Tax Lid Discussion at Intergovernmental Meeting

Concerns about a tax lid approved at the 11th hour by state legislators this past session were again discussed at Monday’s Intergovernmental meeting, with Riley County officials asking for support in challenging the change next session.

The measure, which requires a vote by the public for increases in property tax increases over the rate of inflation by 2018, has some issues–but Riley County Commissioner Robert Boyd told KMAN Monday he was pleased with the support he felt from other governmental groups.

Boyd, Commission Chair Ron Wells, and County Counselor Clancy Holeman asked for support from the intergovernmental group. Holeman told the group it “ought to be an embarrassment” the way the measure was handled this last session in Topeka.

Boyd even told the group of some county groups that are forming coalitions to make themselves better heard in Topeka.

Commission Chair Ron Wells was encouraged by what he heard at the Monday meeting. Wells indicates it needs to be a team effort. Wells also referred to a comment made during the meeting by County Attorney Barry Wilkerson regarding the state’s stance of trying to control county governments when many folks are wanting less government at the national level.

On another matter, Wells indicated some optimism that the local area will receive funding for the Wildcat Creek Resiliency fund for flooding that has been talked about so much lately–however he’s worried the state might end up with more of the money than needed. Wells encouraged other intergovernmental leaders to help him keep a bulk of the money in local hands to direct the program.

The group also heard about the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, with a special casing and deployment ceremony Monday). Fort Riley Deputy Garrison Commander Tim Livsey said the group is set to deploy for nine months.As earlier announced by KMAN, about 4,000 Soldiers will be heading to Kuwait to support multinational partners with operational missions, bilateral and multilateral military exercises and theater security cooperation activities in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

Livsey shared that and other Fort Riley news with intergovernmental leaders. As KMAN reported this past weekend, there had been some concerns about attendance at this year’s Fort Riley Apple Day Festival due to increased security–but Livsey told intergovernmental leaders Monday, two-thousand more vehicles were counted . That was due to pre-registrations, which the post had encouraged community members to do.

The intergovernmental group includes representatives from Riley County, city of manhattan, USD 383, the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, K-State, and Fort Riley.