City Commission - Regular Meeting

All right.

We will call the Thursday, September 10th, 2026 City Commission meeting to order. Four commissioners present, one is absent. First item of the order of business is a consideration of approval of the meeting minutes from August 27th, 2026. Questions, changes, or comments?

None for me. None for me. Okay.

They will stand as presented. This will open up for citizen comments for non-agenda items. There will be citizen comments for the public, for the budget here in a little bit. This is just for anything else outside of the budget. Okay. Next up is the consent agenda. Only thing on there is the appointment for the Hays CVV Advisory Committee.

It's the same one we had a couple weeks ago. Move approval of the consent agenda. Second.

Motion by Commissioner Jacobs. Second by Commissioner Cunningham. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 4-0. Thank you. And now we'll move to the final plat of Hess Second Edition. Jesse.

Good afternoon. Jesse Rohrer, Director of Public Works. For your consideration, today is the final plat of the Hess Second Edition, which is actually a replat, a partial replat of Hess First Edition. So the property is located at exit 157 on the west side of 230th Avenue, north side of I-70, as you can see in the picture on the left. The picture on the right is a zoomed-in picture of the area. This would be the Hess First Edition, and I'll show an image in a second that shows what we're replatting. The property was platted several years ago. It is currently zoned commercial and is annexed into the city as well. So this image shows not only the first edition in blue, but it shows the portion of the partial replat of first edition. So the Hess second edition replat is shown in red. Basically what it does is combines lots into larger lots. And one thing it does as well, get this over here, this section right away you see right here, which would have been a street under the first edition will go away with the replat. which I'll show here in a second as well. So these two lots and this large lot all become one lot, and these two lots here become one lot as well. So that's essentially the change within that. There are no city or other utilities within the section or right of way being vacated as well. So every remaining lot can still be served by city and other utilities. So this is an image of the actual HESA second edition. As you can see, the lots, In their combined state here, the large lot, that front's 230th, and then the one larger lot to the west. Again, I mentioned the property has already been zoned C2 General Commercial. Both water and sewer are currently installed to the properties. There's some stormwater work that remains yet, and then streets as well. It's our understanding that there may be some potential development in the works, and this was kind of the first step to maybe make that happen. This has been through the Planning Commission as is required for all platting decisions. The Planning Commission did approve it unanimously and your options would be to approve it as submitted and approved by the Planning Commission. If you had any requested changes you can make those or of course you could not approve the plat and this would be the action requested today.

I move to approve resolution number 2026-018, accepting the Hess second edition final plat as submitted.

I second.

Motion by Commissioner Cunningham, seconded by Commissioner Valesan. Questions or comments on this?

I hope it's happening. It would be nice.

Jesse, you said there was no existing infrastructure there of ours yet, public-wise?

Within the first addition, there is. Water and sewer is there. But the street that's being vacated, there was no planned water and sewer on that street because they were served from the street on the other side. So, yeah, the water and sewer are there ready for development throughout the entire development. And, like I said, there's a little storm sewer in the streets, and then it would be ready to go.

Perfect. Okay. I'll call for a vote on that. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 4-0. Thank you.

All right.

Next up begins the budget process, the revenue neutral rate public hearing. Colin.

Well, good afternoon. Colin Belzer, deputy city manager. And I'm pleased to present for consideration the adoption of the 2027 budget. As you know, this is a culmination of months of planning. Can you declare the public hearing open?

Oh, yes. I declare the revenue neutral rate hearing open. Thanks, Ken. Thank you.

