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By Chad Frey
Newton Kanan
WHITEWATER – The city of Whitewater, a small town that sits on the line of Butler and Harvey Counties, is looking to raise more tax revenue next fiscal year than ever before.
Whitewater Mayor Brady Gragg said the city is looking for about $14,000 in revenue, for the community of more than 660 residents. The combination of property appraisals and increased millage fees will increase the city’s spending.
“It’s not as big as Newton or McPherson, but Whitewater is a small town,” Gragg said.
Due to communication issues between the established accounting firm and the city’s official newspaper, no statutory notice is required for an “Interest Rate Hearing” prior to 10 days prior to the hearing.
Therefore, the city’s budget is set at the previous tax collection rate.
A default is when the taxing authority estimates the amount of property tax revenue, in dollars, for the upcoming fiscal year compared to what they did for the current year. If a taxing authority plans to use more property tax money in the next fiscal year compared to the current year, even if it is $1 more, it will be more than free and must notify the public and conduct a trial.
Whitewater is not alone in the reported problems that lead to targeted tax credits.
“Other communities are fighting the same battle, because people make mistakes,” Gragg said. “We have to accept that for some there are people in it. When it goes wrong, we find out what happened… we have to be able to ask the government, but the way we write the laws can’t We do it. There is no legal recourse for us.”
Last week The Newton Kansan reported that the city of Walton, Hesston schools and the Hesston Recreation Commission had made mistakes in issuing Revenue Neutral Rate Hearing notices for several reasons. Each was prohibited from raising new funds.
“We believe in the importance of third-party advertising,” said Emily Bradbury, Executive Director of the Kansas Press Association. “New advertising, especially the advertising schedule required by SB 13, will provide a greater educational component through local enterprise placement and publication. We are committed to continuing to educate our members about public announcements and are ready to assist local businesses in any way we can.
In the case of Whitewater, a press release request was sent to the Butler County Times Gazette via email, however, a contract accounting firm that did not respond to the request was contacted by email.
“[The Times-Gazette] didn’t respond to the email,” Gragg said. “I think the accounting firm said it was handled and received. As they followed, and we didn’t see anything in the paper, [the paper] said he had not received the attachment on email. The accounting firm was in trouble for not being included, but by that token, the newspaper was also wrong in that they never followed up.
If the newspaper arrived on time, the notice could be read.
“It’s wrong to go around,” Gragg said.
Gragg said Whitewater chose not to pursue a lawsuit, because the legal notice was not issued as required.
As a result, the city is using the same budget they used last year. There will likely be no project this year because the city is just trying to “pay the bills,” Gragg said.
For the accounting firm, it was almost the last straw – the city contracted with another firm.
“With the new accounting firm we’re using, we hope to better manage our finances going forward,” Gragg said. “We’re hoping to start working on some funding documents… we’re hoping to start getting funding for some projects around town like this. Maybe 2024 is when we can do it. At least we can set some goals. The city of Whitewater has never done a mortgage loan before.”
The Butler County Times Gazette is owned by CherryRoad Media, a Newton Kansan.
The Hesston School District, which is looking to raise $600,000 in tax collections after issuing a bond in August, submitted a financial hearing and tax assessment document. .
“I don’t know how it happened,” said Kevin Logan, director of USD 460, to the Newton Kansan for an Oct. 25 report. “The closest we can tell is that when it was scanned in and sent … the second half of the second page of the so-called code 99 didn’t go through.”
Code 99 is the latest announcement of the Interest Rate Hearing.
The publication denial was first reported by The Newton Kansan on Oct. 25, along with three other publication errors that occurred between state agencies and Kansas Publishing Ventures.
The Kansan did not contact Kansas Publishing Ventures prior to the October 25 report. Joey Young, publisher of Kansas Publishing Ventures, declined to comment for this story.
Kansas Publishing Ventures also declined to provide an explanation or correction for the issues they faced with the October 25 report when contacted by CherryRoad Media – contrary to their online statement. for this reason. They did not contact the Newton Kansan directly.
In Walton, a town of about 220 residents, the notice of the free rate was not published even though it was placed in the official town newspaper by Kansas Publishing Ventures in time.
Emails asking for confirmation, sent after the trial, were answered with an agreement to cancel the post and allow it to be re-run for free. Copies of those emails were sent to the county clerk’s office.
“We were sent in, and [initially] it was confirmed that it would go in,” said Piepho. “They checked the paper that day and it wasn’t in.”
However, in the end, Walton violated the rule that requires notice of the hearing to be published 10 days before the hearing.
Hesston Recreation mishandled the legal notification of the ad – incorrectly placing the ad in its newspaper of record. Harvey County Clerk Rick Piepho found that out when filing with the county.
His office issued notices of 65 different rate hikes to Harvey County property owners.
Not all county clerks have done that, which will be done by law next year.
The nut of the arrangement is a notice of the free rate that includes the date time and place of the meeting and the need to exceed the free rate.
KSA 79-2988 established new “free rate” laws when passed by the Kansas legislature in 2021 and will be updated in 2022.
Under the law, taxing divisions (city, county, school district, etc.) are prohibited from paying property taxes that exceed the free rate (RNR) without first holding a public hearing and making a decision.
That notice includes three different required notices – a letter from the county clerk, a publication in the entity’s official newspaper and a notice on the entity’s website if the entity has a website.
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