Voice For Liberty

Tag: Elections

Wichita water rates seen as not encouraging conservation
Wichita water rates are about average for households using modest amounts of water. But households using a lot of water pay much less than average, leading us to wonder if Wichita could adjust its rates to encourage conservation and/or generate more revenue.
Data from a 2012 Black & Veatch survey of water and sewer rates in 50 large cities reveals an interesting characteristic of water rates.
Many cities have tiered water rates, where as a household uses more water, the marginal cost per gallon rises. This is the case in Wichita. Each household has its average winter consumption (AWC) as measured during the winter months. Presumably this is the water that is used for cooking, cleaning, flushing, bathing, and other indoor household needs. For Wichita city customers, for usage up to 110 percent of this value, or AWC, the rate is $1.77 per thousand gallons. For water used from 111 percent to 310 percent of AWC, the rate is $6.25 per thousand gallons. For use over this level, the rate is $9.13 per thousand gallons.
This means that water used inside the house — the presumed basis of AWC — has a low price in both winter and other seasons. But water used much above that value is more expensive. This is probably water used for swimming pools, irrigation of lawns, and other outside summer uses.
(The water usage is not the only cost that appears on Wichitans’ water bills. There is a minimum monthly charge and a charge for sewer service, and others.)
Water bills for different levels of usage. Average of 50 cities on top; Wichita on bottom. Click for larger version.
Back to the Black & Veatch survey. For the 50 cities in the survey, considering only the water portion of bills, the average cost for using 3,750 gallons per month is $19. For using 15,000 gallons, the cost is $65. That’s a ratio of 3.4 to 1.
For Wichita, the survey reported costs of $18 and $36, for a ratio of 2.0 to 1.
These are two important numbers: 3.4 and 2.0. They mean that while Wichita water becomes marginally more expensive as more is used, the slope is not nearly as steep as the average. It means that households that use low amounts of water pay about average rates, but those using a lot of water pay rates much less than average.
Does this mean that if Wichita is serious about conservation of water, that it could ramp up summer water rates more in like with other cities? It looks that way.
And would this provide the revenue the city says it needs to develop a new water supply?
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October 15, 2014
Is Wichita campaigning for the sales tax?
To pay for a new water supply, Wichita gives voters two choices and portrays one as exceptionally bad and unwise. This either-or fallacy created by the city is a form of campaigning for the sales tax in disguise.
In November Wichita voters will decide whether to create a sales tax of one cent per dollar. The largest intended purpose of the funds is to create a new water supply.
Set aside for a moment the question whether Wichita needs a new water source. Set aside the question of whether ASR is the best way to provide a new water source. What’s left is how to pay for it.
City of Wichita information on proposed sales tax
To pay for a new water source, the city gives us two choices: Either (a) raise funds through the sales tax, or (b) borrow funds that Wichitans will pay back on their water bills, along with a pile of interest.
As you can see in the nearby chart prepared by the city, the costs are either $250 million (sales tax) or $471 million (borrow and pay interest). The preference of the city is evident: sales tax. The “Yes Wichita ” group agrees.
Here’s what is happening. City hall gives us two choices. It’s either (a) do what we want (sales tax), or (b) we’ll do something that’s really bad (borrow and pay interest). Wichitans shouldn’t settle for this array of choices.
Are there other alternatives for raising $250 million for a new water source (assuming it is actually needed)? Of course there are. The best way would be to raise water bills by $250 million over five years. In this way, water users pay for the new water supply, and we avoid the long-term debt that city council members and “Yes Wichita” seem determined to avoid.
Water bills would have to rise by quite a bit in order to raise $50 million per year. But it’s important to have water users pay for water. The benefit of having water users pay for a new water source is that water users will become acutely aware of the costs of a new water supply. That awareness is difficult to achieve. Many citizens are surprised to learn that the city has spent $247 million over the past decade on a water project, the ASR program. Almost all of that was paid for with long-term debt, the same debt that the city now says is bad.
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October 15, 2014
Wichita city hall doesn’t need a sales tax to burn off the fog
As Wichita voters consider promises of transparency and reporting regarding job creation, the city fails to make even the most basic information available.
In November, Wichita voters will consider whether to authorize a sales tax of one cent per dollar. Part of that would be used for economic development with the aid of creating jobs. The city promises a transparency in decision making and reporting of results regarding this jobs fund.
Material produced by the city on July 22 contains: “Decisions about who receives funding, the number of jobs, and the impact on community would be made in public meetings and tracked through a website. Reports would be made on a regular basis to elected officials.”
