember correctly. You're testing my memory, mayor, but uh I believe it was

[1:10:46] somewhere around 5.1 or 5.2%. >> It was 4.5% total. This is from previous

[1:10:53] meetings ago. Um I'm just asking this because several people here were not

[1:10:57] present during that time. Um and I am still um in that same mindset as I was

[1:11:03] last year that the city should only take in inflation and new construction versus

[1:11:10] additional assessed valuation growth. I've heard from many residents that have

[1:11:15] said you have increased you meaning the counties but not necessarily the county

[1:11:20] but the treasurer um the register of deeds rather is really encouraging

[1:11:26] people to look at their tax bill and see how much assessed valuation growth has

[1:11:31] happened in their homes and people are frustrated seeing that their homes have

[1:11:36] increased by double digits but they can't really sell those properties at

[1:11:40] those amounts right now. Can you explain the difference between the city, county,

[1:11:45] and state levels when it comes to assessed valuations?

[1:11:49] » Yeah, each of uh each of those taxing districts have different areas. Now, our

[1:11:53] evaluation tends to be very close to Seduit County. I mean, after all, we are

[1:11:57] 76% of the assessed valuation in Seduit County, but they have some more uh

[1:12:02] suburban areas than we do. So, sometimes their assessed valuation will grow a

[1:12:05] little bit higher than ours. Sometimes it'll grow a little bit lower than ours,

[1:12:09] but it tends to be relatively in line. Of course, USD 259, which is the largest

[1:12:13] school district in the Witchaw area, uh, also has a little bit different

[1:12:17] characteristics at ours than the city of Witchaw. So, their valuation will grow a

[1:12:22] little bit differently than ours. Uh, but all of us generally grow about the

[1:12:26] same amount each year other than a few percentage points here and there. So,

[1:12:31] » thank you, Mark. >> I see no questions from the bench. We

[1:12:35] will now open it up for public comment specifically to the RNR for the city's

[1:12:41] budget.

[1:12:54] Good evening, Mayor Woo Celestat, Witchaw native, former chief internal

[1:12:58] auditor, former bank examiner. IRBs cost the city about the same amount you're

[1:13:03] looking for to keep the budget at revenue neutral. It's about 10 million a

[1:13:07] year in city funds. It's about 11 million a year in school funds.

[1:13:12] Commercial tax incentives like IRBs you hand out are broken. I am suggesting a

[1:13:17] one-year moratorum until the commercial tax incentive process gets fixed. When

[1:13:22] commercial taxes are not collected, the county loses out, the city loses out,

[1:13:26] and the school district loses out. Residential homeowners are then asked to

[1:13:30] make up the difference like we're hearing today. We are the ones paying

[1:13:34] for tax giveaways given to developers for industrial revenue bonds. And until

[1:13:40] the broken given ways are fixed, the city of Witchaw has got to stop posting

[1:13:44] misleading statements about how these incentives are not costing taxpayers

[1:13:49] because taxpayers do pay for incentives either through a broken IRB process or

[1:13:54] because starbond debt agreements require it. The state of Kansas recently

[1:13:59] completed an audit on industrial revenue bonds and the results were not good.

[1:14:03] Here's what the audit stated. The Sedick County Appraisers Office didn't submit

[1:14:08] many IRBX applications to BOD for approval over the past 30 years as

[1:14:14] required by state law. 112 were not filed properly. Poor segregation of

[1:14:19] duties at the Sedick County Appraisers Office, unclear timelines, and a lack of

[1:14:24] state agency oversight allowed this situation to happen. This issue could

[1:14:29] affect some Sedick County business property taxes and the quality of BOD's

[1:14:33] IRBX data. When I read this audit, I became concerned. Concerned because

[1:14:38] residential homeowners just got a huge increase in their property tax bills.

[1:14:43] concerned because you are not keeping the budget at revenue neutral, but are

[1:14:46] asking for an increase in spending. Hardworking families and seniors

[1:14:50] struggle to keep the roof over their head, yet commercial businesses are

[1:14:54] getting a free ride because you approved it. I specifically asked a Seduit County

[1:14:59] Commissioner and I spoke in several Witchaw City Council meetings if anyone

[1:15:04] was concerned about this broken incentive process and I asked if there

[1:15:08] was an impact to taxpayers. I was told no, there was no impact to taxpayers. I

[1:15:15] was told in emails and phone calls there was no impact to taxpayers. I was told

[1:15:20] there was no missed revenue. So I decided to find out for myself. Here's

[1:15:25] the list of taxexempt properties for Witchaw. These are the businesses who

[1:15:29] pay no property tax or pay reduced property taxes because you have given

[1:15:34] them tax perks. I looked at four properties. One of them, Poet Ethanol

[1:15:39] Products, has been receiving IRB tax perks since 2004.

[1:15:44] They have 24 million in appraised values that are taxexempt. They also received

[1:15:49] sales tax exemption on all the furniture and equipment that went into their new

[1:15:54] offices at 39th and Web. You gave them nearly everything in tax incentives. I

[1:16:01] found unusual fluctuations in property valuations. Every single time I asked

[1:16:06] someone in authority if this fluctuation was a mistake, I was told no. There was

[1:16:12] nothing unusual about the fluctuations in assessed value. I was told all of the

[1:16:17] 112 exceptions in the state audit had no problems and I quote to wrongly reduce

[1:16:24] the county tax base. But I'm stubborn and I persisted and I asked for a

[1:16:29] meeting to discuss the results I found. Last Thursday in a meeting, I was told I

[1:16:35] was right. There was a problem. And contrary to what I had been told in

[1:16:40] emails and over the phone, there was a fiscal impact to taxpayers. Ethanol

[1:16:46] Products LLC owes $119,000 in back taxes. They have 45 days to pay.

[1:16:54] I was told, and I quote, "The appraiser made a calculation error in the 2025

[1:17:00] value." who will apologize to me for the false statements I was given about this

[1:17:05] problem, for the push back I received when I tried to explain the dramatic

[1:17:10] swings in oppressed value that I saw. And more importantly, here's the key

[1:17:15] that I hope you work with the county on. And I think Mayor Woo, you probably will

[1:17:20] reach out to Ryan Batty. I hope so anyway, because I wanted to know what

[1:17:24] systems were being put in place to prevent calculation errors in the

[1:17:28] future. How do we know there aren't more of the 112 that were put on the system

[1:17:33] at a lower assessed value than they should have been? If I wasn't stubborn,

[1:17:37] I wouldn't have found this. Property tax exemptions cost the city roughly $6

[1:17:42] million per year. Property tax exemptions cost the USD 259 almost 11

[1:17:48] million per year. My recommendation is to put a one-year moratorum on any new

[1:17:52] tax incentives until this system is fixed. My second recommendation is to

[1:17:57] set up a fraud abuse whistleblower hotline with finder fees to encourage

[1:18:01] this type of citizen reporting. Thank you.

[1:18:06] [applause] Thank you, Celeste. I do have a follow-up question to Mark

[1:18:11] Manning. Um, I did send an email to you and the city manager on Saturday

[1:18:15] regarding uh what Celeste has posted regarding the poet ethanol owing

[1:18:20] $100,000. Can you please uh share where the city um is at in terms of recouping

[1:18:27] some of those dollars and how many more of these have not been checked?

[1:18:32] » Sure. Uh first of all, let me uh kind of expand on the city's relationship

[1:18:37] regarding everything Celeste talked about. Uh the city has virtually nothing

[1:18:42] to do with the processes she talked about. Everything she talked about is

[1:18:46] done by our our partners over at the county. the city has absolutely nothing

[1:18:51] to do with the appraisal of property or with the entry into the system of those

[1:18:57] appraised values. I I understand the same thing she did. I understand it was

[1:19:01] a data entry error on behalf of a county staff. That's I'm sure regrettable on

[1:19:04] their behalf. Uh we're humans. That happens occasionally. But again, the

[1:19:08] city has absolutely nothing to do with that. Uh there are about 180,000 parcels

[1:19:15] in Seduit County in the city of Witchaw. the city really doesn't have the ability

[1:19:19] to audit the valuation of those 180,000 properties. It's really not our

[1:19:25] function. Again, it's regrettable. Uh it does impact the city. Uh but that

[1:19:30] function is entirely on the county and I'm going to assume all the

[1:19:33] correspondence that she mentioned was with county representatives as well. I

[1:19:37] wanted to make that clear. Having said that, our understanding is that the

[1:19:41] county appraiser has corrected the valuation. Uh our understanding is that

[1:19:45] they have uh adjusted the taxes payable uh for this entity and uh they are

[1:19:52] coordinating with us to ensure that that entity is aware of that and presumably

[1:19:57] pays their taxes and and uh they will take care of the problem that way.

[1:20:04] » Do you know how much the city will be owed from that $100,000 that was

[1:20:08] mentioned? >> Uh I don't know off top of my head. I

[1:20:12] would guess it's somewhere around 29% of the 112 or 118,000 whatever the number

[1:20:16] is. I have not seen it specifically but you know based on our mill levy split

[1:20:20] probably about 29% of it. So what $35,000 maybe?

[1:20:25] » So that money will go into the general fund when it is accepted.

[1:20:29] » Uh it'll go to the general fund and the debt service fund. Yes ma'am.

[1:20:33] » Thank you Mark. Uh Vice Mayor Glasco. >> Thank you Mark. I know we have a

[1:20:38] workshop regarding city incentives at the end of September and so this will

[1:20:42] likely be brought up. Could we try to work and maybe this is a question for

[1:20:45] the manager to get somebody from the county to be able to answer some of

[1:20:49] those questions to make sure that perhaps this problem doesn't happen

[1:20:52] again on the county side and how maybe we can be proactive in making sure that

[1:20:57] we're also catching it as well if that's a function that we're able to take. But

[1:21:00] I think that should be maybe part of the conversation in September.

[1:21:05] Council member Shepard.

[1:21:08] » Thank you. And I want to echo the sentiments of Vice Mayor Mark. Thank you

[1:21:12] for apologizing on behalf of the county, but this is the city. I don't think you

[1:21:15] need to take ownership for a mistake that our neighbors uh made and certainly

[1:21:20] understand that human error is a situation that occurs often. The

[1:21:24] difference is whether or not you take ownership for it. So, I hope that they

[1:21:26] do take ownership for it and that they can meet the moment with the previous

[1:21:30] speaker who asked for an apology. that to in my opinion is not your apology to

[1:21:35] render. Um, and with that being said, city manager, I know that we've

[1:21:38] discussed this, but as I've been out engaging the community, not only does

[1:21:42] the county need to be at the table, but the board of education needs to be at

[1:21:45] the table when we talk about these incentives, as well as um I think we

[1:21:49] need to lean on the expertise of our business community. And I would also

[1:21:52] like to see before we make a decision on what that economic incentives package

[1:21:57] looks like, which I know will be a long-term process, it should go to every

[1:22:02] single DAB board so we can get community input as well, so that way we make sure

[1:22:06] all factions and stakeholders are a part of that conversation. Thank you.

[1:22:11] » Thank you, Mark. We will continue with public comment.

[1:22:17] » Hello, Faith Martin. Uh, I've been through this process with county and uh,

[1:22:23] I think a lot of people don't realize it's either exceeded or don't. We can't

[1:22:26] do percentages or inflation or some of those things. So, I imagine that you

[1:22:31] will vote to exceed today, but uh on this I do agree with the mayor that uh

[1:22:37] as a as a taxpayer, as a private property owner, you know, I get

[1:22:41] appraised 25% higher year-over-year and I don't see any I don't see any benefit

[1:22:48] from that personally, and usually I'm here speaking on other people's behalf,

[1:22:51] but you know, when we get over year over year exceeding exceeding exceeding to

[1:22:57] the point where our budget is so bloated that if we don't exceed, we can't even

[1:23:01] pay for basic things that we need. And so I would like to see a plan moving

[1:23:06] forward if we know it's going to be specifically 13 million or 12 million or

[1:23:10] 20 million that we're going over. What is the plan for those specific dollars?

[1:23:15] Is it to invest in infrastructure? Is it to pay off debt? I think people get

[1:23:20] upset when they don't see what that's, you know, if we're going to take the

[1:23:24] full appraised value and go over revenue neutral, just show us what you're using

[1:23:28] it for. I think that's what people want to see. I I would hope that you don't,

[1:23:32] but I know that it's going to exceed because you budgeted for that 13

[1:23:36] million, but I think if we can see what you're doing with that 13 million, um

[1:23:41] maybe it wouldn't be as painful. I know it wouldn't be as painful to me. Um if I

[1:23:45] know that it's paying for things that I care about. Um so that's what I'd leave

[1:23:49] you with. Thank you. >> Thank you, Faith. We'll continue with

[1:23:53] public comment.

[1:24:00] Uh, Michael Girkin, 1818 Harbor Light, District 6. Um, I guess, you know, I I

[1:24:06] agree, Mayor Will, we can't just say, "Oh, good. We get this much money

[1:24:10] because we didn't raise the mill levy." Um, I've seen my values go up 21% in two

[1:24:15] years. Okay. Um, and what I really don't understand is it's this attitude that we

[1:24:23] have to spend, spend, spend. Where is the attitude to get more efficient and

[1:24:27] reduce cost? I never see it. We pat ourselves on the back. We didn't raise a

[1:24:32] mill levy, but we raising$ 13 more million dollars. Okay? There's no I

[1:24:37] don't see an effort to reduce cost. I I was a business owner before I retired.

[1:24:42] Every day we were cutting cost. We had to to survive. You know, we didn't raise

[1:24:47] our budget every year. We tried to cut it. And I just think that we need to get

[1:24:51] more fiscally responsible and figure out how to reduce cost rather than just say,

[1:24:56] "Oh, good. We didn't raise a mill levy."

[1:25:01] [applause] Thank you, Michael. We'll continue with public comment.

