A year-round homeless shelter, more addiction treatment, and a central hub for services are among the ways a proposed countywide health sales tax could be spent, a local mental health provider told the Unified Government Board of Commissioners on Thursday, Oct. 15.

Voters will decide the quarter-cent tax on Nov. 3. The presentation was for information only, and the commission took no action on it.

In the rest of the meeting, commissioners renewed the downtown KCK self-supported municipal improvement district for 10 more years. They also capped speaking fees under the ethics code, started eminent domain proceedings for a BPU water main, and let state bonds go forward for a senior housing renovation and a large battery storage project. All 10 commissioners attended.

Provider outlines possible uses for health tax

Christine Swenson, chief operating officer of Wyandot Behavioral Health Network, gave the presentation, citing Swenson Wyandotte County Health Department figures. The county holds about 6 percent of the Kansas population but about 9 percent of the state’s homeless residents. Most homeless people in the county are unsheltered, and 16 percent are veterans. Among adult heads of household, 21 percent have a mental health condition, 15 percent report substance use, and 10 percent have a disabling condition.

The 2025 point-in-time count found 252 homeless people in the county. “That is probably an underrepresentation actually, because those are the folks who were found and participated,” Swenson said.

Swenson described the uses as ideas, with rough costs based on similar programs:

• Year-round shelter operations, $5 million to $6 million
• Transitional housing, $1.5 million to $2 million
• Crisis stabilization, $1.5 million to $2 million
• Inpatient substance use treatment, $2 million
• A service hub for medical, mental health, and addiction care, $500 thousand to $1 million
• Medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, $100 thousand

She pointed to Lester Paul’s Place, a four-bedroom transitional home the network runs for people leaving state hospitals and nursing facilities. In the last two years, 23 people have gone through the program. More than half moved into permanent housing and stayed there.

Interim County Administrator Alan Howze said the quarter cent would raise about $12 million a year. Voters in KCK, Bonner Springs, and Edwardsville will all vote on it. The UG now runs a cold weather shelter on only the 20 to 30 coldest nights of the year. Howze said the tax “would provide additional resources to make significant gains in addressing homelessness across the community.”

Commissioner Christian Ramirez (District 3) said residents at his community meeting that week worried the ballot language does not say where the money would go. He said the presentation helped by “giving somewhat of a possible road map of where those tax dollars can go.”

Commissioner Andrew Davis (District 8) said he did not want residents to think Wyandot Behavioral Health or any other group was in line for all of the money. “Those decisions have not been made yet,” he said. Davis said a proposed resolution would create a citizen oversight committee, appointed by the commission, to recommend how to distribute the funds. The Administration and Human Services Standing Committee approved that resolution Monday. It goes to the full commission Nov. 5.

Commissioner Melissa Bynum (At-Large District 1) recalled her years doing community relations for the agency. She said nearly everyone she spoke with shared a story about a relative with mental illness or addiction. “When we talk about these issues, we are talking about our own loved ones,” she said.

At Bynum’s request, Deputy Chief Counsel Wendy Green explained the limits on the tax. The money would go into a separate fund, stay with Wyandotte County, and not be shared with cities. It could be spent only on the purposes in the ordinance, which Green read: “to finance the costs of providing health care services including but not limited to indigent care, behavioral health, substance abuse, preventive health care services in the county health department.”

Green added that outside auditors will review the fund like all other UG funds. Howze said special purpose sales taxes are collected everywhere in the county, including in STAR bond and other incentive districts.

Storm relief money held in reserve

Commissioners voted 10-0 to distribute this year’s community benefits fund. The fund will give $90 thousand to the KCK Homes for Generations program.

The Community Benefits Advisory Board had recommended sending the remaining $283 thousand to parks projects at Welborn Park or Klamm Park. The Economic Development and Finance Standing Committee instead voted 6-1 to hold that money in reserve. The UG may use it for structural damage from the Aug. 18 and 19 storm once staff sets up rules for the aid.

Bynum, who chairs the committee, said the panel will likely take up the matter again in early November. She said a community development funding source might fill the storm aid gap better.

Downtown district renewed for 10 years

Commissioners voted 10-0 to renew the Downtown KCK Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District. The district taxes commercial property downtown to pay for cleaning, security, and marketing. The new term runs from Jan. 1, 2027, through the end of 2036. The district’s maximum tax rate drops from 13 mills to 11.

The vote was the last step in a process set by state law, Assistant Counsel Jeff Conway said. It followed a Sept. 3 public hearing and a required 30-day waiting period. “You probably don’t have to worry about it for another 10 years,” he said.

The Downtown Shareholders manages the district. Bynum, who works downtown, made the motion. “I see the impact of the SSMID and I know that even more good can come,” she said.

Ethics code caps speaking fees

The commission voted 10-0 to amend the UG ethics code at the recommendation of the Ethics Commission.

Officials and employees may now keep honoraria of up to $1 thousand per event. They must report any honoraria to the Ethics Commission within 30 days, and turn any amount over $1 thousand over to the UG general fund. The code also bars splitting a payment to get around the cap.

