Council OKs local election petition ordinance
BY DALE HOGG
dhogg@gbtribune.com
The Great Bend City Council Monday night adopted an ordinance establishing the requirements for a city office candidate filing by petition.
Due to recent changes by the Kansas Legislature, the city was required to address the issue of candidates using the petition method, City Attorney Bob Suelter said. The new ordinance sets at five the number of signatures needed to be on the ballot.
For a council seat, those signatures must come for the ward in which the person is filing. For a city at-large position, such as mayor, the five must come from within the city limits.
However, a candidate can still pay a filing fee of $20 in lieu of having to have a signed petition. In another change, those wishing to run for an office must file through the Barton County Clerk’s Office, not with the city clerk.
A couple years ago, the Kansas Legislature passed a bill that moved all elections for office holders of local governments currently held in the spring of odd-numbered years to the fall of odd-numbered years. This included the petition and filing location changes as well.
So, beginning this year, the election dates for the specified units of local government will mirror the election dates for the elections held in even-numbered years. That is, the primary election will be held on the first Tuesday in August, and the general election will be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
The new law also forced other local election changes.
A public hearing on the proposed adoption of a Neighborhood Revitalization Plan for Great Bend that started during the City Council meeting Monday night will be reconvened when the council next meets March 20.
As the Monday night meeting ended, there remained a number of unresolved issues regarding the property tax rebate program as to how long it should last and what areas of the city should be included. So, no action was taken and discussion will continue in two weeks.
Noting that the program is an asset to economic development efforts locally, the Great Bend City Council in February approved reapplying for the property tax rebate program. The council directed Suelter to draw up the paperwork with the intent of the program to cover most of the part of the city roughly south and east of 24th and Washington in a five-year plan.
However, Monday, Mayor Mike Allison and some on the council sought to amend that. They wanted to increase the five-year plan to a 10-year one, while incorporating the bulk of the remainder of the city in the west in a five-year arrangement.
The five- and 10-year format is the same way the previous Great Bend NRP was structured.
Suelter will present two ordinance proposals at the next council meeting, one with just the five-year option and on with the five- and 10-year option.
This Kansas Department of Commerce program is designed to give property owners the opportunity to receive a tax rebate on the additional property taxes that might be incurred as a result of constructing new buildings or making improvements to existing ones. Depending on the program, the rebates can be offered for five or 10 years.
It covers residential, commercial and industrial structures.
However,it cannot include an entire city. Nor, can it include areas under other tax-rebate programs, such as rural housing incentive districts, of which there are a few in Great Bend.
Also excluded in Great Bend will be some parts of town that fall in the flood control area.
Ultimately, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office has to sign off on the plan.
The February council action, made at the request of Central Kansas Development Inc., reversed a decision made by the council last October to allow the tax incentive program to expire at the end of last year. City officials feared legislative changes in the state property tax lid could erase any benefit it may have for the city.
City Administrator Howard Partington said in February that unless the state amends the tax lid, it may be difficult for the city to recoup money lost to the rebates in the future.
