By Frederick J. Johnson, Topeka Capital-Journal, February 15, 2011
The Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority probably can't count on any additional property tax revenue to fund its operations in 2012.
Members of the Topeka City Council's policy and finance committee Tuesday voted 2-0-1 to recommend capping the transit authority's property tax levy for 2012 at the same 4.2 mills it was authorized to levy for this year's budget.
Councilmen Larry Wolgast and Bob Archer voted to recommend to the full council the 4.2-mill cap. Councilwoman Deborah Swank abstained after suggesting the cap should be set at 5 mills so the council wouldn't have to address the issue as long as the TMTA's budget stayed within the cap.
Swank noted the TMTA's mill levy was capped at 3 mills for several years and the authority's board operated within the cap without annual review by the council.
TMTA's mill levy authority was set at 1 mill when it was formed in 1973 and remained at that level until it was increased to 2 mills for 1980. For the 1996 budget year the mill levy cap was increased to 3 mills, where it remains. The city council granted one-year exceptions to the cap for the 2010 and 2011 budget years — when it was set at 4.4 and 4.2 mills, respectively — but by ordinance the cap is set at 3 mills unless the council takes action each year to allow the transit authority to levy more.
Swank said raising the levy to 5 mills would end the annual exercise and give the transit authority some sense of stability when drafting its annual budget.
Archer and Wolgast, however, declined to vote for recommending the council not exercise its oversight responsibilities annually.
TMTA board member Rodd Miller and CEO Janlyn Nesbett-Tucker said the transit authority planned to stay within the current 4.2-mill levy for its 2012 budget but agreed a little "wiggle room" would have been nice.
Miller said the transit authority must deal with increasing health insurance rates and negotiate a union contract this year.
He also noted TMTA has cut services by 37 percent in recent years, reduced the size of its management staff and denied pay increases.
Policy and finance committee members voted unanimously earlier in their meeting to recommend the full council adopt a resolution supporting policies necessary to ensure successful and sustainable downtown development projects.
The resolution, introduced by Councilman John Alcala, listed those policies as development of a system to survey all historic buildings in the downtown area and creating a list of buildings that qualify for preservation-related funding; updating the city's Landmarks Ordinance; and preparing and adopting a preservation plan to identify and pursue historic preservation priorities.
Representatives of the Topeka Landmarks Commission said the policies would help the city meet the requirements of the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office and National Park Service in seeking preservation funding and tax credits for projects conducted in historic preservation districts.
City planning director David Thurbon said the city planned to apply for a $20,000 state grant so it could hire an expert to conduct the historic building survey. The city will provide staff time and support as a local match for the state dollars.
The survey would seek to identify buildings on S. Kansas Avenue between the Kansas River levy and 10th Street and in downtown North Topeka that might be eligible for listing on the state or national historic register.
The survey won’t include any action to place a building on those registers, but the list created would inform property owners and developers what buildings might be eligible for preservation funding and tax breaks.
Fredrick J. Johnson can be reached at (785) 295-1181 or fred.johnson@cjonline.com.