So as you know, this is a culmination of months of planning and numerous commission meetings that have taken place over the last few months. This is a presentation, kind of some interesting facts, and then a brief overview or high level over the budget. So the 2027 budget is a maintained operations budget that focused on taking care of our employees. It's a balanced budget. The 26 sales tax revenue is projected to be up 4% over 25 actuals. Right now it's trending at about 6% above, so that's a good sign. The 27 sales tax revenue is projected to be a 2% increase over the 26 projection of 4%. SAS valuation is up 1%. The program stepped 2% and coalesced 2% increase for all employees. An employee health insurance contribution is in this budget to be increased. So currently the city budgets 11,000 per employee for health insurance. That's remained unchanged since 2019. So it's going to 12,500. And during the last two cycles of health insurance renewals, employees have had to pick up 100% of those costs. It's for the 18th consecutive year that this budget or the city's budget has been at 25 mils or less. It's the second year for a mill levy decrease as it's presented. It does exceed the revenue neutral rate. So according to the state, to be revenue neutral, approximately $133,000 would need to be cut, and that's a property tax revenue, which the general fund doesn't. collect for, and that's even though the city's 27 budget contains only a $25,810 increase in property tax revenue. So, I'm not sure how. We're all asking for $26,000 more at the end of the day. General fund revenue, it's estimated to be just under $19.2 million. As you know, we don't levy a property tax for the general fund. That means the majority of our city services, like police, fire, parks, public works, do not receive or rely on any property tax revenue. And instead, the bread and butter for the city is sales tax that we collect. And speaking of sales tax, I always show this. This is a poll factor report from the state's latest report of fiscal year 25. Poll factor, if you're not aware, is a ratio between spending and population. It's a way to measure one's retail economy. So it's based on a number. So if you're a number one, that means everyone in your town is shopping in your town. They're not leaving. If you're less than one, then people are leaving. And if you're more than one, people are obviously coming into your town. Hayes' most recent poll factor was 1.61. As you can see, that's the third highest in the state, and we are consistently one of the highest. I always like to point out, too, that not all poll factors are equal, meaning Merriam will always surpass, I think, every city in Kansas. They're a town of 11,000 people, roughly, in a ring suburb of Kansas City, and they have over a million square feet of retail space, plus IKEA. So they get all these cases, Kansas City, and probably people from Hayes that go there. Currently, Hayes' total sales tax is 9.25%. Here's how we stack up against some other communities in Kansas. There's 40 communities represented on this chart. We're actually in the middle of the pack, and 9.25% is the median rate that's out of these 40 communities.

Colin, of that 9.25, what is ours?

Ours, 1.75.

One and a quarter for general.

Yeah, I was going to get that. One and a quarter for general. I should say it's in the next slide. But one and a quarter for general, half a percent for water exploration.

Thank you. So here's a breakdown. Oh, thank you. I'll be quiet.

Sales tax collections. So as I mentioned, it's 9.25%. The orange wedge illustrates the sales tax collected by the city, which goes towards the general fund. So that 1.25% generates 62% of our general fund operations. Here's a breakdown of our general fund expenditures by sector. So as you can see, public safety, which is the purple edge, is the largest cost center for the city. General government at 10% includes multiple departments like city commission, city manager's office, city attorney. And I did that a bit different this year. I used to include IT in general government, but earlier in the year, I find that IT will be probably the fastest cost center growth among most organizations. IT actually represents 6% of the city's budget or general fund expenditures. And then internal transfers, which is that light blue 15%, that includes a $2.2 million transfer to the Commissioned Capital Reserve, considering the practice of trying to pay for projects in cash so you don't have to raise mill levy with debt. And so that difference between total budget expenditures and budget operating expenditures is roughly that $2.2 million. There are two notable Commissioned Capital Reserve projects that are anticipated in 27. First is reconstruction of 22nd Street from Vine to Canterbury. So the budget estimate is 2.6 million and just kind of mind blowing that that one mile stretch will probably cost, you know, two plus million dollars. And that's to put down new, redo asphalt and redo concrete. So it's, we're not changing much. The other project is City Hall and Public Works HVAC system. There's just over 1.5 has been set aside for that project. And then equipment for the general fund, about 250,000. I'll include a compact tractor and two mowers for the golf course, as well as a crack seal machine. The crack seal machine is actually used about nine to 10 months out of the year. It's used by multiple departments and on average it has about 68,000 gallons of crack seal is melted. So it's used all the time and it's about 10, 11 years old. And the existing compact tractor at the golf course will actually be repurposed for use at the cemetery. So we try to keep as much equipment and repurpose as much as we can.

