Osage County Commission
Neighborhood revitalization plan
to be sent to attorney general

Once the attorneys have a final say, Osage County will have new incentive for progress. Osage County commissioners heard Tuesday morning from the county’s economic development director, Stephanie Watson, who has been encouraging local government entities to participate in a countywide neighborhood revitalization plan.

Watson reported she had been successful in signing on all the cities in the county except one, and all the school districts, including those that overlap the county line. The only town she had yet to hear from was Olivet, she said.

“Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the deadline,” she told the commissioners.

The next step is to send the plan to the Kansas attorney general for his legal review, she said.

Established by the state, the neighborhood revitalization act allows governing bodies to designate areas in need of improvement and offer incentives to property owners to improve those areas. The county’s proposed plan will offer property tax rebates for five to six years, depending on the project. The amount of the rebate is based upon the increase in valuation of property after improvements are made.

Commissioners have considered several drafts of the county’s plan over the past few months. Watson worked with Osage County Appraiser Margaret Archer to develop the plan and identify blighted areas in the county.

To be eligible, all taxes must be current on the applicants’ properties. Improvements must be commenced on or after the effective date of the plan; application must be made within 60 days of issuance of building permits; completion must be done within one year of application approval; applicants must notify the county appraiser of completion of the improvement, and allow access to the property for inspections.

The plan also stipulates an initial application fee of $125.

Commissioners pressed Watson for a deadline to sign the final resolution, but she said the legal review must come first.

Commissioner William Prescott said the taxing entities and the public needed reassurance the plan would be retroactive to Jan. 1, as proposed.

“We need to let the public and cities know there’s nothing hanging fire,” Prescott said. “They need to know the plan is still in process.”

Commissioner Larry Woodson agreed. “We want to be in good faith with what we proposed and intended,” he said.

Commissioners agreed the final plan and list of taxing entities should be reviewed by county counselor Delton Gilliland before it is submitted to the attorney general.

Watson said she would confer with Gilliland and then mail the materials to Topeka by Friday.

Commissioner Carl Meyer noted the commission would hold a public hearing after the attorney general’s approval. Following the hearing, the commission can finalize the resolution.