On its website, the “Yes Wichita” group promises that “Results will be measured and reported publicly.” Also, “Decisions and results are made in public meetings and transparent with website tracking results, investments and return on investment to community.”
In other words, sales tax boosters are promoting transparency and presentation of results.
The thing is, the city and its affiliated groups could be doing this right now if they wanted to. They could have been doing it for many years, if they had wanted to.
A specific example
Premier Processing is a company located in Wichita that received forgivable loans from both Wichita and Sedgwick County five years ago. The loans included clawback provisions calling for repayment of the loans if jobs targets were not met.
Unfortunately, the job targets were not met. Premier has repaid the loans to both governments. (I’ve requested further details from the city, such as whether the company paid the interest that the contract specified in case of default.)
Are you aware of this news? It’s not likely that you are aware, as neither Sedgwick County or the city made this information public. But this is the type of information the city and “Yes Wichita” promise will be available in the future.
It’s true that the city doesn’t have a fancy website on which to report these results. But that isn’t needed right now. If the city is truly interested in reporting results to citizens, it could have written a simple press release. Two or three sentences is all that’s needed. The city could have dictated these sentences to a newspaper or television reporter. This is not difficult. It would cost next to nothing.
But the city didn’t do that. Instead, someone tipped me, and I asked. If not for that, we would not know. This is the culture at Wichita city hall.
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October 14, 2014
In Wichita, pro-sales tax campaign group uses sales tax-exempt building as headquarters
While “Yes Wichita” campaigns for higher sales taxes, it operates from a building that received a special exemption from paying sales tax.
Many Wichitans remember the building at the northwest corner of First and Market Streets as the Kansas Gas and Electric Building. Today, under new ownership, it’s being converted to luxury apartments under the name “The Lux.”
“Yes Wichita” campaign headquarters, located in a building that received a sales tax exemption.
The new owners of The Lux felt that they shouldn’t have to pay sales tax on things they purchase (like construction materials) while renovating the building. So they approached the city. On October 2, 2012 the city granted their request and initiated the process whereby The Lux will avoid paying sales taxes.
Fast forward two years. Now there’s a proposal to add one cent per dollar to the sales tax in Wichita. A group named “Yes Wichita” formed to promote the higher sales tax.
When “Yes Wichita” — a group that campaigns for you to pay higher sales taxes on nearly everything from baby formula to automobiles — needed campaign headquarters, do you know where it decided to locate?
That’s right. In The Lux, a building that does not have to pay sales tax on materials used in its conversion to luxury apartments.
Really. I’m not kidding.
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October 13, 2014
Voter support of taxpayer-funded economic development incentives
In a poll, about one-third of Wichita voters support local governments using taxpayer money to provide subsidies to certain businesses for economic development.
In April Kansas Policy Institute commissioned SurveyUSA to conduct a scientific poll concerning current topics in Wichita. The press release from KPI, along with a link to the complete survey results, is available at Poll: Wichitans don’t want sales tax increase.
The second question the survey asked was “In general, do you agree? Or disagree? With the idea of local governments using taxpayer money to provide subsidies to certain businesses for economic development?” Following are the results for everyone, and then divided by political party and political ideology.
Overall, 55 percent disagreed with using taxpayer money to provide subsidies to certain businesses for economic development. 34 percent agreed.
The results are fairly consistent across political party and ideology, although Republicans are somewhat more likely to agree with using taxpayer funds for economic development incentives, as are those who self-identify as political moderates.
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October 13, 2014
Wichita’s aversion to debt
Wichita city leaders and the “Vote Yes” group say it’s better to pay for a new water source with sales tax rather than debt. This aversion to debt seems to be a recent concern of the city, considering the chart below.
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October 12, 2014
Wichita debt levels seen to rise
As part of the campaign for a proposed Wichita sales tax, the city says that debt is bad. But actions the city has taken have caused debt levels to rise, and projections are for further increases.
According to the most recent edition of Wichita’s Performance Measure Report, the city’s debt levels are projected to rise, based on three measures.
Wichita Outstanding Net General Obligation Debt as a Percentage of Assessed Value
One measure, named “Outstanding Net General Obligation Debt as a Percentage of Assessed Value,” is projected to rise. From 2007 through 2011, the average value for this measure was 1.50 percent. Since then its actual value has risen, and the city projects it to continue to rise, reaching 3.59 percent in 2015 and then 3.44 percent in 2016. (Click charts for larger versions.)