Colin, this is all replacement, nothing additional?

Correct. On to the funds that are funded with property tax. There are six levy funds, bond and interest, library, library employee benefit, airport public safety employee benefit. So the 27 budget contains slightly over $7.7 million in ad valorem tax. That's $25,810 more than levied in 26. But to be revenue neutral rate, just under $133,000 would need to be cut. I think it's important to note that 28% of property taxes levied by the city does not go to city operations. It's a pass-through to the Hays Public Library. And the largest levied expense is, of course, employee benefits, which is primarily health insurance, but also Social Security, workman's comp, and state retirement plans. As I mentioned, for the 18th consecutive year, the mill levy has remained at or below 25 mills. And for the second year, it's being lowered or recommended to be lower. As we know, if the mill levy stays flat or even decreases, property taxes can still go up. That's because the person's home value goes up. This budget does exceed the revenue neutral rate of 23.743 mills, so by about 0.4. So currently, here's how a person's property tax bill in Hays is currently distributed. 15% of that does go to the city. The median home value in Hays, according to the census, is $225,500, so for city services, which would mean that 15%, that's $1.28 a day that a citizen would have to pay for police, fire, parks, all the things that we do. So that does not include the library. So how does our mill levy rank compared to other communities? This is under current, because obviously new budgets haven't been set. But of the 122 first and second class cities across Kansas, So those are cities as large as Wichita with 401,000 people to a smallest Scammon with 368 residents. Hays has the 13th lowest mill levy. And the chart above is a comparison of 40 of those 122 communities. These are also the same towns that were used in the sales tax comparison. So these communities consist of large cities like Kansas City, Topeka, Wichita, comparable towns like Pittsburgh, Emporia, Dodge, regional hubs or secondary regional hubs, I call them like Colby, Pratt, and nearby communities like Russell, Victoria, and a variety of Johnson County communities. Of those 40, Hayes' current city levy of 24.382, so what we're currently on, is the ninth lowest mill levy important to note that not all cities levy for the same type of services so for instance many of those communities in front of us in fact all of them on that chart are in Johnson County Johnson County does not levy for an airport the cities don't live for an airport and they don't have a commercial service and they don't levy for a library that is all taken care of by Johnson County not the cities so our total levy which comprises all the taxing entities that a citizen of hay sees on their property tax bill is currently the 13th lowest among all first and second class cities. And like last chart, this shows a comparison of the same 40 communities, and Hays is the 10th lowest levy in the state. One of the levied funds is the airport, and so the notable project next year will be the North Apron expansion. SkyWest, our commercial airline provider, has begun adding larger aircraft to their fleet mix. And in fact, they've requested that the city lay down new markings to accommodate the pending additional larger aircraft. We don't know when that will happen, but we anticipate it. And so this additional space will be able to accommodate, obviously, the larger aircraft. It'll have a dedicated de-icing area, help separate general aviation activities from commercial aviation operations, and improve snow removal operations as well. It's nice that the FAA does share that on a 90-10 cost split, so it's a good deal for us. Another lovely fund is the Public Safety Fund. So the goal of this fund is to incur no debt, provide the necessary fleet of police and fire vehicles, as well as the needed tools and equipment. By statute, we can only levy up to two mills. And the notable expense for this fund in 27 includes the purchase of a new ARF truck to replace the city's 1997 ARF truck. This is also another 90-10 split that the FAA will cover. So our portion on the ARF truck is only $175,000 out of roughly a $1.6 million vehicle. Three police vehicles and four patrol car laptops related to IT equipment. And then there's other planned purchases like fire hoses, pagers, and police tasers.

Colin?

Yeah.

Can I ask a question back about that? We've had some success in grant writing. We hadn't done it for years and then didn't write for a grant and actually was accepted. Are we still looking at doing some of that in some of this area?