[1:25:13] » Hello. Good evening. Zoe Chittik, 13521 East Rose Street. I believe I'm in

[1:25:17] District 2. Um, you mentioned that there's a public safety fund within

[1:25:21] this. So, I wanted to ask what percentile of this budget with our

[1:25:26] public safety fund is spent on flock cameras? How much of that increase is

[1:25:31] spent on those? And where is our money going when it goes to public safety?

[1:25:36] We have about 190 cameras in Witchah that WPD says they have on their

[1:25:42] website. And I'm not sure how familiar folks are, but the subs subscription

[1:25:46] cost is about $2,000 to $3,000 per flock camera. So, some quick math there is

[1:25:53] that's about half a million. Now, I know there's some active litigation ongoing

[1:25:57] and we've had different cities in Kansas, including um Wellsville, decide

[1:26:02] to remove their flock cameras. So, that offers a lot of cost savings. Now, do we

[1:26:07] have any data on if these cameras are actually helping our city or are they

[1:26:12] just skimming daily information from us? The last updates on the transparency

[1:26:16] flock safety website on benefits on how they were for the community were in

[1:26:20] June. So, what happened in July and August? Did it actually do anything for

[1:26:23] the town of Witchah? If Wellsville, Kansas is removing their flock cameras,

[1:26:28] when will we? And how much money would we get back to pour into humans in our

[1:26:33] public safety resources instead of AI? and would that create overall cost

[1:26:39] savings in Witchah that taxpayers would see coming back to us? Thank you. Thank

[1:26:45] you, Zoe. We'll continue with public comment.

[1:27:06] first time here. Let's see here. My name Good evening, mayor and members of city

[1:27:10] council. My name is Jamie Kissinger and I live in district 5. I'm standing here

[1:27:14] tonight because I'm deeply discouraged and frankly angry about how this city

[1:27:19] treats the workers who actually keep it running. My husband has worked n 39

[1:27:24] faithful years for the city and public works as a surveyor laying out the very

[1:27:28] roads we drive on. He doesn't stay because he lacks options. Contractors

[1:27:33] try to recruit him constantly for far more money. I tell him all the time he

[1:27:38] should go, but he stays because he takes pride in serving our community. He goes

[1:27:44] out in 100°ree heat and freezing snow, routinely catching and correcting

[1:27:50] engineering, designing errors right on the job site so our streets actually lay

[1:27:55] out and drain correctly. Yet over the last eight years, workers in the

[1:27:59] division has seen only a 20% pay increase, while other city sectors

[1:28:05] receive over 29 to 39%. Tell me there isn't something deeply broken in the

[1:28:11] system. Our son Oh, here we go. Sorry,

[1:28:17] I lost my place.

[1:28:25] Um,

[1:28:30] our son recently hired on in a different city department and within one year he

[1:28:35] is making more money than his father ever nearly for four decades of service.

[1:28:40] I'm not asking for pity, but it stings. As Esau Freeman pointed out in last

[1:28:46] week's meeting, for every nine new hires, you lose five within 180 days.

[1:28:52] Because this isn't a livable wage, the city saves massive amounts using

[1:28:56] internal staff over outside contractors. To make matters worse, the money that

[1:29:02] was supposed to go towards essential workers was pulled back during COVID

[1:29:05] ARPA funds with only a fraction paid out while the rest was redirected into

[1:29:10] nonprofit grants. Now, you are proposing to cut merit raises for the frontline

[1:29:15] employees making well under $60,000. While this city remains widely topheavy,

[1:29:21] let's look at the math. A 3% raise for an employee making $60,000 is $1,800 a

[1:29:27] year, barely $100 a month after taxes. A 3% raise for an administrator making

[1:29:33] $200,000 is an extra $6,000 a year of taxpayers pockets. Does someone earning

[1:29:39] 2 thou $200,000 really need another $500 a month while road crews can't keep up

[1:29:45] with inflation? Taking raises from essential work workers who keep this

[1:29:50] city functioning is unacceptable. This city needs to be audited from top to

[1:29:54] bottom. Pay our essential workers what they deserve and stop cutting the bottom

[1:29:58] to protect the top. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jamie.

[1:30:03] Council member Hoheiser. >> Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Jamie,

[1:30:06] for coming up for your first time. It was uh really good job. You did a good

[1:30:11] job there. Um I do want to say thank you to all our workers. Um I'm a big

[1:30:16] advocate for unions and a lot of that pay discrepancy you see has to do with

[1:30:21] uh certain employees in our organization being unionized, but I do I do want to

[1:30:26] say that we I do think we have ground to make up with uh non-unized workers in

[1:30:31] our in our city. um we need to treat everybody and give them the give them

[1:30:37] what they're worth essentially. So I do appreciate you and your husband and

[1:30:40] that's something I think we're going to be working on over this next year. So

[1:30:44] thank you for coming up and speaking. >> Council member Tuttle.

[1:30:47] » Thank you. Um thank you Miss Kissinger for being here. Really appreciate it.

[1:30:51] Appreciate your comments. I do just want to clarify that not everyone in this

[1:30:55] body has asked for merit uh cuts. Only specific members have. Um, and we also

[1:31:01] did an employee survey and we heard loud and clear that that is not something

[1:31:06] that employees are interested in. I've said now during two of these meetings

[1:31:10] that there will be no way that I am supportive of cutting merit raises for

[1:31:14] employees. All of us who who work in our community know that it costs more to

[1:31:20] hire and train an employee than it does to retain an employee. and cutting merit

[1:31:26] ra merit raises for our city employees who work so hard every day to provide

[1:31:31] effective and efficient service will mean that we will lose good employees.

[1:31:36] They will do exactly as your husband could and go to another another

[1:31:39] opportunity. So, um I think I've stated from this bench twice, but I'll say it

[1:31:43] three times. I would be in no way supportive of cutting merit raises for

[1:31:47] City of Witchah team members. Thank you. [applause]

[1:31:53] Thank you, Jamie, for attending the meeting. We had a conversation this

[1:31:57] afternoon, and I really appreciate not just your son's service, but your

[1:32:01] husband's service to the city, as well as the 3,100 employees for the city of

[1:32:06] Witchah. For context, I gave her that information as well. The top 25 earners

[1:32:12] at the city of Witchah get paid between $298,000

[1:32:17] to $181,120.

[1:32:21] Those are the top 25 earners. Last week, 627 of the city's 818

[1:32:29] nonUN employees responded to an employee survey. rate of pay was their highest

[1:32:35] priority, followed by merit pay. Tuition reimbursement ranked last.

[1:32:42] I appreciate their feedback in the service of all $3,100 city employees. To

[1:32:47] be clear, the proposal I was considering for tonight would not have affected

[1:32:52] employees earning less than $60,000 a year. After hearing concerns about the

[1:32:58] broader idea, I narrowed it to pausing merit increases for one year for

[1:33:03] eligible non-union employees earning more than $60,000

[1:33:09] in light of the city's difficult budget condition, which includes $8 million in

[1:33:14] budget shortfalls for 2028 to 2030. It would not have reduced existing

[1:33:22] salaries or affected the separate general pay increase. Staff estimated

[1:33:27] that the one-year pause could have saved approximately $600,000.

[1:33:33] I have listened to those concerns and the proposal does not have council

[1:33:38] support, so I will not pursue it. For context, Cedric County's proposal is 3%

[1:33:46] general pay adjustment plus a 1% scale bump, whereas the city's proposal is a

[1:33:53] 2.5% general pay adjustment plus an additional 2.5% merit raise. The US rate

[1:34:01] of inflation last year was 2.7%. That does not resolve the larger

[1:34:08] structural challenge. More than 75% of the general fund supports employee pay

[1:34:13] and benefits. The proposed budget relies on reserves, $3 million to be exact, and

[1:34:20] an additional shortfall is projected for the following year. The city manager and

[1:34:26] human resources must comprehensively examine compensation,

[1:34:32] wage compression, frontline retention, staffing, vacancies, and management

[1:34:39] structure. The council must then be willing to make responsible budget

[1:34:44] choices that value essential employees and protect taxpayers.

[1:34:50] I am reading this because I shared that before coming to this council meeting.

[1:34:55] And so again, Jamie, thank you for your thoughtful conversation. Um, and again,

[1:35:02] thank you to the 3,100 employees and those who are not represented by unions.

[1:35:07] We do appreciate your service and there should be pay that is commeasurate to

[1:35:14] the value that you do create for the city. And so I can see that pay is the

[1:35:20] most important thing that individuals value. But the lowest priority was a new

[1:35:26] program that the city manager proposed, which is a new tuition reimbursement

[1:35:32] program at $300,000. So I will be um asking for the delay of

[1:35:39] creating a new program for tuition reimbursement in the following vote.

[1:35:44] Council member Shepard. Thank you, mayor, and thank you to the speaker who

[1:35:47] spoke courageously about the importance of paying people what they're worth,

[1:35:52] especially in this economy where people are worried about how they're going to

[1:35:55] put gas in their tank, food on the table, and be able to provide for their

[1:35:58] family. I want to also uh say that, and I said this last week, that when we even

[1:36:02] look at the data, 627 employees, non-UN employees out of 800, 76.7 response

[1:36:09] rates statistically significant. As the mayor mentioned, uh not only rate of pay

[1:36:14] but followed immediately by merit pay, insurance coverage and retirement was a

[1:36:18] top priority. But again, as we keep spitting out these data points, we also

[1:36:23] need to disagregate the data. Uh for example, we keep saying that tuition

[1:36:28] reimbursement ranked the lowest amongst the poll. But we also need to

[1:36:32] disagregate that data to figure out why that is. meaning does majority of our

[1:36:36] workforce already have an education that they don't feel the need to go back to

[1:36:40] college for or what is the average salary of that particular household

[1:36:44] that's working for the city of Witchah. I know that the mayor did make the

[1:36:47] recommendation to potentially freeze salaries for anybody making 60,000 and

[1:36:51] above. I would argue that that is still very hard on a lot of Americans in

[1:36:55] Witchens today who are making $60,000. Uh we hear from the United Way all the

[1:37:00] time about the Alice report and that there is a such thing as the working

[1:37:03] poor and that people are relying on that next paycheck and they're one emergency

[1:37:07] away from ending up in one of our homeless facilities. And so I feel very

[1:37:12] passionate about this. I think it's one thing to say we value our employees.

[1:37:15] It's another thing to ensure that the policies and the actions align with

[1:37:18] that. I'm not sure if we've done a good job. Um, I know that our city manager

[1:37:22] from the moment that he has walked in has been very clear that he wants to

[1:37:25] enhance the culture and morale in the space. And I think that that does

[1:37:29] include not only employee benefits, but also making sure that we are honoring

[1:37:33] our employees in a way that respects the dignity, value of not just them, but

[1:37:37] their whole family. It's why I want paid family leave because when a person is

[1:37:40] experiencing a loss in their family, uh being an elderly parent or bringing a

[1:37:44] child into this world, they should be able to step away to spend their time

[1:37:48] with that family and have pay associated with that to uh recognize the value of

[1:37:53] the whole person. And there's so many more things that we can do. U my

[1:37:56] commitment is to make sure that we get there. I think tonight you're going to

[1:37:59] hear some conversations about the start of that for our employees, but to me

[1:38:03] that is not even the the surface to be completely honest. We got to do much

[1:38:07] more. Thank you for speaking up for your husband. Thank you for speaking up for

[1:38:11] all the employees who don't feel that they have both the ability to speak

[1:38:15] publicly because the the culture of fear is real sometimes. And also thank you

[1:38:19] for speaking up for the people who are currently out on the streets right now

[1:38:22] working for the city of Witchaw and cannot be here.

[1:38:26] » C Vice Mayor Glasco. >> Thank you, Mayor Jamie. I'll keep it

[1:38:31] very simple. I agree with you and I said that from the bench last week and for

[1:38:34] any employee listening right now, you're valued. We want you here. We want to

[1:38:38] hear your concerns and you can come directly and also express those as well.

[1:38:42] And we want to know that this wants this place is where we want you to work and

[1:38:46] show your talents as well. So did not support a cut to merit pay and I thank

[1:38:50] you for standing up for a lot of the employees who I've heard similar

[1:38:53] sentiments for as well. >> We'll continue with public comment.

[1:39:10] Good evening, Mayor and Council. It's good to see each of you. I know you as

[1:39:16] individuals with high integrity, and the things you're working with this evening

[1:39:20] are not easy. This revenue neutral vote is going to be a train already out the

[1:39:27] station. I know you're going to make that hard decision and vote yes. So, I'm

[1:39:32] not going to belver the issue a whole lot about can we lower property taxes.

[1:39:37] That is obviously not going to happen. Each of our government agencies

[1:39:41] continues to add to their budget and I'm not sure what to possibly do to stop it.

[1:39:47] But uh I do have a proposal today that I've worked on for the last couple of

[1:39:51] years and shared with you by email to help some of the people in our community

[1:39:56] that are homeless. They have no place to go to the

[1:40:00] restroom. And it's a very difficult decision for every single one of them.

[1:40:04] Do I talk to the business that I go into? Do I get them to use, you know,

[1:40:08] allow me to use the restroom? This is something that we all need to take care

[1:40:13] of obviously in our own lives, but for our homeless, there are about 700 of

[1:40:18] them in our community that are in a very tough bind. Now, this isn't my first

[1:40:23] time to talk about this. I actually brought this proposal two years ago.

[1:40:28] I've sent a number of emails. I've sent you links to other cities, parts of the

[1:40:33] world that this is common. I've traveled much of the world. I've been in India.

[1:40:38] I've been in Russia. been in in Europe. They have public facilities for people

[1:40:42] who are visiting. They have homeless just like we do, but

[1:40:47] they also have places for people to take care of their daily needs with having to

[1:40:51] be shephered around and and and end up going to the restroom out there on the

[1:40:57] public street. This is embarrassing. It's a tragedy. We need to pe treat our

[1:41:03] our friends with dignity and respect. So I ask you to please do this rather than

[1:41:09] raise the whole issue of okay this is an additional expense. Let's talk about

[1:41:16] putting it under the second light budget that you have a million dollars for.

