On Thursday morning the city of Manhattan had their 2015 state legislative breakfast. It was a chance for city staff, and officials, to meet with state legislators face to face to tackle some of the issues coming up in the year.
Budget was at the forefront of the talks as state legislators are working to recover $279,000,000 in lost revenues before the July 1st deadline. This has some city officials concerned on where the cuts will come from. KPERS, and the transportation fund are seen as the well to dip into as the state struggles to make ends meet, but city staff highlighted the need for continued KDOT funding alongside keeping KPERS contributions from defaulting at the state level. The KPERS funding item is shown as a liability on the city books, and could effect future bond ratings.
State legislators said they were aware there was a tough road ahead for the state. Representative Tom Phillips had an upbeat answer saying “we’ll find a way to make it work”.