Describing this measure, the city document explains “The level of outstanding debt as a percentage of assessed valuation is based on currently anticipated debt needs of the 2011-2020 Adopted Capital Improvement Program. The percentage is expected to increase as additional debt financing projects are implemented.” (emphasis added)
In “Factors impacting outcomes,” the city explains “Slow assessed valuation growth coupled with increasing debt will lead to an increase in this measure.” (emphasis added)
Wichita Outstanding Gross General Obligation Debt per Capita
Another measure is “Outstanding Gross General Obligation Debt per Capita.” From 2007 to 2009 the average value was $1,216. It has risen since then, although not steadily. The value is projected to peak at $1,626 in 2015 and then fall to $1,610 in 2016.
City documents explain: “Slow population growth coupled with increasing debt lead to an increase in this measure.” (emphasis added)
Wichita Outstanding General Obligation Debt Service as a Percentage of Debt Service Fund Taxes Levied
Another measure is “Outstanding General Obligation Debt Service as a Percentage of Debt Service Fund Taxes Levied.” This measure is projected to rise to over twice its recent low value of 30 percent in 2009 to 64 percent in 2015 and 2016.
The performance report describes this measure as “… outstanding General Obligation debt divided by taxes levied by the Debt Service Fund.” Its importance is this, says the city: “This is a measure of flexibility; if the percentage is lower, there are more future opportunities to initiate projects paid for with bonds.”
The document also explains: “In the past, the City of Wichita’s borrowing needs have been lower because more projects were paid for with cash, rather than bonds.” Additionally, “Anticipated debt issuances will increase, based on programmed CIP improvements.”
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October 12, 2014
In Wichita, promises of accountability and transparency
Boosters of the proposed Wichita sales tax promise transparency. But Wichita has not delivered on that in the past, and still rebuffs the public’s right to know.
When a city council member apologizes to bureaucrats because they have to defend why their agencies won’t disclose how taxpayer money is spent, we have a problem. When the mayor and most other council members agree, the problem is compounded. Carl Brewer won’t be mayor past April, but the city council member that apologized to bureaucrats — Pete Meitzner (district 2, east Wichita) — may continue serving in city government beyond next year’s elections. Wichita City Manager Robert Layton will likely continue serving for the foreseeable future.
Wichita City Council Member Pete Meitzner does not support the public’s right to know how taxpayer funds are spent.
Why is this important? Supporters of the proposed Wichita sales tax promise transparency in operations and spending, especially regarding the jobs fund. But requests for spending records by the city’s quasi-governmental agencies are routinely rebuffed. Simple requests for contracts without outside entities are rejected. The city supports this refusal to comply with the Kansas Open Records Act.
Here are some things voters may want to consider as they evaluate promises of future transparency and accountability:
- Many of the people presently in charge at city hall and at agencies like Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition will still be in charge if the proposed sales tax passes.
- The city council seems pleased with city manager Robert Layton. He has not advocated for citizens’ right to know how taxpayer money is spent despite being presented with compelling reasons why the city should act to increase transparency.
- The Kansas Open Records Act does not prohibit the city and these agencies from releasing spending records. The city and agencies have made this decision, and have spent taxpayer resources fighting against the release of spending records.
- If the city and its quasi-governmental agencies are serious about accountability and transparency, they could release the requested records today.
- The city is unable to provide spending records in computer-readable form except for images. This data is not readily usable.
- One of the co-chairs of the “Yes Wichita” group, Harvey Sorensen, has been a vigorous defender of government’s ability to spend taxpayer funds in secret, telling the city council that advocates for transparency simply want to embarrass the city, and there is no public purpose for their requests.
Given this background, on what basis do we believe that the city and its agencies will change their attitude towards citizens’ right to know how taxpayer funds are spent?
If the city wants to convince citizens that it has changed its attitude towards government transparency and citizens’ right to know how tax money is spent, it could positively respond to the records requests made by myself and Kansas Policy Institute.
Following, from December 2012, an illustration of the city’s attitude towards citizens’ right to know.
Wichita, again, fails at open government
The Wichita City Council, when presented with an opportunity to increase the ability of citizens to observe the workings of the government they pay for, decided against the cause of open government, preferring to keep the spending of taxpayer money a secret.
The occasion was consideration of renewing its contract with Go Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau. I asked, as I have in the past for this agency and also for Wichita Downtown Development Corporation and Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, that they consider themselves to be what they are: public agencies as defined in the Kansas Open Records Act.
In the past I’ve argued that Go Wichita is a public agency as defined in the Kansas Open Records Act. But the city disagreed. And astonishingly, the Sedgwick County District Attorney agrees with the city’s interpretation of the law.