[1:41:22] I've done budgeting for 50 years. I know that money is funible. You have an

[1:41:26] opportunity to take the funds you already are going to appropriate for

[1:41:29] that facility and say all right let's put that $50,000 that I'm requesting in

[1:41:35] that budget. Make sure that happens. Make sure that the uh public works

[1:41:40] people pick up the containers every day or two whenever they need to have them

[1:41:45] recycled. But the actual equipment, I've sent you an email. It's only $5,000

[1:41:51] for three toilets. Those toilets can serve as a major major opportunity for

[1:41:57] people to feel like they're respected in our community and we don't have to worry

[1:42:01] about them being chased around, put in jail for public indecency or having the

[1:42:07] uh businesses having to continually say no, you can't use my facility. This is

[1:42:12] something that can stop. Now, I want to take a second opportunity

[1:42:16] while I'm here at the at the microphone to mention we have a major problem with

[1:42:22] diseased trees in our city. The drought and disease is killing many of our trees

[1:42:28] on private property as well as public. And I don't know if it's already in your

[1:42:33] budget someplace, but somehow we need to work with homeowners and businesses and

[1:42:38] be able to say, "All right, if you've got a tree down, let's find a way to get

[1:42:41] that wood off of that property rather than just have it lay out there for

[1:42:46] years and years and accumulate. This is something that we can do as a

[1:42:50] public private combination that will help all of us clean up our city and

[1:42:55] make sure that these disease trees are actually removed and we can get on to

[1:43:00] taking care of our own. If you have any questions about that, I'd be glad to

[1:43:04] talk to you more about it. On my own property, I have four trees down. I'm

[1:43:09] cutting them up with chainsaws. That's really uh something I'm able to do, but

[1:43:14] a lot of other people aren't. So, I ask you to find a way to make sure that the

[1:43:19] city is involved in helping us remove that wood and get it out of the

[1:43:23] community. I thank you for your time. God bless you.

[1:43:27] » Thank you, Walt. We'll continue with public comment.

[1:43:41] Good evening. My name is Zach Wehan and I live in District 1.

[1:43:45] City Council, Mayor, City Manager, thank you for the work that you've done on

[1:43:49] this budget. It's much appreciated. Property taxes seems to be one of the

[1:43:54] hot topic issues in the state of Kansas that's generating frustration. It spans

[1:44:00] generations. Young people, retirees on fixed incomes are all looking for

[1:44:04] solutions. So, your vote with this budget matters

[1:44:07] beyond Witchah. I believe how we handle property taxes here can show the rest of

[1:44:12] Kansas what a better path forward can look like. Because regardless of what

[1:44:16] other cities are doing, I don't think Kansas has solved its property tax

[1:44:20] issue. So, here's my ask. I'm asking city, excuse me, I'm asking the city

[1:44:25] council and mayor and the city manager to cap property taxes at inflation and

[1:44:29] new construction, no matter how far appraisals rise or whether the levy ends

[1:44:34] up getting set. That way, every citizen knows that there's a ceiling on how far

[1:44:40] taxes can go up. In Witchaw, we have firsttime homeowners who save for years

[1:44:45] to afford their house, and now their tax bill climbs a little higher

[1:44:49] year-over-year. On the other end, we have retirees who

[1:44:52] have paid off their homes, who raised their whole family in that house, and

[1:44:56] are watching the same bill climb year after year. This creates a tension for

[1:45:01] our people and a cap at inflation and new construction fixes this tension. It

[1:45:06] hands our people predictability and predictability is the ground that growth

[1:45:11] is built on. When a family or a business can count on what next year's bill looks

[1:45:16] like, they can plan, they can invest, and they can stay. Because evaluations

[1:45:21] here climb this year, that same rate pulls in 13 million more than it did

[1:45:25] last year without a single vote to raise anyone's rate. That's unpredictable

[1:45:29] growth. How much will it be next year? Now, a cap at inflation and new

[1:45:34] construction raises a fair question. What happens to the essential services

[1:45:38] we count on? I believe a cap does not starve their work. It disciplines it.

[1:45:44] And discipline is what protects protects predictability itself. A cap means our

[1:45:49] budget is built on discipline. And a disciplined budget is one that taxpayers

[1:45:53] can put their trust in and it holds up when the next hard year comes.

[1:45:58] And here is why I believe Witchaw specifically is the right place to lead

[1:46:02] on this. When the state finally picks this up in the next legislative session,

[1:46:07] they have a very difficult version of this job. They have to create one rule

[1:46:11] that fits every city in Kansas. And that tends to work better on paper than in

[1:46:16] practice. A cap at inflation and new construction

[1:46:20] says in writing that growth is our strategy. that as a city, growth is how

[1:46:27] we continue to get to the next level, not another year of squeezing the same

[1:46:31] taxpayers just a little bit harder. And this city council and mayor has worked

[1:46:36] hard for the city to grow. Thank you. The businesses you've welcomed, the

[1:46:40] development you've championed, I'm asking you to keep going and cheering

[1:46:43] you on along the way. When growth is the front and center

[1:46:49] strategy of the city, it's what turns a cap from a one-year gesture into an

[1:46:53] actual promise that we pass forward of keeping our taxes low. And finally, my

[1:46:58] last ask is for the people in this room and every Witchaw citizen, for the

[1:47:02] people online, if you guys can finally hear, if we as citizens are serious

[1:47:06] about wanting growth in our city, it doesn't just happen because of the team

[1:47:09] sitting in front of this chamber. A city grows because of one thing. It's people.

[1:47:15] You and your family make up our communities, businesses, schools. And

[1:47:19] when you also choose to invest in your neighborhood, your place of work, your

[1:47:23] home, invest in Witchah, that is what makes a city thrive and grow. So I'm

[1:47:29] asking you to make the same commitment that I'm asking this council to make

[1:47:32] tonight. A commitment to grow together. And as a proud Witchaw resident, I'm

[1:47:36] asking you to put a cap at inflation and new new construction in place to show

[1:47:41] the rest of Kansas what property tax leadership looks like. Thank you.

[1:47:47] » Thank you, Zach. We'll continue with public comments.

[1:47:56] » I see no one else from the public who would like to speak. Thank you to the

[1:48:00] seven. Oh, we have one more.

[1:48:10] Good evening, Mayor and Council members. I did not come tonight with anything

[1:48:15] prepared. I just wanted to come and hear what all is being said, but after seeing

[1:48:21] the proposal of what my taxes are going to be being retired now and how much

[1:48:26] they're going to raise them, I have deep concern for that as well as many other

[1:48:32] people around this city. And I don't know what it's going to take

[1:48:39] out of the council, out of the mayor, out of the whole

[1:48:45] body of people that control and are overseeing our budget and those kind of

[1:48:51] things. But I look at our streets, how terrible they are, all and I look and I

[1:48:55] see the commercial buildings and the residential and the taxes that are

[1:49:00] coming from all the people. and I see the the poor uh condition of lots of

[1:49:07] things and I I ask where are all of our tax dollars going

[1:49:13] where that's a lot of money

[1:49:18] and so I am begging the council I'm begging all city officials if you are in

[1:49:23] a position to be able to look into

[1:49:29] where our dollars are going and I think all of this should be transparent to me

[1:49:33] as a taxpayer and every other citizen of the of the city here. We should all know

[1:49:39] exactly where those dollars are going. You all have to have accountability to

[1:49:44] me, the taxpayer, and all of us where our money's going. And to hide things or

[1:49:50] do anything like that is totally out of line. It should not be happening. And

[1:49:56] you all need to humble yourselves and treat everybody the way they should and

[1:50:01] need to be treated and make sure that you guys are taking

[1:50:05] care of us. We rely upon all of you that are in these positions to take care of

[1:50:10] us and to do the right thing. And I'm not seeing that happen here. I haven't

[1:50:16] seen it for a long time. I've been in Witchah all my life,

[1:50:20] 67 years. And the things that I'm seeing here, the last five to six, they appall

[1:50:27] me. Where are the dollars going, guys?

[1:50:31] There's got to be accountability to me and to the whole city. There's got to

[1:50:36] be. I'm retired now. I'm on a limited budget

[1:50:41] and I expect for you guys to help me maintain things to I I mean, I'm much

[1:50:47] more well off than a lot of the citizens here in Witchah. I don't know how these

[1:50:51] people on minimum wage are making it as we see these tax dollars keep going up.

[1:50:57] So I say again, humble yourselves, do the right thing, and look into where

[1:51:02] these dollars are going and give me and every other Witchah resident

[1:51:08] some answers on where they are. You guys have accountability and you you owe it

[1:51:13] to us. you took your oath to come in and do what you're supposed to do and that

[1:51:18] oath should be taken very seriously because it is affecting a lot of people

[1:51:23] a lot. So, I'm asking you guys to not approve

[1:51:30] raising the what is DN the RNR? Is that what it is?

[1:51:36] To leave it alone. Take a look at things. Get a good get a

[1:51:41] good grip on what's going on and show some accountability and win the support

[1:51:48] from the Witchah people. I think you talk about this wanting the the citizens

[1:51:53] to work with you, then do the right thing and make it right and we'll all

[1:51:57] work with you. Okay. So, thank you very much. Thank you, mayor, for what you're

[1:52:01] doing and thank you council members for what you're doing. Let's do the right

[1:52:05] thing. Okay. >> Can you please share your name and your

[1:52:09] district? >> Yes. Grant Delmar, District 4. I'm a

[1:52:11] former District 4 advisory council member.

[1:52:15] » Thank you very much, Grant. >> Thank you very much, guys.

[1:52:19] We'll continue with public comment.

[1:52:24] I see no one else from the public who would like to speak on the revenue

[1:52:28] neutral rate for the city's budget. Thank you to the eight speakers who

[1:52:33] spoke before the council this evening. We will now bring it back to the bench.

[1:52:39] Um as my intention is not to vote in favor of revenue neutral, um I will not

[1:52:44] be making that motion today. Vice Mayor Glascop.

[1:52:48] » Mayor with a motion to close the public hearing record, approve the resolution

[1:52:52] to exceed the revenue neutral rate for the city of Witchaw and conclude the

[1:52:55] public hearing and authorize the necessary signatures. Um, with the

[1:52:59] understanding that again from Mark Manning's uh comments earlier, if

[1:53:04] we take one additional dollar, we have to exceed this. And I haven't heard a

[1:53:07] proposal from anybody at this bench on how to cut $13 million from the budget.

[1:53:12] Um I think there is legitimate concerns about the amount that we bring in but

[1:53:18] that is not uh for this discussion. That's for the budget discussion to

[1:53:21] happen in a second. So with that motion >> second and I agree with everything you

[1:53:25] said. >> Motion second. Discussion. See none.

[1:53:30] Madame clerk can you please open the role by voice?

[1:53:34] » Yes. Mayor Woo. What is your vote? >> Nay.

[1:53:38] » Vice Mayor Glasco. >> I.

[1:53:39] » Council member Shepard. >> I.

[1:53:41] » Council member Tuttle. I. >> Council member Hohheisel.

[1:53:44] » I. >> Council member Johnson.

[1:53:46] » I. >> Council member Ballard.

[1:53:47] » I. >> Motion passes 6 to one.

[1:53:51] » Madame Clerk, please call the next item.

[1:53:58] » 2027 annual operating budget and 2027 to 2036 capital improvement program.

[1:54:12] Good evening, Mayor and Council. Dennis Marsall, city manager. It's a pleasure

[1:54:16] to be before you again tonight on budget adoption night. We've had several

[1:54:21] meetings where we've talked about the budget. Um we have here what's on the uh

[1:54:27] proposed budget tonight. We're going to walk through how when we put this budget

[1:54:30] together. Uh, one I want to highlight the department directors certainly their

[1:54:35] work and the finance team and so putting together a city budget one that's really

[1:54:40] around the hund 825 million range is certainly got a lot of complex um facets

[1:54:47] to it when you talk about debt service talk about revenue neutral there's a lot

[1:54:51] of parts to help bring the community along to understand how a municipal

[1:54:55] budget comes together we have certainly tried to be transparent um all past

[1:54:59] budgets and this proposed budget budget's been online. Um, and so we have

[1:55:04] put this out there so people can see line by line what departments are

[1:55:07] funded, excuse me, funded in what manner and what line item. But as we put this

[1:55:12] budget together, I first presented this in July 14th of this summer. And it was

[1:55:17] a reflection of many factors certainly with meetings with department directors

[1:55:22] and a review of the many budget requests that they submitted. As I went through

[1:55:26] it from my review, we looked at wants and needs. We certainly looked at

[1:55:30] service delivery levels, inflation impacts, current staff workloads, and

[1:55:35] past staffing and efficiency adjustments among others. Um, what you've seen in

[1:55:40] this budget is recommendations for more staffing, particularly when you look at

[1:55:44] the fire department, but it's been a judicious request in some of the other

[1:55:49] areas that have been noted in the budget presentation

[1:55:52] as we looked at this. Also, when you start out with a budget and you look at

[1:55:56] what's ahead in the coming year, we've got to honor our labor agreements. And

[1:56:01] so, when you talk about revenue neutral, part of that is impacted by the more

[1:56:06] than five labor agreements that we have to manage and if they have cost

[1:56:10] escalations for increase in pay, salary, wages, and merit. Those all were factors

[1:56:16] as we put this budget together. Um certainly as we looked at that again as

[1:56:20] we said what are the priorities of the city council we looked at such things as

[1:56:25] preventive maintenance. We've heard about tree care. When you think about

[1:56:28] running everything from animal shelter to zoning services in a 400,000 top 50

[1:56:34] city there's a lot of wants and needs. But we also looked at our existing labor

[1:56:38] and commodity contracts. And certainly my focus in my first eight months is

[1:56:43] looking at our workforce and employee morale. So given all that, this has been

[1:56:47] some of the thoughts and some of the inputs that go into putting together the

[1:56:52] budget recommendation that I've put since July 14th. Um, as we've

[1:56:56] highlighted on here, we're aligned with the city's strategic plan and it's

[1:56:59] funded with a stable mill levy rate. Um, we do have engagement as we've talked

[1:57:04] about. We even did community town halls, seven specifically. This is again our

[1:57:10] last budget hearing. We've had one on July 14th, August 4th, August 18th, and

[1:57:15] August 25th. So, council and I could hear from the citizens as this budget

[1:57:20] was presented on July 14th. And as we highlighted, this budget is available

[1:57:25] presently at witchaw.gov/budget.

