After nearly five hours of presentation, comment, debate, and discussion about the city and county budgets, a closely divided Unified Government commission voted 6-5 to accept a request from Mayor/CEO Tyrone Garner to table the revenue neutral issue until next Thursday, July 17 at 5:00 p.m.

The mayor expressed reservations that the proposal from UG Administrator David Johnston and his staff had made every effort to spend tax dollars efficiently.

“I’d like to see staff come back with that list that we had before,” said Garner, “that listed all those options for this commission to make an informed decision on areas that we could responsibly cut. Not essential services, but things that are not needs, but wants.”

Commissioners Bill Burns (District 2), Christian Ramirez (District 3), Mike Kane (District 5), Philip Lopez (District 6), and Andrew Davis (District 8) voted against the mayor’s motion, an indication that they may have intended to vote for exceeding revenue neutral.

The proposal up for approval was to exceed the projected revenue neutral rate, and to set a maximum mill levy five mills higher than current rates for both the city and county portions of the property tax bill.

That increase would be approximately a 14 percent higher than the current rates, but the maximum mill levy does not represent the final approved budget amount. Instead it is the highest potential value that could be set during the upcoming budgeting process.

Commissioner Mike Kane supported the proposal to exceed revenue neutral, and made a motion to accept it. Kane has several times voiced his concerns during budget meetings about avoiding staff cuts, which a revenue neutral budget would likely require.

“When you’re elected you have to do certain things you don’t like,” said the District 5 commissioner, “We have to do what’s best for the community, even if the community disagrees with us.”

However, Kane’s motion was not picked up, because not all the commissioners had finished their comments.

The lengthy public comment period had many speakers on both sides of the revenue neutral vote.

Sam Boyles rose in opposition to any potential increases. “When the Unified Government was created,” said the Turner resident, “it came with a promise of efficiency, consolidation, and fiscal responsibility, but today we see a pattern of spending that is neither sustainable nor transparent. We the taxpayers are left carrying the burden.”

Boyles noted that rising property values had increased his tax bill by over half, even while the nominal levy rate had decreased.

Stephanie Bell called for the UG to expand its revenue and spending. “It’s my hope this fall that you all will vote to exceed revenue neutral and begin investing in services and amenities that have been beyond neglected in the time that we’ve lived here — things like infrastructure, animal services, and paying our UG public servants a wage that we can be proud of.”

Dr. Willie Lawrence Jr. represented the American Heart Association and called on the UG to add spending toward health services, noting that the county is disproportionately affected by heart disease and stroke.

“These diseases are not distributed equally across our region. They are more common and more deadly right here in Wyandotte County than in neighboring communities like Johnson County.”

He noted that hypertension increases both heart disease and stroke risk and is preventable. “While we have the tools to control hypertension,” said the distinguished cardiologist, “too many people in Wyandotte County are living with it untreated or poorly managed.”

He called for increased spending on health services to bring Wyandotte County in line with other regions for access to health care support.

“The health of the people of Wyandotte County is at a critical tipping point,” said Dr. Lawrence. “You can do something to help…We already know what works. Access to care saves lives.”

On Friday, Commissioner Ramirez released a statement of strong opposition to a revenue neutral budget. “My stance has not changed: I will never vote for Revenue Neutral and I will never vote for budget cuts. Our community is hurting for more services. The loud few voices cannot make decisions for the many. My first priority will always be to my district. They are the ones who elected me to make these decisions. That is why I will be scheduling a town hall to hear from my district how they want me to vote. My vote is for my district alone. I will provide more details when I can.”

This article was updated after publication with statement from Commissioner Ramirez.