So I asked that we put aside the law for now, and instead talk about good public policy. Let’s recognize that even if the law does not require Go Wichita, WDDC, and GWEDC to disclose records, the law does not prohibit them from fulfilling records requests.
Once we understand this, we’re left with these questions:
Why does Go Wichita, an agency funded almost totally by tax revenue, want to keep secret how it spends that money, over $2 million per year?
Why is this city council satisfied with this lack of disclosure of how taxpayer funds are spent?
Why isn’t Go Wichita’s check register readily available online, as it is for Sedgwick County?
For that matter, why isn’t Wichita’s check register online?
It would be a simple matter for the council to declare that the city and its taxpayer-funded partner agencies believe in open government. All the city has to have is the will to do this. It takes nothing more.
Only Wichita City Council Member Michael O’Donnell (district 4, south and southwest Wichita) gets it, and yesterday was his last meeting as a member of the council. No other council members would speak up in favor of citizens’ right to open government.
But it’s much worse than a simple failure to recognize the importance of open government. Now we have additional confirmation of what we already suspected: Many members of the Wichita City Council are openly hostile towards citizens’ right to know.
In his remarks, Wichita City Council Member Pete Meitzner (district 2, east Wichita) apologized to the Go Wichita President that she had become “a pawn in the policy game.” He said it was “incredibly unfair that you get drawn into something like this.”
He added that this is a matter for the Attorney General and the District Attorney, and that not being a lawyer, she shouldn’t be expected to understand these issues. He repeated the pawn theme, saying “Unfortunately there are occasions where some people want to use great people like yourself and [Wichita Downtown Development Corporation President] Jeff Fluhr as pawns in a very tumultuous environment. Please don’t be deterred by that.”
Mayor Brewer added “I would have to say Pete pretty much said it all.”
We’ve learned that city council members rely on — as Randy Brown told the council last year — facile legal reasoning to avoid oversight: “It may not be the obligation of the City of Wichita to enforce the Kansas Open Records Act legally, but certainly morally you guys have that obligation. To keep something cloudy when it should be transparent I think is foolishness on the part of any public body, and a slap in the face of the citizens of Kansas. By every definition that we’ve discovered, organizations such as Go Wichita are subject to the Kansas Open Records Act.”
But by framing open government as a legal issue — one that only lawyers can understand and decide — Wichita city government attempts to avoid criticism for their attitude towards citizens.
It’s especially absurd for this reason: Even if we accept the city’s legal position that the city and its quasi-governmental taxpayer-funded are not required to fulfill records request, there’s nothing preventing from doing that — if they wanted to.
In some ways, I understand the mayor, council members, and bureaucrats. Who wants to operate under increased oversight?
What I don’t understand is the Wichita news media’s lack of interest in this matter. Representatives of all major outlets were present at the meeting.
I also don’t understand what Council Member Lavonta Williams (district 1, northeast Wichita) suggested I do: “schmooze” with staff before asking for records. (That’s not my word, but a characterization of Williams’ suggestion made by another observer.)
I and others who have made records requests of these quasi-governmental taxpayer-funded organizations have alleged no wrongdoing by them. But at some point, citizens will be justified in wondering whether there is something that needs to be kept secret.
The actions of this city have been noticed by the Kansas Legislature. The city’s refusal to ask its tax-funded partners to recognize they are public agencies as defined in the Kansas Open Records Act is the impetus for corrective legislation that may be considered this year.
Don’t let this new law be known as the “Wichita law.” Let’s not make Wichita an example for government secrecy over citizens’ right to know.
Unfortunately, that bad example has already been set, led by the city’s mayor and city council.
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October 10, 2014
Wichita voters’ opinion of city spending
As Wichita voters prepare to decide on the proposed one cent per dollar sales tax, a recent survey found that few voters believe the city spends efficiently.
In April Kansas Policy Institute commissioned SurveyUSA to conduct a scientific poll concerning current topics in Wichita. The press release from KPI, along with a link to the complete survey results, is available at Poll: Wichitans don’t want sales tax increase.
The first question the survey asked was “In the past few years, have Wichita city officials used taxpayer money efficiently? Or inefficiently?” Following are the results for everyone, and then divided by political party and political ideology.
Overall, 58 percent believe city spending was inefficient, compared to 28 percent believing spending was efficient.
The results are surprisingly consistent. An exception is that political independents strongly believed that city spending was inefficient. Those identifying as liberal were more likely to say that city spending was inefficient.
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October 10, 2014