[1:57:29] So, we do talk about it being balanced. We do have healthy fund balances or

[1:57:33] savings that are associated with it. Um, but we do recognize future funding

[1:57:38] concerns. part of the conversation that you're having now and that we've looked

[1:57:42] at in 2027, 2028, and 2029. How are we sustaining our labor contracts? How are

[1:57:49] we sustaining just like families around the kitchen table, the cost of

[1:57:54] inflation? Whether you think about your own insurance costs when you see things

[1:57:58] go up, the cost of gas, when you look at what a road mile cost 5 years ago versus

[1:58:03] what the city's paying today. All these are different factors that continue to

[1:58:07] impact the city's budget going forward. But more importantly,

[1:58:12] we've said it before, what the state does impacts us here at the local level.

[1:58:18] There are certainly last year during the last legislative session were several

[1:58:22] proposals in the state legislature about capping property taxes.

[1:58:27] That again seems to be a conversation that will be entertained come January at

[1:58:32] the new legislative session. that will clearly have an impact as we go forward.

[1:58:37] So, how do we think about that? How do we plan for that based upon the variety

[1:58:41] of proposals that were presented last year and might be re um presented again

[1:58:46] in the upcoming legislative session. Um but again, our focus on our core

[1:58:50] priorities as I talk about, yes, we do talk about wants and needs, but what are

[1:58:54] the core functions and priorities that this community wants for a service level

[1:58:59] that witchens want to have? thinking about our tree canopy and different

[1:59:03] things that we've heard about. Thinking about our parks and recreation and

[1:59:06] services and programs and the condition of our parks um and plantings and

[1:59:11] different things that we've heard from. As we put this together, I want to kind

[1:59:16] of wrap up my section and invite our director of finance, Mark Manning, up.

[1:59:19] As I said, this is roughly $825 million budget. Um you'll see here where the

[1:59:24] city dollars come from. Property taxes as was highlighted earlier and then

[1:59:28] sales taxes and other sources are highlighted in that graph. And then

[1:59:32] where the dollars go. As we talk about being a municipality, we are staff

[1:59:37] heavy. It takes people to provide services. It takes people to do our road

[1:59:42] work engineering to run our parks and recreation to maintain our trees to

[1:59:47] maintain our utility system. It takes staff intensive and certainly public

[1:59:52] safety. As we said or I said earlier, this budget has a proposal for new

[1:59:58] firefighters to staff a new fire station. I've also got some limited

[2:00:02] requests or recommendations in there for our police department. Um, we've also,

[2:00:07] as you take into account, we do have some vacancies. The good news is is

[2:00:11] we've been filling the positions in our police department. We have been filling

[2:00:15] some of our positions that were vacant in the last year or two. That again has

[2:00:19] a full cost effect that we've got to account for in our funding and our

[2:00:24] wages. And certainly I can't leave this podium without recognizing the

[2:00:28] employees. You've heard certainly from the survey that we've done this week. Um

[2:00:33] you've heard from my focus that I do have a recommendation in here for a new

[2:00:38] uh benefit. It is called the tuition assistance program. Understanding not

[2:00:42] everyone will be interested in that, but I do think it's something to help invest

[2:00:45] in our employees. We're also looking at our health program in terms of thinking

[2:00:50] about short-term disability being offered. There's a way to help address

[2:00:54] some people's interests and needs for family leave time and how we might get

[2:00:58] at that at a different way. So, there's a whole bunch of strategies that we can

[2:01:02] put together that not not nearly full cost on the taxpayer. And so, we do look

[2:01:06] for these efficiencies, but also recognizing the value of our employees

[2:01:11] certainly from public safety on down. As I said, when you go from A to Z in city

[2:01:16] services, that's 3,100 people who are providing for the 400,000 people in the

[2:01:22] city of Witchah. Um, then when you look where the dollars go, certainly salary

[2:01:26] and benefits, as we've highlighted, contractuals to do some of our work with

[2:01:30] support, but a lot of it's debt service. We have that mentioned here on the pie

[2:01:34] chart, how we do pay for our bills and for our debt service. Um, as you look,

[2:01:40] we say it is balanced. Um certainly we said planned that we would take $3

[2:01:45] million from the stabilization fund. So again that is incorporated into this.

[2:01:50] It's been planned from our savings account um as we think about going

[2:01:53] forward for some contract um negotiations with our unions to honor

[2:01:59] those pay increases to think about how we address the pay for those who are not

[2:02:03] in unions. Um and then you also see here we break it out by general fund. As I

[2:02:09] said, we probably have nearly 30 different funds when you look at the

[2:02:12] airport fund, the general fund, the transit fund, the uh utilities fund. So,

[2:02:18] the general fund is what funds most of general government when you think about

[2:02:21] public safety. And so, we focus on this one the most and a lot. And you see it's

[2:02:25] 352 million of our full budget, 825 million. So, here's the recommendations.

[2:02:31] This is again as I said I met with department directors reviewed the wants

[2:02:35] and needs looked at the goals of the council and put together my view and the

[2:02:39] priorities going forward. These are some of the um big items that um we've uh

[2:02:45] evaluated and included going forward knowing that the list is much much

[2:02:49] longer for requests but this is again what I thought was fiscally responsible

[2:02:54] based upon citizen input and department input as well for service delivery

[2:02:58] levels. I will say there are things on here that do have increases that we

[2:03:03] didn't call out. Um for instance, supporting um our transit with some new

[2:03:07] transit route support. Um you'll see in here we have again limited uh positions

[2:03:13] for a community service representative and a cultural service development

[2:03:17] specialist. So some limited positions that I felt were meritorious to be

[2:03:21] included in my recommendation. And then certainly as we talked about the fire

[2:03:26] station 23 staffing is included in here and some other support as we talked

[2:03:30] about the tuition reimbursement as well. So that kind of gives the overview of

[2:03:35] what I looked at when I put this budget together. And so certainly council

[2:03:38] members, this is one of the key issues that you get a vote on every year and

[2:03:43] how you set the policy and what we communicate as priorities is all

[2:03:47] reflected in this budget. And I take that very seriously as I put my

[2:03:52] recommendation forward. And I I know I've been asked and even people in the

[2:03:56] community have said, "Well, how would you help the mayor and council reduce

[2:04:02] the use of the stabilization fund?" Or, "I know there's other priorities about

[2:04:06] having property tax relief. There's priorities in having millage reduction.

[2:04:10] There are different things about different programs or more benefits that

[2:04:13] people want. What I have said from the very beginning on July 14th is if you

[2:04:18] want to make some cuts or reductions, I would start from what I added as new.

[2:04:24] And so these two pages that I just highlighted are what I consider the new

[2:04:28] things added to the budget. And so that's been my recommendation. I even

[2:04:32] highlighted um in a memo to council this week about we do have funds for $300,000

[2:04:39] is what we've called contingency that we've used in different manners over

[2:04:42] previous years. That is again some more opportunity if you want to reprogram

[2:04:47] that, eliminate that, whatever it may be. But I believe that my recommendation

[2:04:52] is fiscally responsible, but certainly understand there are different competing

[2:04:56] priorities. And so as you continue tonight for your deliberations, you'll

[2:05:00] certainly hear from citizens and Mr. Manning in a second, but I think that um

[2:05:04] the information you have in front of you gives you enough framework to work with

[2:05:08] to meet your policy goals and objectives so we can come to an adopted [snorts]

[2:05:12] budget tonight. I will now ask Mr. Manning to come forward as our director

[2:05:16] of finance.

[2:05:20] [snorts]

[2:05:25] Hello again. Uh I want to go a few other items in a

[2:05:29] little bit more detail. some of the recommendations in the budget. Uh, one

[2:05:33] of the priority areas that we're trying to address in this budget is

[2:05:36] homelessness. Uh, we've talked about this a lot in the past, so I won't

[2:05:39] belabor it. Uh, but the budget would set aside an estimated $5 million from the

[2:05:44] permanent reserve to address homelessness solutions. Again, what we

[2:05:49] would envision is setting that money aside so that it could be allocated

[2:05:53] based on the prioritization of the city council. uh but this recommendation

[2:05:58] would provide a amount of money uh to address those challenges that we face.

[2:06:04] Let's talk about employee compensation and I want to use this slide to address

[2:06:07] some of the comments we heard earlier. I think I can wrap up a couple of those

[2:06:11] with this slide here. Uh we noted that the general fund uh would receive about

[2:06:16] 13 million additional property tax revenue. Uh this slide here shows you

[2:06:20] that we have about $9 million budgeted for employee compensation. that is

[2:06:26] increases in employee pay for those that uh do not have union contracts passed

[2:06:30] this year, which is most employees. Uh we do have a pay structure that provides

[2:06:35] cost of living raises and merit adjustments for those that are eligible.

[2:06:40] Those eligible employees are the ones that are not at top wage and who uh

[2:06:43] perform within certain standards. So $9 million basically of that 13 million is

[2:06:49] to address some of our challenges in employees which was spoken about

[2:06:53] earlier. We also have health insurance and

[2:06:56] pension contributions that we need to make. Uh those are pretty sizable. We

[2:06:59] talked about those last week, so I won't belabor that point. Uh but this city has

[2:07:03] a or this uh budget has a lot of money invested in our employees.

[2:07:09] I talked about the mill levy rate a little bit during the RNR presentation,

[2:07:12] but I wanted to show this slide again. Again, this proposed budget is based on

[2:07:17] an estimated mill levy that would be exactly equal to the mill levy for 2026.

[2:07:22] that is 32.340 mills. Now reminder, uh we do not set

[2:07:28] the mill levy rate. Seduit County sets that and they don't set it until

[2:07:31] November. Uh it's based on finalization of assessed valuations again of which we

[2:07:36] have no control. Uh so I am telling you what the estimated mill levy rate would

[2:07:41] be based on the city manager's proposed budget. uh it's likely it would be up or

[2:07:46] down very slightly from that amount, but just recognize that the final mill levy

[2:07:49] rate probably will be slightly different than what we're proposing here today.

[2:07:53] But again, we are proposing a budget with a estimated flat mill levy rate.

[2:07:59] So, what's that mean to a taxpayer? Uh if you own a home in Witchaw valued at

[2:08:04] $200,000 just uh to pick a a point uh about 29% of the property taxes that you

[2:08:11] pay are going to come to the city of Witchaw. Uh you also have to pay

[2:08:15] property taxes to the county which is roughly 24% and to the school district.

[2:08:20] Uh this represents USD 259 which is the bulk of the city of Witchaw. That's

[2:08:24] about 46% of your property tax bill. In other words, City Witchaw is a fraction

[2:08:29] of your property tax bill. Uh that homeowner of a $200,000 home would pay

[2:08:34] approximately $744 a year in city property taxes uh to the city. Uh

[2:08:43] so let's look at the proposed budget just on a uh kind of big big picture

[2:08:47] basis here. Uh the proposed budget was somewhere in the neighborhood of 352

[2:08:52] million. That expenditure growth in 2027 is shown on this slide at 1.8 8%.

[2:08:58] However, in the interest of transparency, I did want to point out uh

[2:09:02] that with centralization, we're moving some costs off the general fund. Uh so

[2:09:06] if you unwind that, uh the net effect would be a general fund increase in 2027

[2:09:12] of somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.6% or relatively consistent what the

[2:09:16] inflation rate is. But again, nominally, it's increasing at 1.8. But again, uh to

[2:09:21] be fully transparent, the impact of of centralization actually reduces what uh

[2:09:26] in reality would be a growth rate of somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.6%.

[2:09:31] Uh also note the asterk on this slide. As the manager noted, uh we are

[2:09:35] balanced. Uh we are balanced because this budget is based on using $3 million

[2:09:40] from our stabilization reserve in 26 and 27.

[2:09:45] Let's look at that real quick. We're going to come into the year somewhere

[2:09:48] around $45 million in round numbers. Uh based on the proposed budget, we would

[2:09:53] use about 5 million of that to set aside for homelessness solutions. And we would

[2:09:57] use about 9 million of that over the next three years to stabilize the city

[2:10:01] budget, which would mean we would come out in 2028 with somewhere around 31

[2:10:05] million in stabilization reserve funds. Now, reminder, uh this is our

[2:10:10] stabilization reserve. Our general fund also has a reserve which is more

[2:10:15] relevant for us in a few areas. Uh that reserve would remain somewhere in the

[2:10:20] neighborhood of $52 million. Reserves of course are very important.

[2:10:25] Uh we would still remain well reserved. Uh but we would utilize a little bit of

[2:10:29] our stabilization reserve over the next few years.

[2:10:33] Let me talk about the CIP very briefly. We've talked about it a lot in the past.

[2:10:37] I won't take up much your time on the CIP. CIP is a 10-year plan for community

[2:10:41] improvements. you actually will be asked to adopt that today as well. We like to

[2:10:44] do them in tandem because they are uh very integrated. Uh the CIP is aligned

[2:10:49] to the community investments plan. Uh by the way, statutoily the planning

[2:10:54] commission is required to find that our CIP is in conformance with that plan and

[2:10:58] I'm happy to report to you that they have made that finding in a meeting last

[2:11:02] week. So we are good to go there. CIP is designed to be financially viable. Think

[2:11:08] of the CIP as a three-year action plan and maybe a seven-year conceptual plan.

