Shawnee County Issues
TIBA LOCAL POLITICAL POSITIONS COMMITTEE
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES AS OF JANUARY 25, 2008
Construction Fees: TIBA will seek reductions in the City of Topeka taxes that are charged as contractor, trade, building permit, licensing, development and other fees. Topeka should be the same or lower than neighboring and competing cities. For most of these, Topeka is the highest or close to the highest in the state.
Computerization of Building Permits and Inspections. TIBA strongly recommends the City purchase and use an on-line, computer-based system for the building permit and inspection processes. Much of this information is already being entered into computers, but not on a real-time basis when it would be the most useful.
High Taxes. TIBA is concerned about the high level of business taxes and fees in Topeka, especially the tax rates but also the number of types of taxes.
City-County Cooperation. City-county consolidation appears very unlikely to happen. Yet, Topeka and Shawnee County are highly co-dependent. Whatever benefits Topeka benefits Shawnee County and vice-versa. Whatever harms Topeka harms Shawnee County and vice-versa. However it happens, government officials in Topeka and Shawnee County must cooperate fully if we are to grow and prosper.
Importance of Private Investments. Investment of private money is the absolute most important factor for growth and development. Private money investments drive both the growth of private wealth and tax revenues. When someone in Shawnee County wants to invest private money, we must make sure that there are minimal barriers and that the investors know how much we value and appreciate them.
Realistic Planning. When planning, we should not rely on growth to make the projects feasible. Good planning requires scenarios for negative growth, no growth, and positive growth. The track record in Topeka requires that we plan for all possibilities.
Flexible Planning. It is important that the city recognize differences in the community and encourage development in distressed areas by allowing flexibility in some development requirements. Instead of forcing idealistically high requirements on projects in distressed areas, the city should allow variances that will encourage projects to be built, thereby increasing the neighborhood's appeal and value. Consider reversing most or all of the down-zoning of commercial properties done in recent years.
Helicopter. TIBA opposes the purchase of a second new helicopter by the City of Topeka.