Alan Hoskins, Supervisor of Public Information
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
College Advancement
The budget approved for publication and public comment by the Kansas City Kansas Community College Board of Trustees on Tuesday includes funding for the renovation of the former Walmart and Laird-Noller properties at 65th and 67th and State Avenue, which are to be converted into new, state-of-the-art facilities for the College’s Technical Education Center (TEC).
Currently, KCKCC leases from the Kansas City, Kansas School District the former ATS facility to house TEC. Because of its own facilities needs, the district has asked the college to terminate the lease at the earliest time thus necessitating the need for the new TEC facilities. By renovating the Walmart and Laird-Noller properties, the college will not have to build a new and expensive facility.
Board Finance and Audit Committee Chairperson John (J.D.) Rios emphasized that the Technical Education Center renovation is the most important economic development project the College has invested in. “We have held the mill levy line for as long as we could. These new properties, and our investment in their renovation, will be helpful in the economic revitalization of our city and county”, said Rios. “Even with the renovation, we believe the cost will be less than half of what it would have cost to build a new facility. Construction costs and the cost of financing are as low as we think they will get, and we have to act now.”
The Board approved Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 4 p.m. as the time for hearing public comments and approving the budget.
A 3.5 mill increase has been recommended and would result in an increase of $11.26 in annual taxes for the average owner of a $100,000 home. The new mill levy is 23.502, up from 19.991. Even with the mill levy increase, the total tax revenues for the College will go back to 2008 levels.
“In 2009, Wyandotte County taxpayers with a $100,000 home were paying $221.93 a year in taxes to the college,” said Brian Bode, Vice-President of Student and Administrative Services. “Since then, property values dropped 10.04 percent last year and 4.12 percent this year. If that home has gone down the same assessed average, the taxes in 2011 will be $233.12.”
Other factors necessitating the mill increase are state funding, which has dropped to the same level as 2006 and is 14 percent down from its highest level; the lowest tax revenues since 2005; and the loss next year of $500,000 in American Recovery and Reconstruction Act (ARRA) funds, which amount to a half mill.
“We finally had to bite the bullet,” said Bode. “In nine years, since 2000, the college mill levy increased 1.5 mills. We held it as long as we possibly could. The new levy makes the increase over 10 years 5.15 mills, which is a half a mill a year over that timeframe. I think you’d be hard pressed to look around and find anyone else who has held the line that long, especially considering two of those mills will be going to take care of the new properties.”