[2:11:12] So, the first three years are things that will come to you for uh project

[2:11:15] approval for. We have relatively specific plans. The seven years uh past

[2:11:20] that are more conceptual ideas, issues that departments see that we might need

[2:11:26] to invest capital uh improvement funds on. Maybe the plans aren't fully fleshed

[2:11:31] out, but that's kind of the way to look at the CIP. We tend to focus more on the

[2:11:34] first three years. Here's the pie charts for the CIP. It's about a $2.9 billion

[2:11:40] plan. Vast majority of that money comes from our water and sewer utility.

[2:11:44] They're very capital intensive. You can see the geo at large slice. That is the

[2:11:48] property tax funded slice. That is somewhere in the neighborhood of uh

[2:11:52] 380ome million dollars I believe. I want to talk about property tax relief

[2:11:58] program briefly. We have talked about that in the past. Uh so I will go over

[2:12:02] that again. Uh uh we did use a program like this in 2024 and we're certainly

[2:12:07] able to replicate that type of program if that's the will of the body. Uh we

[2:12:11] would uh recommend designing it around the state of Kansas's homestead property

[2:12:15] tax exemption program. That makes it much easier for our applicants. It makes

[2:12:19] it much easier for us to administer. Uh as I mentioned last week, uh we don't

[2:12:23] know exactly what the cost would be, but we would guess that somewhere around

[2:12:27] $100,000 would probably fund the program. Uh we would suggest you that if

[2:12:32] this is something of interest to you uh that you approve the allocation of the

[2:12:37] funding and direct staff to come back with a more detailed plan. We'd be happy

[2:12:41] to do that and then we would present a plan to you for formal approval at a

[2:12:45] later date. That'll give us a little bit of time to make sure we can structure it

[2:12:48] based on the prioritization and the and the desired outcomes.

[2:12:53] So our recommended action tonight again tonight is the hearing in which we will

[2:12:56] ask you to adopt the budget. Uh so let me go through some of the recommended

[2:13:00] actions and explain the actions we need you to take. Before I do that though, I

[2:13:04] wanted to take a brief second and talk about uh some of the statutory

[2:13:08] requirements. We set today is our hearing date. Uh today ends at 11:59

[2:13:14] p.m. which is relatively rapidly approaching. Uh we would recommend to

[2:13:19] you as soon as I'm done presenting that you open the public hearing. We would

[2:13:24] also recommend to you that when the public comment period is over that you

[2:13:29] formally close the public hearing before you engage in your discussion. Uh that I

[2:13:34] think would make us more statutoily compliant because again we are required

[2:13:38] to hold the public hearing today on August uh 25th. So you know who knows

[2:13:44] how late we'll go tonight. Uh, but I think we would maybe reduce some of our

[2:13:48] legal liability if you would have the public hearing as soon as I'm done and

[2:13:53] then at after the last speaker close the public hearing and then we can stay well

[2:13:57] past midnight if that's your desire and take all the questions that you want.

[2:14:01] Uh, I'm sorry, mayor, I forgot to address one other question I was going

[2:14:05] to talk about on I'm going to back up to this slide right here. Uh, I talked

[2:14:09] about the growth right here. Uh I I was upstairs earlier and I understand there

[2:14:13] was a speaker that asked about growth in our library system. So I thought I would

[2:14:17] address that briefly because I understand that question came up. Uh the

[2:14:21] library budget in 2027 uh does grow about 14% actually. Uh but there's a

[2:14:27] couple reasons for that uh which are really not reflective of the financial

[2:14:31] commitment to the library. Again, we have a contingency that the city manager

[2:14:36] recommended 375,000, but we also as part of our centralization effort, we are

[2:14:41] allocating our cost to the general fund departments. Uh those two are really

[2:14:45] more technical adjustments. Uh so if you take those out, the library budget in

[2:14:50] 2027 to answer the uh public comment question earlier tonight is closer to

[2:14:55] about 5 a.5%. Uh library has some challenges. uh they have a lot of

[2:14:59] technology a lot of their software costs did increase over the last uh year or

[2:15:04] so. Uh they also have a very beautiful and large building which we have to

[2:15:08] ensure and building insurance rates have gone up uh materially. So both of those

[2:15:13] had an impact on the library budget but in answer to the question library budget

[2:15:17] did go up approximately 5 and a half% or is expected to go up about 5 and a half%

[2:15:22] in 2027. So, back to your recommended actions

[2:15:26] today. Again, we need you to adopt the proposed budget as amended if you choose

[2:15:31] to amend it, but we need you to adopt the budget. We also have some ordinances

[2:15:36] uh that you read for the first time on July 14th. Tonight is the night in which

[2:15:42] you will read those uh for the second time. And uh we need you to take care of

[2:15:46] that. Uh there's a couple of funds that we are projecting we might spend a

[2:15:51] little bit more than what we suggested last year. The reason on both those are

[2:15:55] they're activity based. Sometimes activity is higher. That means revenue

[2:15:58] is higher and expenditures higher. Uh and that's essentially two in the

[2:16:01] affordable housing fund. Kind of more of a technical adjustment. Finally, uh we

[2:16:05] would ask you to authorize us to take the necessary steps to implement your

[2:16:09] recommendations. Uh implementing the budget is based on state statutes and a

[2:16:14] variety of state forms that are very complicated and difficult to fill out

[2:16:19] sometimes. So, uh, sometimes it's necessary for us to make adjustments to

[2:16:22] make sure we can complete those forms correctly and in in in adherence with

[2:16:27] the budget that you choose to adopt. Uh, we would also ask you to adopt the

[2:16:32] proposed CIP. And then finally, and we need to have

[2:16:35] this done in a separate motion, uh, we would ask you to approve the use of

[2:16:39] local funds uh, derived from property taxes within our corporate limits that's

[2:16:43] allocated to Witto State University. Uh you may remember that the county levies

[2:16:48] a mill and a half for Witchaw State University. We do not. The county does.

[2:16:53] Uh but the city uh has a say in how they spend 75% of that funding. And uh so

[2:17:00] it's it's just kind of a formality that we approve their expenditure of funds.

[2:17:05] Uh since we have a role in in the funding of WSU through the countywide

[2:17:09] mill levy. That's all I have. Uh that's the end of

[2:17:13] our presentation. So, mayor, I would recommend that you open the public

[2:17:16] hearing and take public comment and then close the public hearing.

[2:17:20] » Thank you, Mark, and thank you, city manager. Uh, to be in compliance, to

[2:17:25] have public hearing first instead of council members asking questions and

[2:17:30] then public hearing and then um motions, we will open it up for public comment

[2:17:35] first.

[2:18:03] Kevin Mcuarter, District 5. Good evening, Mayor Woo and city council

[2:18:07] members. I'm Kevin McQuarter, current president of the Witchah Library

[2:18:11] Foundation Board and past president of the Witchah Library Board. I am here on

[2:18:17] behalf of the foundation this evening regarding the 2027 city budget and how

[2:18:22] your decisions will affect the operations of the Witchah Library branch

[2:18:27] system. The foundation has been watching this budget process since the beginning.

[2:18:32] We feel we are partners with the city since we both provide support to the

[2:18:37] library. Our goal is the same as yours. Support the effort to provide and

[2:18:42] operate a worldclass library system for all witchans. The foundation is here

[2:18:48] this evening to offer its assistance to the council to ensure that the goals of

[2:18:53] the steering committee of the master plan for the city of Witchah's branch

[2:18:58] library system adopted by the library board of directors and endorsed by the

[2:19:03] Witchah City Council on June 11th, 2019 are accomplished. But first, I'd like to

[2:19:09] take a moment to provide some history as to how we got here. Because back in

[2:19:15] 2013, none of you were on the bench. I was appointed to the library board in

[2:19:21] 2013 when the central library was located on Main Street. There had been

[2:19:26] years of community discussion regarding renovations to address the extension

[2:19:31] extensive functional and ADA issues or to build a new one. In 2015, as

[2:19:38] president of the library board, I was appointed to the foundation board. And

[2:19:41] it was then that a member of the city council approached me and foundation

[2:19:46] member Don Barry with the idea that if the foundation would commit to raise

[2:19:50] $2.5 million, he believed he could secure four votes to get the new library

[2:19:56] built. The city had set aside in previous CIPs 40 million for a new

[2:20:01] library. We agreed and said that if he could get the votes, the foundation

[2:20:07] would commit not only to the 2.5 million, but we would double it to 5

[2:20:11] million. A few months later, the votes were secured, but the commitment by the

[2:20:16] city was reduced to 30 million, resulting in a facility that would be

[2:20:20] about 20% smaller than originally planned. The foundation was

[2:20:25] disappointed, but kept working. But we eventually raised $8.8 8 million for

[2:20:31] what is now the Advanced Learning Library. It opened in June of 2018 and

[2:20:36] was 29% funded by the foundation through the generosity of hundreds of Witchans

[2:20:43] and businesses who all believed in a strong Witchita's public library system.

[2:20:50] Soon thereafter, our previous city manager suggested we needed a new master

[2:20:55] plan for the branch libraries as the quality of resources in each of the six

[2:21:00] districts was nowhere near equal. And in fact, district number three had no

[2:21:05] library branch at all. The manager put together a dedicated committee and after

[2:21:11] two years of hard work, the branch master plan was created. The result is

[2:21:16] that district 3 now has a strong strong branch presence with the Walters branch

[2:21:21] and all other branches were renovated and extensively expanded. The master

[2:21:26] plan was completed in 2025. The foundation is proud to have worked

[2:21:31] with you by contributing another $2 million in our most recent capital

[2:21:36] campaign to see that through. That is the history. But here is the challenge

[2:21:41] facing this council. The branch master plan increased our overall square

[2:21:46] footage by over 40,000 square feet. Now that all the upgraded facilities are

[2:21:51] available for our residents, it will take additional funding to properly

[2:21:55] staff. The city council and the library board both knew this would be the case

[2:22:01] when the plan was adopted. And let's be clear, one of the goals of the plan was

[2:22:07] to provide additional hours of service to the public because most of the

[2:22:11] branches were wolffully understaffed and not open to our residents for enough

[2:22:16] hours a week to fill the the library's mission. That mission is the same as

[2:22:21] yours. The foundation is concerned that the council may not allocate all the

[2:22:26] necessary funding to at a minimum maintain current levels of service and

[2:22:31] will not provide the additional staffing needed for the increased square footage

[2:22:36] the branch master plan agreement provided. Therefore, as the foundation

[2:22:42] desires to be part of the solution, we propose the following. In addition to

[2:22:47] our annual support, the foundation will donate $300,000

[2:22:52] to the 2027 library materials budget if the city agrees to invest an additional

[2:22:59] 1.4 million to fund 22 and a half additional positions representing the

[2:23:05] minimum staffing infusion necessary to sustain current library

[2:23:11] operations.

[2:23:14] Thank you. Thank you, Kevin.

[2:23:20] We'll continue with public comment.

[2:23:26] Sorry. Good evening everyone. I'm Lwanda Duchaer, District 1. Um,

[2:23:32] I'm just up here once again to advocate for organizations that work with our

[2:23:37] youth and to advocate for a bigger, not pool of money, but a distribution of

[2:23:46] the money and that we really take a look at grassroots uh, organizations that

[2:23:50] work with our young people. You know, um, for those that really know me know

[2:23:55] how much I love football, right? And it broke my heart this year when the uh

[2:24:01] announcement was made that the city is not doing little league tackle football

[2:24:05] this year. Um [snorts] I love Reggie. We have a great relationship, but I love

[2:24:11] football, too. And I know what it means to little kids to to be able to play

[2:24:16] football. My son played uh little league football with the city. My son played

[2:24:21] football at Heights. My son went to uh Coffeeville. Then he ended up at

[2:24:26] McFersonen football scholarship and academic scholarship. My son now works

[2:24:31] for the Houston Texans. He gets a check from the NFL, not on the field, but in

[2:24:36] the back office because we instill not just football, right? We instill pride

[2:24:42] and community. And we always the ones that really care, we let our kids know

[2:24:47] that you won't advance if you don't do well in school. And so again, it broke

[2:24:52] my heart when I heard that little league football has been cut. So as we think

[2:24:56] about our youth, we think about how do we um prevent crime in our older kids,

[2:25:04] always say let's prevent it from even happening and let's work with our

[2:25:08] younger uh citizens in Witchah, especially in the district I live in.

[2:25:15] Sports is important. Um, it opens doors to scholarships, like I said, to jobs.

[2:25:21] And so, again, I'm just here advocating for our young people. Um, although the

[2:25:25] city of Witchah is not doing youth football due to a lack of numbers,

[2:25:30] people didn't sign up. They actually signed up for another organization and

[2:25:34] they're full. So, it's not that kids don't want to play. It's not that we

[2:25:39] don't have the numbers. I think just like everything else, we have to sit

[2:25:43] down and regroup and really think about what can we do for our young people. And

[2:25:47] it's not just football, even though I love football. It's really about our

[2:25:52] kids and trying to prevent something down the road from happening. So again,

[2:25:56] I'm Lewanda Deaser. I'm here advocating on behalf of our young people and I'm

[2:26:01] hoping that there is a pool of money that we can distribute to lots of

[2:26:05] organizations so we all can do the work to prevent all this stuff that happens

[2:26:10] down the road. Thank you. >> Thank you, Lwanda. We'll continue with

[2:26:16] public comment.

[2:26:23] » Hello. Okay. Uh hi. Hi, my name is Xavier Dyelbis. Miss Tuttle, you are my

[2:26:28] representative. I'm going to have to I'm going to have to talk a bit fast here.