We do what we can. So actually the tasers were funded, I think, on a grant by... through Senator Moran's office, actually. And that has come up, so that's why now we're having a budget, and that's why they're including that. But yeah, anytime we can find a grant opportunity, we'll do it.

The locals are the best way to go, and that's the one I'm referring to is the one that came from Heartland Community Foundation, but we have a number of foundations like those that we can certainly look to, I think.

So under the utilities funds, it's been discussed for more than a year, the need to adjust the city solid waste fees. So the last fee that was increased was implemented just before COVID in 2019. Kind of unfortunate for lots of reasons, but because of COVID, after the accelerated inflation and cost increases, As you can see in the chart, inflation now exceeds the sanitation fee rate schedule that was put in place about seven or eight years ago. The budget for 27 does show a bit more revenue, which is dependent on rate increase, which will come before you guys in the next few months to decide what the future rate structure will be. But it is a fund that's starting to erode its purchasing power because of inflation. The water production distribution departments, they're responsible for operation and maintenance of the city wells, the water softening plant, along with maintaining and repairing the city's 133 miles of water mains and their service connections and meter reading. The notable projects here are the replacement of the fiber line to the plant. That original fiber was installed in 1998, and it has a speed limit of 100 megabytes as opposed to 1 gigabyte, which is what every other city building has. And the fiber is no longer produced, so if it ever becomes hit on a construction project like that, you're probably not going to be able to repair it, so we need to replace it. And the other large projects are water line improvements to five blocks. It looks like there should be more because it says 13th to the 19th, but there's some weird blocks over there. So I count them. You can count them. Anyways, so it is only five blocks, and that's about 585,000. Again, the water reclamation or use department will continue its proactive maintenance plan, which includes sanitary sewer cleaning, repair projects identified from those inspections and cleaning, manhole rehab, and then additionally the department will be purchasing a new vac truck to replace their existing 20-year-old truck. In stormwater, the city will be undertaking another project to line the 100-plus-year-old Lincoln Tunnel. So starting at 19th and Lincoln and going south to Montgomery Ditch at the Union Pacific Railroad, The tunnel winds its way under the downtown area, and it follows an old creek bed that was filled in during the 20s when the tunnel was constructed and the town built over the top of it. In hindsight, not the best idea. But Lincoln Draw Tunnel is constructed of glazed red clay mortared together into a circular tunnel approximately 72 inches in diameter and one mile in length. So this lining project is similar kind of to our manhole lining projects where an epoxy sealant will be applied to the surface for protective coating to extend the life of the tunnel. We've done a couple of these. Hopefully we get it all finished, but it's a very pricey venture. But it's more cost effective than the alternative. Special highway funding for street maintenance projects primarily comes from state and federal resources. However, the general fund does contribute 18% or 200,000. Over 1.1 million in preventative street maintenance are planned for 2027, including having a new street pavement assessment conducted. So this is an exercise we do about every five years to help identify needed road repairs and help staff gauge the effectiveness of the city's street maintenance program. I think John Brown used to refer to it as the magic school bus. Drives around and measures all the roads. City staff will return to the commission later this year with the specifics of the proposed 2027 program. And I got to point this out to you just because I find it interesting. 7% of our special highway comes from connecting link funds, which is funding that the state provides to cities for municipalities to maintain state highways running through their communities. Hayes receives $5,000 per lane mile to help maintain the 15 miles of state highways that pass through the city of Hayes, and this amount has not been adjusted since 2019. Wow.

15 miles? Mm-hmm.

That also includes the bypass.

Oh, okay. That too. Okay.