A second change rewrites the whistleblower section to match the Kansas Municipal Employee Whistleblower Act, which the Legislature passed in 2025.

Commissioner Carlos Pacheco (District 5) asked about the risk of not making the changes. Legal staff said the whistleblower rules are required by law either way. Ethics Administrator Misty Brown said the Ethics Commission drafted the honoraria limits because officials wanted clearer rules on honoraria and gifts. “There is no legal liability to it. It’s just a policy decision that’s up to your purview,” she said.

Eminent domain approved for Black Swan Lake water main

On a 9-1 vote, commissioners authorized surveys of land the UG may take by eminent domain for a BPU water main near Black Swan Lake. The project lies along the Johnson County line and extends into BPU’s service area in Shawnee. Commissioner Phil Lopez (District 6) voted no.

Aaron Moore, a BPU water operations project engineer, said the existing main dates to the late 1950s or early 1960s. BPU inherited it from Shawnee Township and has found no record of an easement. “It’s approaching its end of life and it’s also exposed in some areas, just sticking out the ground,” Moore said.

BPU does not want to rebuild on the old route. “First priority is getting away from the dam,” Moore said. Part of the existing line sits in the area affected by the Black Swan Lake dam, and BPU consulted the state about it. The utility also wants to move the main out of backyards and closer to property lines.

Moore said “feedback from the residents has been mixed.” One owner has signed an easement, some will sign only if their neighbors do, and others have refused.

“I’m not a huge fan of eminent domain,” Lopez said. He questioned why BPU could not use the existing route. He also noted that the Shawnee portion of the line would run in front of homes: “those roads are already tight as it is. That’s going to be fun.”

State bonds cleared for senior housing, battery power storage

Commissioners voted 10-0 to approve two bond issues by the Kansas Development Finance Authority. State law gives the UG 15 days after notice to block such bonds. The UG has no obligation to repay them, a point Ramirez said he wanted residents to understand.

Conway said a disapproval would not kill a project outright. “It just means that it can’t happen for a year,” he said. Chief Counsel Angela Lawson added that developers “could still, if they choose, move forward with alternative financing.”

The first issue provides about $17.5 million in affordable housing bonds for Cross-Lines Retirement Center in Argentine, which serves elderly and disabled residents. Tim Schulte of Cross-Lines Development said this is the second phase of the work. The first phase renovated an 88-unit building with 9 percent low-income housing tax credits. The second phase will renovate a 120-unit building using 4 percent credits paired with the bonds, plus historic tax credits. Total cost is about $31 million.

The second issue provides about $350 million in revenue bonds for a battery energy storage plant. A BPU-affiliated nonprofit will build it at the Nearman Creek Power Station, on an unused parking lot inside the levee. Conway said it is separate from another battery project proposed farther south in the county.

Rick Borry, a developer with BPU Energy Resource, said the 170-megawatt plant would hold about half the capacity of the Nearman coal plant and a third of BPU’s peak demand. It can discharge for four hours. He said “it’ll be charged overnight when the demand is low on the grid and the prices are low, and then it’ll be discharged in the afternoon so that the BPU avoids peak power prices and capacity constraints.”

Consent agenda

The commission approved its consent agenda 10-0. The items included:

• A $300 thousand donation for parks capital projects from a NorthPoint Development affiliate building in the Turner Logistics Center
• Retroactive approval to apply for a federal Justice Department grant of up to $1.3 million over three years for the Health Department’s peer recovery program. The grant pays for two peer specialists in long-term recovery, a coordinator, and an addiction counselor in Community Corrections. The new application adds the Behavioral Health and Veterans courts.
• A federal Justice Assistance Grant of about $109 thousand for the KCK Police Department. The department will use it for virtual reality Taser and de-escalation training, and for server upgrades cut from the 2027 capital budget.
• Appointments of Gregg Gibson to the Housing Authority, Colin Curtis to the Landmarks Commission, and Stephanie Barton, Jennifer Doerfler, Ryan Lockamy, Karen Schibi, and Erica Simpson to the Library Board

Other business

Commissioners voted 10-0 to approve Davis’s travel to the Opportunity Zones and Your Influence conference.

Sitting as the Land Bank Board of Trustees, commissioners approved three garden transfers, four yard extensions, and options on 37 single-family homes, 16 multifamily units, and two commercial properties.

The commission then went into a series of executive sessions until 6:50 p.m. to discuss labor negotiations, attorney consultations, and personnel.

Announcements

Mayor Christal Watson announced that KCK’s fall residential open burn season runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 15. Residents can apply for a three-day permit at kckfd.org.

Watson will hold her next Crystal Clear Conversations community meeting Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 5:30 p.m. at the Joe E. Amayo Argentine Community Center, 2010 Metropolitan Ave.

Advance in-person voting begins Saturday, Oct. 17, and ends at noon Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 3. For polling sites, call the Wyandotte County Election Office at 913-573-8500.