[2:26:31] So, uh, today I'll be speaking on behalf of myself and many other citizens. In

[2:26:35] the interest of seeing our local communities flourish, I seek to address

[2:26:38] the excessive share of city funds that are directed towards our local police

[2:26:41] department. Specifically, I will address the following points in brief to be

[2:26:44] mindful of time. How effective or otherwise increased policing funding is

[2:26:48] with regard to reducing crime. Solutions for reducing crime through the lens of

[2:26:51] root cause analysis. and the city's priorities as expressed through the lens

[2:26:55] of the 2027 proposed budget. To begin, I will expand on the notion that increased

[2:26:59] police expenditures improve crime rates. Supporters of this kind of spending will

[2:27:03] often use a common sense approach in an equation that boils down to rate of

[2:27:07] crime equals number of criminals minus law enforcement capacity. Basically, if

[2:27:11] you have enough cops, crime simply won't happen. But as we are tasked with

[2:27:15] guiding the city not towards the common sense solution to issues, but instead

[2:27:18] the best solution to issues, we must question and examine that common sense.

[2:27:22] To do this, it is prudent to research the effect that more officers have on

[2:27:25] the rate of crime. Historically, or so far as I could find, that has typically

[2:27:29] been done within spec specific regions or jurisdictions. This means that there

[2:27:33] is not a single comprehensive study on the matter. Instead, we may select

[2:27:37] criminology research that focuses on what I quote, large enough populations.

[2:27:41] For this purpose, I have selected a 2024 report from the Center on Juvenile Crime

[2:27:45] and Criminal Justice titled More Law Enforcement Spending Accompanies worse,

[2:27:49] not improved crimeolving. The report outlines that even though we often

[2:27:53] perceive crime rates as ever increasing, they've actually been on a very steady

[2:27:56] decline since 1990 in which the entire nation's homicide rate declined from 9.8

[2:28:01] per 100,000 to just 5.5 per 100,000 in 2000. As of 2020, the earliest data I

[2:28:07] could easily locate, that rate is at roughly four per 100,000. Notably, this

[2:28:11] does not include property crime, but I hope it is illustrative of the trend.

[2:28:15] The report expands on this, finding that in California and despite unprecedented

[2:28:19] levels of funding, the clearance rates, i.e. the sheriff crimes solved by making

[2:28:22] an arrest, experienced a 41% decline from 22.3% in 1990 to just 13.7% in

[2:28:29] 2023. This is in spite in spite of a 46% increase in total law enforcement

[2:28:36] budget. and the fact that the number of sworn officers per 10,000 crimes

[2:28:40] reported has risen 129%. With total law enforcement staff per

[2:28:45] 10,000 crimes reported having risen 144%. I believe at the last meeting a

[2:28:49] speaker at a previous meeting expanded on how this dynamic is playing out

[2:28:52] within our own police department. To be clear, I do not seek to blame our

[2:28:56] dedicated law enforcement officers for this gross misallocation of resources

[2:28:59] being done by many cities across our nation. Instead, I lay much of the blame

[2:29:03] with various media providers who seek to fill their 24-hour news cycle with any

[2:29:06] and everything that will keep people's keep people tuning in, which inevitably

[2:29:09] leads people to believe crime is much worse than it actually is. Indeed, there

[2:29:14] is actual crime to be solved. But it is made clear to me through engaging with

[2:29:17] the existing literature on the subject that simply hiring more officers or

[2:29:20] giving them toys like robot dogs or dragnet surveillance networks is

[2:29:23] unlikely to improve crime rates in our city. Instead, we may take a root cause

[2:29:28] approach to crime reduction. This involves analyzing the specific factors

[2:29:31] that contribute to people to our people deciding to commit a crime. These are

[2:29:35] often things like these are often things like housing and food insecurity, mental

[2:29:38] disorders, access to affordable healthcare, or freedom from

[2:29:41] environmental toxins. While I feel our city excels uh while I feel our city

[2:29:46] excels compared to others in some of these regards, such as mental health

[2:29:50] support, thanks mostly to county programs like Comare, we fall quite

[2:29:53] short in other areas. Modern research into this subject often finds that

[2:29:57] expanded social safety net is far far more reliable in reducing crime rates

[2:30:01] than simply increasing the share of budget going towards law enforcement.

[2:30:05] This is theorized to be due to an improved social safety net lessening or

[2:30:08] outright removing the conditions that often lead up to criminality. Finally, I

[2:30:12] want to take a brief look at how the city's priorities are expressed viewed

[2:30:15] through the lens of our proposed budget. In a budget, we can see an expression of

[2:30:18] a person's or in this case a city's priorities. For instance, in my budget,

[2:30:22] I spend far too much eating out. This indicates to me that while I may not

[2:30:25] want to admit it, I actually really like food. Additionally, I spend quite

[2:30:28] generously on charity and donations. This indicates to me that while I may

[2:30:32] not always feel it about myself, I am a caring individual who wants to help

[2:30:35] others. So, when I look at our city's proposed general fund, I see something

[2:30:39] quite stark. Our biggest priority is not putting out fires or fixing potholes in

[2:30:43] streets or educating with our libraries or providing child care to our parents

[2:30:46] or providing green energy to our environment. No, our biggest priority is

[2:30:51] to make sure that there's plenty of men and women with guns and body armor in

[2:30:54] our communities. That is all. Thank you for your time.

[2:30:58] [applause] >> City manager, I do have a question for

[2:31:02] you. Um, I'm looking at the proposed budget and it does not look like there

[2:31:06] are additional police officers as part of this budget. Is that accurate?

[2:31:23] tree, our budget director, give you that breakdown.

[2:31:26] » Yeah. So, in the 2026 revised budget, there are four additional police

[2:31:32] positions in the police department. None of those are police officer positions.

[2:31:36] One is a sergeant and which is a commission position and then four are

[2:31:40] community service officers and those are non-commission positions.

[2:31:48] And can you also address how many new firefighter positions do we also have?

[2:31:54] So in the 2027 proposed budget, we did not add new firefighter positions um for

[2:32:02] the new station. We didn't itemize out new positions. There is a line item in

[2:32:08] the general fund mo that's probably around page 67 that's for fire station

[2:32:14] 23. Um it's a lump sum for anticipated staffing costs at the station. I know

[2:32:20] that the fire department has applied for a safer grant, but that's in place in

[2:32:25] case that grant isn't successful. There is one position that's added to the fire

[2:32:30] department um and that is a position an inspection position and it's fully

[2:32:35] reimbursed by MABCD. Thank you. We'll continue with public

[2:32:41] comment.

[2:32:56] Hello, Faith Martin, District 2. I know you've heard a lot from me lately, but I

[2:33:01] have a lot to say and I only get five minutes at a time. So, um, this time, as

[2:33:05] you can see, I'm here in support of public libraries. I feel like when I

[2:33:10] talk about public safety, and I try to say this very often, public safety is a

[2:33:15] lot of things. And as someone that lives in a district that doesn't have any

[2:33:18] libraries, I go to the libraries outside of district 2. So I spend time at

[2:33:24] Walters. I spend a lot of time over at 9inth Street. You know, uh it it's

[2:33:29] important to me and my family uh that we have access to these resources. The one

[2:33:34] thing that hasn't been talked about is the impact to the public if places like

[2:33:38] the Advanced Learning Library and other libraries do not have the staffing they

[2:33:42] need to keep ours. You may not know this, but I can't say no to

[2:33:46] volunteering. And I'm on a lot of boards, and those boards meet at the

[2:33:50] Witchaw Public Libraries. Even our city boards meet at the Witchaw Public

[2:33:54] Library. So, if staffing makes it to where we can't have board meetings

[2:33:58] there, we are back to pegging to find spaces for nonprofits or community

[2:34:04] boards that have no budgets for meeting spaces because we have graciously worked

[2:34:10] with the city of Witchah. nonprofits don't have to pay to use the library.

[2:34:14] And there are going to be a lot of community groups and nonprofit boards

[2:34:18] that no longer have spaces to meet. As it is, we're there till 8:00 p.m. on the

[2:34:23] dot until the man uh in the booth starts yelling at us to check out our books and

[2:34:29] finish up because it's time to go. And I hear that message two to three times a

[2:34:33] week because there's so many boards that use the library. $1.4 $4 million is a

[2:34:39] drop in the bucket to some of the budgets that we're talking about

[2:34:43] tonight. Witchaw public libraries aren't even 4% of the general fund. That is a

[2:34:47] tiny amount for the number of public safety things that could be addressed

[2:34:51] through libraries. Look at the heat, the terrible, terrible heat that we've had

[2:34:55] recently. It was not just homeless people that went to the library. There

[2:34:58] are many people in my neighborhood that do not have air conditioning that were

[2:35:02] going to these public spaces because there was nowhere else to go. I I think

[2:35:06] we we think about public safety in too narrowly and not funding public library

[2:35:12] staffing uh and existing hours of operation is going to impact the

[2:35:17] community in a bigger way than you have even anticipated because you think about

[2:35:22] uh there's a quote that I love because people think the library is just books

[2:35:27] and that's not actually the case. Uh oh gosh I hope I have it here. Here it is.

[2:35:32] They say you can't judge a book by its cover. Increasingly, you also can't

[2:35:36] judge a library's value to its community by simply looking at books. And what the

[2:35:40] Witchaw Public Library does for the city of Witchah is something that I don't see

[2:35:44] in a lot of other communities. I'm usually advocating to minimize budgets.

[2:35:48] But I think you need to fully fund this 1.4 million or it's going to hurt

[2:35:52] Witchah very negatively. And since I'm talking about staffing, I would also

[2:35:56] like to uh talk a little bit about the CIP. Um

[2:36:01] I would like the fire to be staffed more. Obviously, station 15 is my local

[2:36:05] station, and I am heartbroken sometimes to see that that station has is the only

[2:36:11] one that's able to be on call right at that moment because we don't have the

[2:36:15] staffing levels we need to have multiple fire uh to uh respond to calls. We live

[2:36:21] in a very, very dense neighborhood and we're very proud of Station 15 and I

[2:36:26] would hate to see any other neighborhoods that call in and they

[2:36:29] don't have the staffing they need to send people out to handle the things

[2:36:33] that need to be done. Um, but the CIP, I mentioned that uh I voted no on the

[2:36:39] sales tax because I felt like we weren't spending our money wisely. And when I

[2:36:43] look at the CIP, it's more like a wish list that we kind of write down and then

[2:36:48] we put it somewhere and it may or may not happen depending on who sits in

[2:36:51] these seats next year or 5 years from now. I would like to see community

[2:36:55] oversight over the CIP, some sort of advisory board that is not people that

[2:37:01] are going to benefit from the CIP, but the actual community that holds this

[2:37:06] body and the city accountable to the things that they say they're going to

[2:37:09] spend their money on. If we say that we care about public safety, I would love

[2:37:14] to see every >> Sorry about that. I would love to see

[2:37:19] every um that's nine o'clock by the way. I would love to see every fire station

[2:37:23] that we said we were going to build built. I would love to see the all the

[2:37:27] projects that we have in there. We all have different projects that we care

[2:37:30] about, but the CIP seems to just be very willy-nilly. And I would ask this body,

[2:37:35] dabs don't really cost that much and neither do advisory boards because we do

[2:37:39] all the work out of our and we volunteer to do that. I think there will be people

[2:37:43] in the community that will happily step up to give oversight to the CIP to make

[2:37:48] sure that the things that we care about in this community are funded properly.

[2:37:51] Thank you. >> Thank you, Faith. [applause] We'll

[2:37:55] continue with public comment.

[2:38:29] Good evening, Mayor and city council members. My name is Jonathan Winkler. I

[2:38:34] live in district 6. >> I have also had the honor of serving on

[2:38:39] the library board >> for 10 years now.

[2:38:50] » I want to say upfront >> that we are thankful

[2:38:55] » for any funding you do give us. But

[2:39:01] » at the same time,

[2:39:05] » just if you just as you have had to make difficult decisions regarding this

[2:39:10] budget,

[2:39:13] » we are going to have to make difficult choices

[2:39:16] » once you approve it. Since 375 >> Since $375,000

[2:39:22] » for staffing

[2:39:26] » is not enough >> to maintain our current hours.

[2:39:35] » The previous speaker mentioned

[2:39:40] » staying at the library until closing at 8.

[2:39:45] » We've been looking at a plan that calls for closing at 7.

[2:39:53] » No weekend openings at all >> except at the advanced learning library

[2:40:00] » and for Saturdays only there.

[2:40:05] » So I just want to make it very clear >> to all of you

[2:40:13] » that this is a choice you have in front of you.

[2:40:17] So, >> please do what you can to find more.

[2:40:26] » Thank you. >> Thank you, Jonathan. And thank you for

[2:40:30] interpreting.

[2:40:33] [applause]

[2:40:36] » We'll continue with public comment.

[2:41:02] Good evening, Mayor Woo and council members. My name is Brock Booker and I

[2:41:08] am a resident of District 2. I want to speak briefly on tonight's

[2:41:13] adoption of the 2027 budget and the 10-year capital improvement program.

[2:41:21] First, thank you for holding the mill levy flat again this year. That matters

[2:41:29] to families who are already feeling the pressure of rising property valuations.

[2:41:36] That said, city staff have been clear that while this budget is balanced,

[2:41:42] projections show inspixes outpacing revenue in the years ahead. And I'd

[2:41:47] encourage the council to start planning for that now rather than waiting until

[2:41:52] it becomes a crisis. Second, on infrastructure,

[2:41:58] I'm glad to see the 235 million committed over the next decade for our

[2:42:04] streets, and I'd ask that the project prioritization stay transparent and that

[2:42:10] older workingclass neighborhoods aren't left waiting at the back of the line.

[2:42:16] Thirdly, on housing, the $500 million Second Light is a real and needed

[2:42:22] investment in emergency shelter capacity, but shelter beds alone don't

[2:42:28] solve housing instability. I'd encourage the council to pair this investment with

[2:42:33] a broader strategy that helps people move from emergency shelter towards

[2:42:38] stable, permanent housing and housing options for every stage of life.

