It would appear that the ballot which you have just received is invalid and as such needs to be rejected.
Butler County was not empowered by law to impose a l0 year retail sales tax on the citizens of this community.
Instead it was empowered to impose a “Cost Authorized” sales tax expiring upon final payment of such.
“KSA 12-187 (23)
“The board of county commissioners of Butler county may submit the question of imposing a county wide sales tax at the rate of either .25, .50. .75 or 1 % and pledging the revenue received therefrom for the purpose of financing the costs of a public safety capital projects or bridge and roadway construction projects, or both, to the electors at an election called and held there on. The tax imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall expire upon payment of all “costs authorized” in financing such projects.”
Apparently they skipped the “cost authorized” approval part of this law, which I believe requires a vote of the people. They instead just added a 10 year expiration.
They treated this law as if it were optional or a mere suggestion.
I went to the County Commission today and ask them to state what their definition of “costs authorized” was.
Mr. Will Johnson (the County administrator) stated that the “Costs authorized “referred to in this law was the $12.9 million dollars cost estimate provided by their consulting firm CSC.
I said to the chairman of the Commission you got to be kidding me!
All they have is a SWAG estimate provided to them by a consulting firm which they paid over $400,000 of your tax money to.
I don’t believe that a cost estimate from consulting firm is a legal authority to issue bonds of any kind in this community.
This would be laughable if it weren’t such serious a situation.
$13,000,000 + $3,500,000 (interest) = $16.5 million over 10 years.
In another “all costs authorized” Kansas law for Finney and Ford County it states that the “ costs authorized” were to be derived from.
Harold Cooper,
El Dorado
