Office of the City Manager
Mayor Frese and Members of the Tonganoxie City Council: It is my pleasure to present the City of Tonganoxie 2022 Adopted Budget, which was approved by the City Council on September 7, 2021 by a vote of 3-2. The Adopted Budget communicates the City’s immediate and long-term plan for continuing to deliver high-quality city services at a reasonable cost to Tonganoxie residents and visitors. Also, on September 7, 2021, but prior to the Budget Adoption, the City Council adhered to Kansas SB 13, which also required public notice for a public hearing to consider exceeding the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR), which would allow jurisdictions to levy more revenue from property tax than the year before. On a 5-0 vote, the City Council voted to exceed the RNR by maintaining a flat City mill levy and adopted Resolution 09-21- 01 indicating such intent. The development of the 2022 budget included numerous opportunities for policy direction from the Governing Body and input from residents of Tonganoxie. Dedicated public hearing opportunities were held to allow public input and staff also analyzed & presented the results of an online survey tool offered to utility customers. Following the Spring Retreat on March 20 th , the Governing Body held a Capital Maintenance & Improvement focused session on May 3 rd , reviewed the Base Proposed Budget at the June 21 st regular meeting, and completed five additional budget work sessions before final adoption. Strong Commercial and Residential Development Activity In June, we were excited to announce that Hills Pet Nutrition was looking to make an investment at the Tonganoxie Business Park for a new $325M manufacturing plant. The project will create a minimum of 80 jobs with an average annual salary of $60,625; the plant is expected to be operational before the Spring of 2024. Unilock, the Business Park’s first tenant, also has plans for constructing a concrete product manufacturing facility, which should begin during 2023. Unilock’s building would represent an approximate $30M investment, and create up to 30 new jobs. Both of these projects were brought to fruition through a teamwork approach that included the Leavenworth County Development Corporation, State agencies and the original grant from Leavenworth County which allowed for site development work. There is continued interest in the Park, and approximately 25 acres of the developed 140 acres remain available; the City originally purchased approximately 240 acres in 2009, and the remaining acreage adjacent to the East is also available. We’ve also been fortunate to attract great businesses to the Urban Hess Business Center; which is owned by the Leavenworth County Port Authority and offers sites ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 acres. Recent additions to the Park include Wilson Glass, LLC, and Industrial Service Technologies (IST). Wilson Glass is a fabricator of commercial storefront windows and doors. IST built its new company headquarters and metal fabrication division, and has submitted plans for an additional 14k square foot building located next door. Particularly exciting about these two projects is that both owners are local and chose to grow their businesses here. We’ve seen growth in our residential development as well, including introducing multi-family options after a nearly 25-year lag in new product availability. The completion of the $7M Schoolyard Townhomes, coupled with the investment in the new Library, provided for an $10M+ redevelopment of the former grade school site. The Schoolyard Townhomes project was financed by Low Income Housing Tax Credits and a Rural Housing Incentive District, and was100% preleased prior to the completion of construction. The West Village project is underway, and will provide housing options in within a garden-style apartment building or in single story villas; this $8M project is financed by a grant from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation Moderate Income Housing Grant and by the creation of a Rural Housing Incentive District. We also continued strong growth by seeing additional phases of single-family development in Jackson heights and Stone Creek development areas; as well as continued multi family activity in McGee Meadows.
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