[2:42:46] Finally, public safety funding for fire station 23 and additional firefighters

[2:42:53] is good news for the entire city. I'd only ask that response time equity

[2:43:00] across districts remain part of that conversation,

[2:43:04] not just total station count. This is a well-built budget.

[2:43:11] And may my ask tonight is simple. Keep an eye on long-term fiscal

[2:43:18] sustainability. Prioritize infrastructure equity across

[2:43:22] neighborhoods and treat homelessness as a housing problem, not just a shelter

[2:43:28] one. Thank you for your time and your service to the city of Witchaw.

[2:43:35] » Thank you, Brock. We'll continue with public comment.

[2:43:42] I see no one from the public. That means we will close public comment. Thank you

[2:43:47] to the >> If I may, mayor, before we close, could

[2:43:50] we actually have a formal motion to close the public hearing? Thank you.

[2:43:56] » Thank you to the six speakers um who shared their public comment regarding

[2:44:01] the proposed 2027 budget. I move to close the public hearing.

[2:44:06] » Second. >> Motion. Second. discussion. See none.

[2:44:11] Madame clerk, please open the role.

[2:44:19] Motion passes 70. We are now closed with public comment and we'll bring it back

[2:44:25] to the bench. Uh first and foremost, I wanted to say uh thank you again to the

[2:44:30] six individuals. All six of you um have shared a portion of um additions.

[2:44:36] Unfortunately, no reductions and that is my biggest concern. I think one of the

[2:44:41] individuals said you will have difficult choices and these are difficult choices.

[2:44:46] We have a budget shortfall right now. We're taking $3 million from the savings

[2:44:52] account. We'll be taking 3 million additionally

[2:44:56] next year because there's another budget shortfall.

[2:45:00] So, it is difficult decisions we have to make. And as the city manager said, he

[2:45:05] has proposed multiple items and I'm going to ask for those slides to be

[2:45:09] shown. Slides 40 and 41 are new additional programs or individuals. Um,

[2:45:16] and I think we I'm going to ask for specific ones. So I know that we will

[2:45:22] have lots of comments and questions. Um, so I will start with um slide number 40.

[2:45:31] Um, I wanted to know uh regarding the current staffing at the library. Sorry,

[2:45:38] this is not the library one 41. Regarding staffing for the library, uh,

[2:45:44] is there a plan for what $375,000 additional dollars will help cover

[2:45:51] regarding staffing. >> Mayor, thank you for asking that. what

[2:45:56] was communicated to me, I believe the finance team is that that can be

[2:46:00] structured either for increase in staffing for part-time

[2:46:05] um nine positions or four and a half positions full-time I believe is the uh

[2:46:11] equivalent of how that money can be used and then they would use that staffing

[2:46:15] level to determine what libraries based upon need and usage those staff would be

[2:46:21] assigned to. But they're saying it would be for backfilling and supporting

[2:46:26] existing staff and to help relieve some of our existing staff.

[2:46:33] » Um with that, um I have a specific uh comment regarding this and I don't think

[2:46:38] there's enough on this council that want to do this and I hear your plea from the

[2:46:43] individuals who are asking for $1.4 million.

[2:46:46] Um, and I want to say thank you to Kevin who has served as your president of the

[2:46:52] Witchaw Library Foundation. Um, I I did want to ask and I will ask offline. Uh,

[2:46:59] you did mention a member of the council approached you about building this new

[2:47:04] all um advanced learning library. So, I'm going to ask who that was uh who was

[2:47:10] able to secure the four votes. Um this has been something that this council has

[2:47:15] said we don't want to tie the hands of future council members and that is the

[2:47:20] responsible thing to do. Um and while the branch master plan was adopted by

[2:47:26] the council in 2019, none of us well maybe one of us was on that council. And

[2:47:33] so I cannot um in good faith right now uh give you $1.4 4 million from what

[2:47:42] currently looks like 3.962 million in new additional items. Um so I

[2:47:50] I want to share with you that I do value libraries and I don't think there's

[2:47:53] anyone on this council that doesn't value libraries.

[2:47:57] Um but now given that even with 375,000 additional dollars um it would only

[2:48:05] allow for uh either nine part-time individuals or 4 and a half uh full-time

[2:48:12] positions and there would still be a reduction in hours. Um, this seems like

[2:48:18] right now we need to have a deeper conversation about how we're going to uh

[2:48:24] move forward with branch hours because even if we gave you the full um ask that

[2:48:30] the city manager currently is um asking of us of 375,

[2:48:36] you have all shared that there will be a reduction in hours. Um, so I am I cannot

[2:48:42] in good faith uh move forward with um having the city manager's proposal of uh

[2:48:48] adding 375,000 if it's still going to reduce library

[2:48:53] hours. Uh council member Hohheisle.

[2:49:01] » Thank you, Mayor. Um I don't really have a question. I just want to go ahead and

[2:49:05] get this moving along. Uh, so I will make a motion to adopt the 2027 proposed

[2:49:11] budget. Approve the second reading of the necessary budget ordinances for the

[2:49:15] tax increment financing districts in the Smid. Um, adopt the second reading of

[2:49:20] the budget ordinance for the city taxing funds, including a technical adjustment

[2:49:25] to align the estimated mill levy in the ordinance to 32.340.

[2:49:30] Approve amending the 2026 budget for the Century 2 and affordable housing funds.

[2:49:35] authorize staff to take the necessary steps to implement the budget, including

[2:49:39] budget adjustments, expenditure control levels, budget administration

[2:49:43] procedures, and adjustments outlined in the agenda report, and to make any

[2:49:48] technical adjustments necessary to compete, complete and submit the state

[2:49:52] certification forms, adopt the 27 2027 to 2036 proposed capital improvement

[2:49:59] program, and approve the use of local funds derived from property within the

[2:50:03] corporate limits for Witchah State University Board of

[2:50:08] Trustees interlocal agreement between the city and the county.

[2:50:12] » Second, >> mayor with a substitute motion. I move

[2:50:16] that the city council adopt the 2027 proposed budget with amendments to be

[2:50:21] proposed in a second. Approve the second reading of the necessary budget

[2:50:24] ordinances for the tax increment financing to districts and the the SMID.

[2:50:29] Adopt the second reading of the budget ordinance for the city taxing funds

[2:50:32] including a technical adjustment to the aligned estimated mill levying the

[2:50:36] ordinance to 32.340. Approve amending the 2026 budget for

[2:50:40] Century 2 and affordable housing funds. Authorize authorized staff to take the

[2:50:44] necessary steps to implement the budget, including budget adjustments,

[2:50:48] expenditure control levels, budget administration procedures, and

[2:50:52] adjustments outlined in the agenda report and to make any technical

[2:50:54] adjustments necessary to complete and submit the state certification forms,

[2:50:58] and adopt the 2027 20 through 2036 proposed capital improvement district

[2:51:04] with these changes. that all general fund savings resulting from budget

[2:51:08] amendments adopted today after accounting for any new general fund

[2:51:12] appropriations adopted as part of this package be used

[2:51:16] dollar for dollar to reduce the plan 2027 transfer or draw from the

[2:51:20] stabilization reserves into the general fund. That would also eliminate 250,000

[2:51:25] from the employee tuition program appropriation from the 2027 general fund

[2:51:30] and reduce the 2027 general fund expenditures by 250,000. That leaves

[2:51:34] 50,000 in the tuition program. That we would also reduce the 2027 general fund

[2:51:40] line item tited titled unallocated administrative cost from 1,447,332

[2:51:47] to947,332

[2:51:50] for a general fund reduction of 500,000. That we would establish a $400,000

[2:51:56] process and administrative efficient saving target in the 2027 general fund.

[2:52:01] And that staff are should report to council during 2027 where that savings

[2:52:05] was achieved. That the 2020 stabilization fund mean for second light

[2:52:11] multi- agency center be conditioned on them working to increase emergency or

[2:52:16] low barrier shelter bed capacity based on space and staffing. That we would

[2:52:21] appropriate 15,000 in one-time 2027 general fund support for the mayor's

[2:52:26] youth council funded from an equal reduction in the council travel budget.

[2:52:30] that 100,000 in one-time 2027 general funding for a Witchaw property tax

[2:52:35] relief program pilot to be developed by staff and approved by mayor and council.

[2:52:39] That we would allocate 50,000 to develop and implement a community-based violence

[2:52:44] prevention strategy from the manager's contingency fund. that we would also

[2:52:49] authorize a cash funded project for urban forestry backlog and restoration

[2:52:53] and approve the transfer of 400,000 from the general fund to this project and to

[2:52:58] eliminate 400,000 in goat atlarge funding from the CIP allocated for Pony

[2:53:03] Prairie Park and to direct staff to close out the inactive CIP project

[2:53:07] accounts totaling 400,000 and credit those revenues to the general fund that

[2:53:12] we would then reallocate 325,000 towards design and construct

[2:53:17] vehicle mitigation improvements including ballards or comparable

[2:53:20] protective measures and that would come from the allocation in the CIP towards

[2:53:25] uh the police robotic dog and that we would reallocate 150,000 from proposed

[2:53:30] dash cams to the library budget as well. >> Second.

[2:53:37] » We have a a motion and a second uh further discussion. I see council member

[2:53:42] Hoheisel. >> Thank you, mayor. Um, I like what uh

[2:53:46] council member do uh Glascock or Vice Mayor Glascock's proposed. I just have

[2:53:51] one amendment proposal to transfer 200,000 from the city manager's

[2:53:55] contingency fund to fund violence interruption or intervention programs.

[2:54:02] » I believe we need a second on the amendment.

[2:54:05] » Second >> motion and a second on an amendment.

[2:54:10] Madame clerk, please open the role. >> We is there any discussion? Excuse me.

[2:54:14] » Any discussion? >> Any discussion? Council member Shepard.

[2:54:17] » Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to affirm Vice Mayor GL GlassCox's motion,

[2:54:21] which is why I second it. I believe that this is taking a necessary step to get

[2:54:25] our libraries where they should be. It's not at the full point of where it needs

[2:54:29] to be. I hope that you get a commitment from all of us to eventually get you

[2:54:34] there over a reasonable amount of time. This is a start, not a finish. Um, I

[2:54:38] also appreciate the um ability for violence prevention. Um, and I also

[2:54:45] agree with Vice Mayor Glascock on the efficiencies and savings as well as the

[2:54:48] property tax relief. So, I appreciate the colleagues uh for uh moving forward

[2:54:53] these motions today and I think that this is taking our community in the

[2:54:58] right direction. >> Council member John Stunn.

[2:55:02] » Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I also agree. I think this gets the libraries to 525,000

[2:55:07] if I'm correct about 40% of their their ask which helps a lot and I agree that

[2:55:13] we need to continue to work on that in the future. Library funding I think is

[2:55:17] very very important and I also think it rep prioritizes some some funds in our

[2:55:23] uh in our budget um to uh more community uh benefits and quality

[2:55:31] of life. So, I will be supporting this. >> Council member Tuttle.

[2:55:36] » Thank you. Um, I just wanted to make a few comments. Um, this is the eighth

[2:55:40] budget that I've worked on since I've been on city council. Um, and I've been

[2:55:45] um impressed with how this the majority of

[2:55:49] this team has worked together. Um, leadership is about choices and there

[2:55:53] are hard choices to be made. We all wish there was money to fund everything. Um,

[2:55:58] everybody I think on this council has things that they're passionate about and

[2:56:01] want to see funded, but leadership also means working together. Um, I've said

[2:56:07] this every year, so I'm going to say it the eighth time. The most important vote

[2:56:12] that I make all year is on our budget and where you allocate your treasure is

[2:56:17] a reflection of your values. And I think that is true tonight and that's why I

[2:56:22] will be supportive. Um, I just wanted to point out something too that um, Gary

[2:56:27] Jansen, our director of public works, has stated that since people always want

[2:56:30] to know where the money goes, why does it cost more? Why do you why are we

[2:56:33] spending more? Since 2020, construction costs for our utility projects within

[2:56:39] the city, not just new builds, but if we're doing a road, anything,

[2:56:42] construction costs since 2020 for utility projects have increased by 66%.

[2:56:48] So what the community members, what you are feeling, what I am feeling, we're

[2:56:52] also feeling at the city of Witchah and that's why we're trying to make these

[2:56:56] hard decisions. Um I also just wanted to um say that we've been working on this

[2:57:01] for 9 months and kudos to us and I'm going to thank a few other people, but

[2:57:06] during the nine months anybody at any time could have made any suggestions.

[2:57:11] And so it's sometimes disheartening to me when we get to this point and you

[2:57:16] know comments are or decisions are being thrown at the last minute, but at this

[2:57:20] at this stage so far with what's been proposed, I'm excited and it shows true

[2:57:25] collaboration. Um I do want to thank Mark Manning and the finance team. Um

[2:57:29] Elizabeth, I hope you go home and get some rest. Much deserved. I know y'all,

[2:57:32] like I said, have been working on this for nine months and couldn't be more

[2:57:35] proud. also to our new city manager. Um your first budget process um couldn't be

[2:57:40] more pleased with your attentiveness. You're willing to dive in deeper. You're

[2:57:45] willing to provide us solutions and options and things that we haven't

[2:57:48] thought about before. So, thank you for certainly being part of the process. I

[2:57:52] also want to thank all the departments within the city of Witchaw. Every

[2:57:55] department had to probably give up something, right? and every department

[2:57:59] did a good job of fighting fairly for what they think is important for the

[2:58:03] work they do as content experts. And then finally, I just want to say thank

[2:58:08] you to my colleagues who have been willing to have dialogue and

[2:58:12] collaboration. And to me, that represents bold leadership. So, thank

[2:58:16] you for everyone for all of your hard work. Looks like we're almost there.

