HUMBOLDT – A recent event hosted by Southeast Kansas Inc. offered elected officials who represent the region the opportunity to hear how their choices could positively impact the lives of rural Kansans.
A legislative appreciation dinner was held at Monarch Cement Co. in Humboldt and was attended by numerous elected officials, including Neosho County Commissioners Nick Galemore and Gail Klaassen. State legislators included: Rep. Dale Helwig, District 1; Rep. Ken Collins, District 2; Rep. Dan Goddard, District 7; Rep. Fred Gardner, District 9; Rep. Dr. Ron Bryce, District 11; Rep. Doug Blex, District 12; Sen. Virgil Peck, District 15; Sen. Caryn Tyson, District 12; and Rep. Brad Barrett, District 76.
U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt and Molly Underwood, a representative from U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s office in Pittsburg, also attended the dinner.
Representatives and members of Southeast Kansas Inc. heard from regional leaders in housing, childcare, and education about the impact state funds have on regional programs.
The first to present were SEK Inc. housing committee members April Nutt, who is the executive director of the City of Independence Housing Authority, and Jeri Hammerschmidt of Kansas Works.
Nutt highlighted that there are challenges throughout rural communities when it comes to housing. According to Nutt, grant funds have been one method of funding successful programs.
Moderate Income Housing grants serve moderate-income households, who usually don’t qualify for federal housing assistance. MIH grants or loans are awarded to cities and counties with populations of less than 60,000 people to develop single or multi-family properties.
The Kansas Housing Investor Tax Credit aims to incentivize developers to invest in development in counties with populations of less than 75,000 people.
“We want to express our sincere gratitude for your support of the Moderate Income Housing grant, and the Kansas Housing
See SEK, Page 4.
Investor Tax Credit,” Nutt said. “These tools have been instrumental in addressing one of the most pressing challenges our region faces; developing viable, affordable housing in areas where the traditional marketing mechanism falls short.”
Nutt highlighted several southeast Kansas communities that have benefited from these programs.
LeRoy has a population of 451, and with an MIH grant and private investment, the community was able to revitalize a downtown building, becoming a three-unit apartment complex.
“Three units doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you have a population of 451, that’s impactful in that community.”
In Neodesha, population 2,311, eight single- family homes were built with MIH funds, KHITC funds, local funds, and private investment.
Nutt said many ask, “How are we going to reduce our taxes?” To which Nutt said the solution was having more housing and businesses on the tax roll.
Independence has a population of 8,548 and with the help of these programs, 20 apartments have been created in the upper stories of downtown buildings, attached to commercial spaces.
Nutt said this is a game changer for the town. In her tenure of working in housing development, she said she has never seen this kind of development activity before.
According to Nutt, nine counties have benefited from 16 projects in 11 communities from MIH and KHITC funds. Cumulatively the programs have had a significant economic impact; $5.37 million in MIH funds have been awarded; $4.16 million in KHITC funds. The projects have generated over $4.18 million in local funds being invested and over $26.22 million in private investment funds. Nutt said this amounts to $42.69 million in total project costs spent to develop 215 housing units.
“That is a gift that the state-supported. It’s made that impact on southeast Kansas, and we appreciate that.”
Accessing affordable childcare is another challenge that many rural Kansans face. Kandy Rushing, owner of Grow at Eden Early Learning Childcare Center said the Parsons location is licensed to serve 125 children, the Iola location serves 60 children and a facility opening this fall in Pittsburg will be able to serve 250 children.
“All in all, that’s over 400 children, if you want to map that out, that’s the equivalent of 30-54 in-home child care centers,” Rushing said.
The centers are Montessori-inspired, with scratch kitchens, according to Rushing. Another challenge in child care is being able to appropriately meet the needs of neurodivergent children, which Rushing said her centers were expanded to do so.
“We saw what we could give our children in a city and we wanted to be able to provide that to citizens living in southeast Kansas,” Rushing said. “We just wanted to give children the best that they could get.”
One thing that would help support affordable child care is property tax reform, Rushing said.
Rushing said that her business operates on a for-profit business model and that after expanding her business, the cost of property taxes increased by 650%, and now she must pay $35,000 in property taxes.
“For a business with a very labor-intensive, low-margin industry, that is very tight to throw on an additional $30,000 tax hike,” Rushing said. “Unfortunately, the only place left to shift the cost is to the families, which is not what we want to do. We are intending in the state of Kansas to make childcare not only quality but affordable.”
This increase in property tax rate necessitated a roughly $700 per child increase in childcare costs annually to the families she serves, according to Rushing.
Rushing said other communities throughout the country are “stepping up” to address similar situations.
According to Rushing, a property tax exemption was approved for qualifying childcare centers in Harris County, Texas. Rushing asked legislators to consider a similar action for Kansas communities.
Rep. Caryn Tyson said that exempting daycares from paying property taxes would still put the costs on families.
“Sorry guys, I’m just logical here. The reality is if you do exempt daycares, you are going to put it on the families.”
Rushing said a property tax exemption wasn’t the only option, but adjusting the assessed rate for for-profit centers to match the residential rate, similar to what an in-home provider would pay in property taxes.
Rushing said tax credits may be another potential solution.
Tyson said she was in favor of a 3% valuation limit for everyone.
“We’re working on this guys. The system is broken.” Tyson said.
Tyson said over $6 billion is collected in property taxes each year, which she said is higher than sales tax and income tax.
“We want to solve this, and I think by working together we will,” Tyson said.
The last speaker of the evening was Neosho County Community College President Dr. Brian Inbody, who spoke about career and technical education.
“What’s going on in America right now is a revival of career and tech ed,” Inbody said.
In Kansas, high school students have access to free CTE programs which are funded by the state. According to Inbody, roughly 8,000 students were in CTE programs in 2015, which has nearly doubled in the decade since. Inbody said the latest data available is from 2023 when there were over 15,000 students learning trade skills. In recent years, the number of career and technical degrees that have been obtained by students has increased by 97%.
Inbody highlighted that children whose parents attended college are more likely to attend college themselves, and that community college graduates are more likely within their state than students who attend universities.
At Neosho County Community College in particular, education opportunities are also extended to the workforce through creating customized apprenticeship programs for local employers.
Derek Schmidt said it highlighted big issues that he knows are important to all who live in the region.
“It’s great to see the team pulling together, trying to find a way to make headway,” Schmidt said.
Sen. Virgil Peck said he was surprised by the turnout to the dinner, particularly by the high turnout from other elected officials.
“We need to make sure this message is communicated in the capitol,” Peck said. “These kinds of events help people to see what we have to offer.”
Rep. Dan Goddard said the event was fantastic, and that it was an example of regional cooperation.
“It’s a unified effort to make southeast Kansas a better place,” Goddard said.