Special parks and rec is funded by a third of the proceeds from the local alcoholic liquor tax and transfers from transit guest tax State law does require third of liquor tax to be used for park and recreation services programs and facilities only alcohol alcoholic liquor sold in restaurants collects this tax So I would say this but there's a good way to get more money for our parks or one way This year is a bit unique as the budget recommends a larger transfer to be made from the CVB this is because Well, it's flipped from past years. Usually it's about the opposite. It's about 55 from the liquor tax and 45 from CB transfer, but we're having positive transit guest tax receipts, and this is recommended to help bolster the long-term viability of our parks and equipment. Budgeted next year are the big ones are two playground equipments, one at East Frontier and one at Prep Optimist. The total budget that's budgeted doesn't mean it has to be spent, but it's $250,000. So the capital improvements, this excludes our nine projects. We have 17 capital improvement projects that are programmed in the 27 budget. These 17 projects are estimated to cost just over $8.6 million. And there are four big ticket items, each over $1 million. Those would be the reconstruction of 22nd Street from Vine to Canterbury, the 2027 Street maintenance program, HVAC upgrades to City Hall and Public Works, and the lining of Lincoln Tunnel. city strives to pay for its capital projects in cash saving the city the long-term cost of having to borrow funds helping to lower the mill levy and that goes back to that commission capital reserve that i mentioned earlier and then on our fleet 11 piece of equipment totally slightly over 1.3 will be replaced these are all paid for in cash hayes is really proactive and it's been in place for a long time where we When we buy a piece of equipment, we start setting aside money every year. So when it does need replaced, we have that funds there.

And we keep it extra long.

Yes. Yes, we do. The big expense is a new vac truck for water resources. And, you know, that's 20 years old. So we try and get as much mileage out of the equipment as we can. Parks, I mentioned, is acquiring two mowers and a compact tractor. Police have budgeted for three new vehicles and fire departments set aside for their ARV truck. And then lastly, Public Works will be replacing their 12-year-old crack seal machine, and Airport will be purchasing a snow broom and truck with plow. So the next steps are to receive public comments. The action requested to exceed the revenue neutral rate would be next, and a vote must be taken within the public hearing. This vote must be conducted by roll call. And then following the revenue neutral rate vote, a motion to close the public hearing and accompanying vote must be taken. Any questions for me?

Questions at this moment?

I have none.

I think you've done a good job answering our questions throughout the last couple of months, looking at things. I'd just love to hear what the people have to say. If anybody showed up and has any feedback.

I will open it up for public comment. Anybody who wishes to speak, please come forward, state your name, and let us know your comments. Okay. Then I will request a motion on the action requested.

I move approval of resolution number 2026-019 by roll call vote to exceed the revenue neutral rate of 23,743 mils in its property tax levy for the tax year of 2026, budget year 2027. Second.

There's a motion by Commissioner Jacobs, second by Commissioner Cunningham. Questions or comments for other discussion for this specific revenue neutral? Okay. Then I will call for the roll call vote. Commissioner David Belizing.

I think we could stay under revenue neutral, so I'm going to say no.

Okay. Commissioner Sandy Jacobs.

I say yes.

Commissioner Landa Cunningham.

Yes.

Commissioner Sean Musil. Absent. Me. Mayor Mason Reuter. Yes. Okay, so roll call vote is four to one, or I'm sorry, three to one, one absent.

I move we close the public hearing. Second.

Motion by Commissioner Jacobs to close the public hearing. Second by Commissioner Cunningham. All in favor to close the public hearing for revenue neutral rate, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 4-0. Next up is the actual adoption of the 2027 budget public hearing. So I will open the public hearing for the 2027 budget specifically and move on to that section. This one will work more as a normal vote, not a roll call.

Do you have a motion to open the hearing?

No, not to open. I'm sorry. This is open to anybody who wishes to speak on the budget in general. If anybody would like to speak, same rules as before. Okay. Seeing none, I will ask for a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved.

Second.

Motion by Commissioner Jacobs. Second by Commissioner Cunningham to close the public hearing for the budget. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 4-0 to close the public hearing there. And then we will have a motion for the adoption of the budget.

I move to approve the 2027 budget for the City of Hays. Second.

Motion by Commissioner Cunningham. Second by Commissioner Jacobs. Any questions or comments on the budget right now?