[2:58:21] » I have a question for legal before we continue. We have an amendment that has

[2:58:25] a motion and a second. Yes. Uh, can another motion be put forward? Uh, an

[2:58:30] amendment rather? >> No, we can amend. What we're doing right

[2:58:33] now is an amendment of a substitution. That is where this one has to stop. I

[2:58:38] think we can. >> So, this one right now is at violence

[2:58:40] interruptors getting an additional $200,000

[2:58:44] » intervention. It's the strategy, not a program.

[2:58:49] » Is that accurate? which would give the city manager the full autonomy and

[2:58:53] authority to work with the council to identify a strategy where those dollars

[2:58:58] would go. >> Yeah, that's what's on the um item to

[2:59:03] vote, I believe. Yes. >> Uh I do have one additional question. uh

[2:59:08] last year uh and two years prior uh council member Tuttle had to uh abstain

[2:59:14] from voting because she's a she is employed by Witchah State's WSU Tech uh

[2:59:20] arm. Will you need to do that? >> Uh that's why his substitute motion did

[2:59:24] not include the WSU and WSU Tech and so that will be the next motion that will

[2:59:28] be made. >> Thank you very much, Council Member

[2:59:30] Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. I'm not going to um

[2:59:35] share all of the same I mean I share all the same comments um as my colleagues,

[2:59:39] but I also wanted to point out I appreciate um that the city manager

[2:59:44] tried to bring back a tuition program while we might not be able to fully fund

[2:59:48] it this year. Um I appreciate that you are thinking about uh ways to offer our

[2:59:57] employees um additional education and opportunity. So, um I will definitely be

[3:00:02] supportive of all of the uh conversations that we have had with this

[3:00:06] amendment and excited for whatever employees are able to uh utilize this

[3:00:12] new opportunity. I will add my comments. Um I will not be

[3:00:17] voting in favor of this as I have not voted in favor the last three years. Um,

[3:00:21] and again, more specifically, this budget takes $3 million from the savings

[3:00:28] account called the stabilization reserve. Um, while I understand that

[3:00:33] many of the programs are important, it's also prudent to not add additional items

[3:00:39] that cannot be paid for or will continue to have ongoing expenses moving forward.

[3:00:45] And knowing that we have a budget shortfall yet again next year, it is not

[3:00:50] prudent again to not go line item by line item going over each of these

[3:00:57] proposals that the city manager specifically has said are new items. Uh

[3:01:03] so again, I appreciate that there have been reductions. I appreciate that there

[3:01:07] has been collaboration amongst this council um through again Vice Mayor

[3:01:11] Glascock, thank you for providing those uh comments and that specific um motion.

[3:01:17] But again, not in good faith can we continue sustaining this type of budget

[3:01:24] where we are outgrowing inflation and we are outgrowing to the point where

[3:01:30] we don't have a balanced budget. We're only balanced because we get again $3

[3:01:37] million from the savings account. That is not a balanced budget. Um so I will

[3:01:44] not be voting in favor of this motion. Um and so I see that there are

[3:01:49] additional individuals that want to speak. Vice Mayor Glascock

[3:01:52] » call the question on this amendment.

[3:01:56] » Okay. >> Motion. Second. Any further discussion?

[3:02:00] There's council member Shepard. Let's move forward.

[3:02:05] » Uh, madame mayor, madame clerk, can you please open the role?

[3:02:12] » Motion passes 6 to one. Madam, actually, we have to come back. Are you going to

[3:02:19] propose? >> I just general comments.

[3:02:25] » Vice Mayor Glass. >> Thank you. Now we're on the the

[3:02:28] substitute motion that's on the floor with the amendment that council

[3:02:32] Councilman Shepard has made. Correct. >> Correct.

[3:02:34] » Okay. I just want to say thank you to my colleagues uh who did uh meet with me

[3:02:38] this week. I hope that the package presented was a compromise of things

[3:02:45] that we've heard from residents and knowing that we did hear from people

[3:02:48] speaking today as well. We're called to lead and we have a duty to govern and

[3:02:52] that's why we are elected and so I'm thankful that we've stepped up um to be

[3:02:56] able to offer a solution. Is there everything that all of us agree with in

[3:02:59] the budget? No. And we're going to have those votes subsequently throughout the

[3:03:02] year on each specific item. But I think this puts us in a direction I think this

[3:03:07] puts us in um a place where we also are taking less from the stabilization

[3:03:11] reserves and we're keeping more of that in the future. I think that's good

[3:03:15] responsible leadership and I'm thankful for my colleagues that were willing to

[3:03:18] compromise to get to this place and um just thank you for your hard work on

[3:03:22] this. >> Council member Hois.

[3:03:24] » Thank you, Mayor. Um to my colleagues, I appreciate the work that you guys have

[3:03:28] done on this as well. Um libraries, we're going to try and get there. Um I

[3:03:32] know it's not all at once. This is um nobody looks at any budget that's passed

[3:03:36] and says, "Oh, this is exactly what I want." But we are trying to get there.

[3:03:41] Um we did eliminate um a substantial amount of money coming out of the

[3:03:46] stabilization fund. We also looked at some other um investments that we we

[3:03:51] wanted across the board. um increasing in dead tree removal as was spoken about

[3:03:56] earlier is one of them. Um just a number of other issues as well. So no this

[3:04:00] isn't the perfect budget to our employees. Um we are intent to work with

[3:04:04] you over the next year. We did see that tuition reimbursement was at the bottom

[3:04:09] of um the the wants that you guys had. We we got that survey here in the last

[3:04:15] week. So, uh we are dedicated to see what we can do to help um help with your

[3:04:20] your lifestyle, help with the challenges that you guys face because if we don't

[3:04:25] pay our own people living wages, then um that's a bad look on us definitely. So,

[3:04:32] again, this budget's not perfect for anybody, but um I think it's a good

[3:04:37] budget. So, I appreciate everybody's work on this.

[3:04:41] » Council member Shepard. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I also want to uh

[3:04:46] just acknowledge that this took a lot of collaborative effort. And I know I say

[3:04:51] that intentionally because I think that often times the narrative gets

[3:04:55] misconstrued that we don't work well together. And while we have very

[3:04:59] different priorities at times and very different outlooks on how those

[3:05:02] priorities should be should be handled. Um I think that we were able to come to

[3:05:08] a healthy decision tonight on what does it mean to invest in a witchaw not just

[3:05:13] for today but a witchaw for tomorrow and for years down the road. Um yes the

[3:05:18] budget is increasing but our our needs are evolving just as our families are

[3:05:22] evolving. And so I'm really grateful that we, you know, when we first got

[3:05:27] this budget, the libraries had zero and and we said, "City manager, can you do a

[3:05:31] little bit more?" And then he got us to a little bit more. And then we decided

[3:05:34] to do our part to do a little bit more. But I think that's not a testament to

[3:05:39] us. I want to be very clear. It's a testament to Jamie Nicks and her staff

[3:05:43] and the incredible work that they do every single day. Um, and the and the

[3:05:49] resources that are being provided all across this community. Maya Angelou has

[3:05:54] a community garden in the middle of the food desert. Seniors are there all the

[3:05:59] time working on their resumes, getting job applications. The dignity and

[3:06:04] humanity that you see in every single family, [music]

[3:06:07] including our unhoused neighbors, that is to be commended. And we have to quit

[3:06:11] asking our staff to do more with less, as if it's a normal expectation.

[3:06:16] It's not okay anymore. And we've got to turn a corner. So, thank you for being

[3:06:20] the example of what it means to step up to the plate. And tonight, I think we

[3:06:24] are showing that when you step up to the plate to do more, we're going to meet

[3:06:26] you in the middle. Um, finally, I do want to say thank you to the city

[3:06:29] manager. Um, it's no secret I feel passionate about the things I'm

[3:06:33] passionate about, and I will fight for the things that I'm willing to fight

[3:06:36] for. But the city manager has worked with me to really help meet me in the

[3:06:41] middle, especially on paid family leave. We didn't get it this year paid for in

[3:06:44] the budget, but we found an alternative and I think that's important as well.

[3:06:48] So, to the staff who are listening, um I'm not just going to say you're valued.

[3:06:52] I'm going to make a commitment that we're going to continue to work to

[3:06:55] figure out how to build a stronger culture in city hall, how to make sure

[3:06:58] you are valued, and how to make sure we take care of the whole family. Because

[3:07:02] it's not just you that shows up here every single day. Your family deals with

[3:07:06] the brunt of the work that you carry back home every day as well. And this

[3:07:09] $50,000 is just a pilot to see where we can go from here. With that, thank you

[3:07:14] colleagues for your support in making this first year of my budget hearing a

[3:07:17] meaningful and pleasurable [clears throat] one. I hope it happens

[3:07:20] again. >> Council member Johnston.

[3:07:24] » Thank you, Mayor. I will echo that this is not the perfect budget. Uh if I was

[3:07:29] doing it myself, this is not what I've come up with. Um I don't like taking

[3:07:34] money from our reserve fund, $3 million. I don't think that's prudent. I think it

[3:07:39] was planned that there was probably a presumption that the economy would be in

[3:07:44] a recession by now and it has not been. I think that's the reason it was planned

[3:07:48] for now. Um, next year I hope we do not take that $3 million. Um, unless there

[3:07:56] is a severe recession and we need the money. Um, I think one thing we need to

[3:08:01] address and it's the elephant in the room is public safety.

[3:08:07] Public safety is very important. There's no doubt. Everybody tells us that we

[3:08:12] need to fund public safety. I think the question is how much. If you look at our

[3:08:18] palm card, which is outside the room there, public safety this year is 64%

[3:08:24] of our budget. Next year, it rises to 67% of our budget. So, at what point do

[3:08:32] we say public safety? Yes, but we also have to

[3:08:37] invest in libraries and parks and and amenities of life that can help reduce

[3:08:43] violence and and ed educate people and and really help fund uh some of the

[3:08:49] disadvantaged neighborhoods. I think that's important. Um what I hear from my

[3:08:55] district is they they want to see more police

[3:08:58] officers in the district on the street. um and maybe not so many uh softwares

[3:09:06] and programs and things. So, that's what I hear from my district. Um it may be

[3:09:10] different tomorrow when I wake up and see emails. Who knows? But uh I'm just

[3:09:15] glad we did get a budget approved and it's not 11:59. So, thank you,

[3:09:21] » Vice Mayor Glass. >> Thank you. But I will call the question

[3:09:24] in a second and there's just one thing I want to highlight and I really want to

[3:09:27] thank the work of council member Hohis on that and that's the home the

[3:09:30] homeowner property tax relief program. I think that's one of the best things to

[3:09:34] come from this budget. We hear often about property tax relief in this

[3:09:38] community and this is a very targeted way to provide property tax relief to

[3:09:42] those that need it the most. And so I'm thankful for his leadership on this and

[3:09:46] his passion for this because if he didn't continue to advocate it for it,

[3:09:49] it wouldn't be in this today. But I think the 100,000 is a really good first

[3:09:53] step toward that. And hopefully we continue to offer more targeted property

[3:09:58] tax relief because that's I guarantee you the number one thing we hear from

[3:10:01] residents up here. And so with that, I'll call the question.

[3:10:05] We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? I see none. Madame

[3:10:09] clerk, please open the role.

[3:10:15] Motion passes. 61. Mayor with a motion to approve the use

[3:10:21] of local funds derived from property within the corporate limits for the

[3:10:24] Witchaw State University Board of Trustees and our local agreement between

[3:10:28] the city and the county. >> Council member Tuttle.

[3:10:31] » Thank you. Due to a conflict of interest, I will be abstaining from this

[3:10:35] vote. >> I will add my comments. Um I'm a board

[3:10:40] member of WSU Tech, but I get no financial gain. It is also on my

[3:10:45] statement of interest. Uh so therefore I will be taking a vote on this. Madame

[3:10:51] cler or we have a motion. >> Second.

[3:10:55] » Second. Any further discussion? I see none. Madame clerk please open the role.

[3:11:08] Motion passes 60 with one abstension. Madame clerk please call the next item.

[3:11:15] Council member appointments and comments.

[3:11:20] C. >> Uh, we'll start with appointments. Any

[3:11:23] appointments, council members? >> I have one and so does council member

[3:11:29] Ballard. We'll start with council member Ballard.

[3:11:32] » Thank you, mayor. I would like to appoint Michaela Ramirez to the library

[3:11:35] board and uh Jeppi Hammer to the sustainability board.

[3:11:42] » Council member Johnston. >> Thank you. I'd like to appoint Josh

[3:11:46] Shepus to District 5 Advisory Board and to the Park Board of Commissioners.

[3:11:53] » And I would like to appoint John Frederick on behalf of Commissioner Jim

[3:11:58] Howell to the Witchaw Airport Advisory Board.

[3:12:02] I see no further uh appointments. I move to approve all those appointments.

[3:12:08] » Second. >> Motion second. Discussion. See none.

[3:12:11] Madame Clerk, please open the role.

[3:12:18] Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, actually we can start with

[3:12:23] council member comments. Any council member comments?

[3:12:25] » Mayor, I just want to say congratulations to our vice mayor. He's

[3:12:31] an engaged man now, y'all. So, congratulations on your engagement. I'm

[3:12:36] really excited for you. Uh people know that council member or vice mayor

[3:12:40] Glascock and I kind of grew up together. Um, and I'm so excited for this next

[3:12:44] phase of your life. Maybe I get to be a flower boy.

[3:12:48] » I think uh, council Tuttles already called it. It's been a very [laughter]

[3:12:50] busy week. Right on. I promise that. >> I see no further comments from the

[3:12:58] council members. With that, I will move to adjourn this meeting at 9:35 p.m.

[3:13:05] » Motion second. Discussion. See none. Madam clerk, please open the role.

[3:13:10] » All those in favor say I. I motion passes

City Council Meeting August 25, 2026

Transcript