College Football Broken

[tmcats]

It’s all to be determined. In the mean time, local taxes have skyrocketed (do you not have property in MHK or pay local taxes?) and developers are making millions while the local planning and zoning board is running over individual homeowners. Those aren’t projections or opinions, those are just the facts.

Do you live in MHK? If so, you don’t happen to earn a living in an industry tied to construction do you? Just had to ask.

no question mhk property taxes are high at 148 mills. salina is 138. lawrence 135. lenexa 128. wichita 119. but it's not for nbaf, which in the end should help the tax problem not exacerbate it.

http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/ksah/govt/11govt14.pdf

mhk taxes are high due to financing costs associated with downtown redevelopment debt and operating expenses like the discovery center which was a complete blunder. the rcpd is expensive to operate and the city carries an unfair burden there. the city also likes to tax people for charities. school taxes are also high here. (i'm conflating city, county and school taxes saying this.) however, the nbaf has consumed little to this point in time. jobs and the outgrowth from the federal lab should contribute way more tax revenue than consumed and be a plus to the city ledger as well as the university, both of which could use the help.

and yes, we moved to mhk 20 years ago. and no, i don't work in the construction industry.

[Hypeman]

I was under the impression much of the high tax increase has to go with expansion on the K18 corridor plan, the improvements next to NBAF etc. all in anticipation of NBAF. We are paying for it and have been paying for it since we it was awarded. I hope to hell it pays off since my $6,000 property tax bill from 10 years ago is now over $9k and my house is with less according to my realtor. I estimate I personally have paid somewhere between $30 to $50k in increased taxes.

[tmcats]

I was under the impression much of the high tax increase has to go with expansion on the K18 corridor plan, the improvements next to NBAF etc. all in anticipation of NBAF. We are paying for it and have been paying for it since we it was awarded. I hope to hell it pays off since my $6,000 property tax bill from 10 years ago is now over $9k and my house is with less according to my realtor. I estimate I personally have paid somewhere between $30 to $50k in increased taxes.

k18 is a state/federal highway project. little to no city taxes were involved in that great addition to the local economy. thank brownback and obama. the city is responsible for the road, sewer, sidewalk improvements around the nbaf. $5 million was pledged to the project. that money came from city sales tax revenue for the most part, the economic development fund.

[Hypeman]

I was under the impression much of the high tax increase has to go with expansion on the K18 corridor plan, the improvements next to NBAF etc. all in anticipation of NBAF. We are paying for it and have been paying for it since we it was awarded. I hope to hell it pays off since my $6,000 property tax bill from 10 years ago is now over $9k and my house is with less according to my realtor. I estimate I personally have paid somewhere between $30 to $50k in increased taxes.

k18 is a state/federal highway project. little to no city taxes were involved in that great addition to the local economy. thank brownback and obama. the city is responsible for the road, sewer, sidewalk improvements around the nbaf. $5 million was pledged to the project. that money came from city sales tax revenue for the most part, the economic development fund.

The K18 corridor plan involves far more than just the road. The highway is a federal project. The rest of the development in the K18 plan is funded by the city taxpayers. The plan is available on the city website.

[tmcats]

You're confusing K18 with the north corridor plan.

[ToledoCat#2]

I chuckle when I see MHK advertising itself as a destination retirement community.

Might be correct if you are wealthy beyond the need to care about budgeting expenses, but certainly not if you are of average of slightly above average means.

Our children moved out of MHK because of the high property taxes.

[tmcats]

many a conservative has pointed out that taxes make mhk unlivable for all but the wealthy. but the town isn't run by fiscal conservatives. just the opposite. the chamber of commerce drives the politicians. and the politicians drive the budget. it's just that simple. sometimes they achieve good things, sometimes not. but the tax load is presently a real threat to growth in mhk and a real burden to small businesses.

[Opensource]

I chuckle when I see MHK advertising itself as a destination retirement community.

Might be correct if you are wealthy beyond the need to care about budgeting expenses, but certainly not if you are of average of slightly above average means.

Our children moved out of MHK because of the high property taxes.

MHK’s problem is the tax base from K-State and NBAF, where they get no property taxes and the local purchases by these institutions pay no sales tax. This problem is compounded by the conservatives at the state level pushing many services into local budgets. But that being said, the moving out tax argument is pretty flawed because you can easily avoid city taxes by living in the county. The reality is nationally for a college town with MHKs intrinsic value it is still really cheap.

[Hypeman]

You're confusing K18 with the north corridor plan.

No, I’m referring to the K18 corridor plan that runs from the east side of town to the west to Ogden and includes all the development along the way including the developments west on Anderson etc. The north corridor plan is different.

[Hypeman]

many a conservative has pointed out that taxes make mhk unlivable for all but the wealthy. but the town isn't run by fiscal conservatives. just the opposite. the chamber of commerce drives the politicians. and the politicians drive the budget. it's just that simple. sometimes they achieve good things, sometimes not. but the tax load is presently a real threat to growth in mhk and a real burden to small businesses.

Frankly, the town is quietly run by a small group of local elites that run some successful businesses that have reaped a lot off the taxpayers through economic development subsidies, city zoning, etc. But that’s the story of many small towns. Perhaps the unique part of MHK is it has probably hit the limit for the everyday taxpayer. Greed has its limits.