I can leave it in comments for now. I just want to state again how impressed I am with staff and not just those sitting at this table but all of the department heads and the people that are looking at these numbers throughout the year getting ready for budget time. It's not a one-day deal and they're very, very careful about what they're requesting. I think the budget in nine years that I've been here I think this is the most stellar budget I've seen since then and everyone's good but this one's really good. I appreciate it very much.

would just also commend staff I mean we asked for a very conservative budget and that was what was provided so thank you I agree they've been conservative there's just little areas I think we could cut more to get it down a little bit no I agree with commending staff on what they've done they maintained they made sure we took care of the people who actually run these machines take care of our streets and who live work and play here as well so glad we were able to take care of the employees make sure that projects are taken care of maintained and we're setting aside things for the future so we can you know continue to run stellar budgets like we have so thank you to staff and thank you to everybody who makes this happen like this every year it's great to have budgets we work on where our questions are small in nature because you guys have an idea of what it takes to make this community run and being responsible with all the monies you get. Okay. I will call for the vote on the budget. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Aye. Okay. Passes 3-1. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Colin. Appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

All right. Now we'll move on to commission inquiries and comments. David, you're up.

Oh, boy. No, I really don't have much. I was hoping to hear from more people today, see what their thoughts were here. I know the folks I talk to on a day-to-day basis are really looking for a break. Anything we could do to help them would be appreciated. So other than that, I don't have anything else.

Sandy?

I've had the opportunity this last week to drive all over the city every corner every middle every and I really want to compliment people on how they're keeping up their properties in these really difficult times of no water you know you expect everything to be burned up or but because of the measures we've taken on the kinds of grasses that we support being in our community I think everything looks amazing I will end that with just a little bit of caveat I've seen I should have taken a For Jesse, I should have taken pictures of it. There are a few that are really neglect, and I would like to find a way to help if it's something they can't do on their own. But overall, the pride in this community is exemplary, and I appreciate that very much.

Thank you. Alina? Oh, sorry. If you see a property, you can always just text, call, and write the address. I will. Thank you. Let us know what's going on. Alina?

I don't have a lot I want to thank those who did show up to support even though maybe you didn't have comments to share I always appreciate seeing people here and being present so thank you for that and then Just a reminder, which I'm sure the mayor was planning to touch on, but a reminder that the 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb is Saturday morning at Lewis Stadium. So please come out, join if you're able and willing. Other than that, I don't have anything.

That starts at 7 a.m., right? 7.40.

Registration is at 7, starts at 7.46, and I believe you can register online. Yes.

They start walking, I think, at 7.46 because it coincides with the time of the first completion. Yep. Either early. That's right.

Registration starts at 7. Yeah, and if you go to the CBB's website, you can actually click a link and pre-register and give your T-shirt size so when you show up, they just check in and you can get your T-shirt.

Yep. Okay. Yeah, one thing I wanted to thank was I wanted to thank Senator Moran. Specifically, this is just something probably nobody else pays attention to because I'm a nerd, but he had argued for the exemption of the salt we receive from Canada. to be exempt from the tariffs because I think it's like 85% of the salt we receive for utilizing for road maintenance and whatnot comes from Canada, which if we would have to pay the tariff on top of that, that 50% on top of what we already have, that'd be a huge hit to our budget. So I appreciate the senator working to get that exempt so we can not have to pass that extra cost on to our citizens to make that happen. So that's a huge win. So thank you for that. Yeah, the only other thing I have is, you know, 25 years ago tonight, millions of people went to bed. And the next day, a few thousand of them never made it back home. It was a deep change for our country. Very tragic. I think everybody who was alive then knows where they were at that time. I remember watching it. And it does, it changed us. But I think the unity that came out of that tragedy 25 years ago was absolutely astounding. It showed the true resilience of what the United States and communities can be with one another. So I think we need to remember those who are lost, thank our first responders every single day that run into the line of duty. And even those afterwards, you always forget about the public works crews and whatnot that had to clean the debris afterwards. They were just as important as the rest of it, all the way down to individual community members. So thank you so much for everything that you guys do. And make sure you take a moment tomorrow to reflect on that. And that is all I have this evening. Any public or executive sessions? Nope. And we will adjourn at 4.33 p.m.