Manhattan City Commission Work Session - August 11, 2026
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Manhattan City Commission Work Session - August 11, 2026
During the August 11, 2026 work session, the Manhattan City Commission reviewed the proposed 2027 budget, discussed a new street maintenance sales tax proposal, and considered updates to housing policies. The meeting began at 6:00 PM with all five commissioners present. Key outcomes included direction to publish a mill levy of 52.8 (down from 54.5), to pursue a half-cent sales tax for street maintenance for 10 years, and to finalize housing policy revisions.
Budget Discussion (Proposed 2027 Budget)
- City Manager Danielle Doolin presented the third iteration of the 2027 budget, aiming to stabilize the budget, address sales tax renewals, and support housing and development. The proposed mill levy was reduced from 54.5 to 52.8 based on commission feedback. This reduction captures about $462,000 from new construction (estimated $10 million in new assessed valuation).
- Commissioner McCullough expressed concern that franchise fee increases disproportionately affect lower-income residents and suggested raising the mill levy by one instead. However, staff noted that a 2% franchise fee increase generates ~$1.6 million, while one mill generates ~$780,000. Commissioner Fox proposed further reducing the mill levy to 52.5 by cutting general fund transfers to special revenue by $236,000, which would affect capital projects like salt domes, airport communications equipment, and vehicle replacements.
- Mayor Adam Jack, Commissioner Morrison, and Commissioner Von Lennon supported 52.8, citing the need for stable cash reserves and safe equipment. The cash reserve is projected at $13.4 million at year-end 2027, up from $12.6 million at end of 2026. Staff emphasized the importance of building reserves to 30% of operating expenses. Consensus was reached to publish the budget at 52.8 mills, with a public hearing set for September 15, 2026.
- A related discussion on the library budget: Library Board President Linda Cook requested that the commission reconsider holding the library's mill levy flat, citing conflicting interpretations of state statute vs. city ordinance. The difference is about $54,000. Commissioners agreed to continue discussions with the library board while moving forward with the 52.8 mill levy.
Sales Tax Renewal Proposal
- City Manager Doolin recommended a simplified half-cent sales tax dedicated solely to street maintenance, replacing the expiring 0.2% street sales tax. Total sales tax rate would become 9.45% in Manhattan-Riley County and 9.75% in Manhattan-Pottawatomie County. Estimated annual revenue: ~$8 million.
- Public Works Director Brian Johnson presented pavement condition data: overall PCI (Pavement Condition Index) dropped from 70 in 2016 to 60 in 2026; backlog (streets rated under 40) grew from 14% to 18%. 1 in 6 city streets are in failed condition. A five-year plan at $8 million/year would raise PCI to 70 and reduce backlog to ~13%.
- Commissioners debated term length: Commissioner Morrison and Von Lennon advocated for 10 years to avoid another vote and provide stability; Commissioner Fox suggested a 5-year term but later supported 10. The commission gave direction to prepare ballot language for a half-cent sales tax for 10 years, street maintenance only (not for debt service or other projects).
Housing Policy Updates
- Planning Director Stephanie Peterson presented revisions to three housing policies: RHID (Redevelopment Housing Incentive District), Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds (MHRB), and Workforce Housing Sales Tax. Key changes include consolidating two RHID policies into one, eliminating the property tax abatement component from MHRB (based on commission direction), and making workforce housing applications year-round rather than semi-annual.
- A new Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) concept was introduced, using workforce housing sales tax to reimburse property owners for significant improvements (at least $50,000) on older homes. Example: a $150,000 improvement could result in a $6,300 reimbursement over three years (the incremental property tax). Further details are to be developed.
- Public comments: Josh Brewer (Habitat for Humanity) supported the community land trust provisions and requested technical clarifications on ground lease terms (99-year vs. 30-year) and appreciation share (75/25 split). Craig Lalpe (New Place Development) expressed support for the policies, noting they broaden opportunities for developers.
- Commission consensus to finalize the policies with minor adjustments and bring them back for adoption.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Linda Cook (Library Board President) requested reconsideration of the library's mill levy, citing legal interpretation issues. Commission agreed to further discussion while proceeding with the 52.8 mill levy.
- Josh Brewer (Habitat for Humanity) supported community land trust provisions and provided technical feedback.
- Craig Lalpe (New Place Development) expressed support for the workforce housing sales tax policy changes.
Key Outcomes
- Budget: Direction to publish 2027 budget at 52.8 mills (down from 54.5). Public hearing set for September 15, 2026. Continue discussions with library board.
- Sales Tax: Direction to prepare ballot language for a half-cent sales tax (0.5%) dedicated to street maintenance, effective April 1, 2027, for 10 years.
- Housing Policies: Consensus to finalize RHID, MHRB, and workforce housing sales tax policies with minor edits; further develop the NRP concept. No formal vote taken; will return for adoption.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. It is now six o'clock, and I hereby call the uh what is it? August eleventh meeting of the city commission to order. Jared, will you please call the roll? Mayor Adam Jack. I'm here. Commissioner McCullough. Commissioner Fox here. Commissioner Morrison. Here, Commissioner Von Lennon. Here. Mayor, we have five commissioners present. The quorum of three is met. Will you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God with liberty and justice for all. All right. We did receive, as you're all aware, we had a very uh complex and extended set of activities over the last several months with cleaning up debris from the several large windstorms we had. We received a letter from a local citizen who specifically requested that we extend our appreciation to Tyler, Jalen, and Ryan from the Forestry Department who worked very hard in the area of Colorado Street and Eighth Avenue and or 8th Street. So thank you to them. Please extend our appreciation. I would like to note that we've had several new roles in our organization. Chelsea Johnson, who you are accustomed to seeing over here has been promoted to city clerk. Lauren Page, who is also in the city manager's office, is now the legislative and executive services coordinator, and our new uh chief financial officer, which is a new position, will begin. Uh Amy Lang will begin on September 1st. So we look forward to welcoming her. Finally, I will just note that we did not have a proclamation, but um last week, Governor Kelly issued a proclamation recognizing August 7th as Kansas Purple Heart Day, honoring service members who were wounded or killed in combat. And this marks Kansas inaugural observance as an officially designated Purple Heart State and reaffirmed our commitment to approximately 2,500 living Purple Heart recipients across Kansas. So I would just like to recognize and endorse Governor Kelly's action on that front. Thank you very much. And we will now begin our first item on the agenda. Yeah, thank you, Mayor and City Commissioners, um, for the opportunity to uh do our our third iteration of our proposed budget. Um, as always, I like to start off with reminding the commission what our goals were in 2026, and that number one goal being to stabilize the budget and talk about sales tax renewals. Uh also housing and development. So we'll be checking three of those goals and making progress on those this evening. Budget strategy again for 2027 was to develop a budget that was structurally balanced to have mill levy stability, um, maintain service level, address debt issue that we knew was up, and then also include salaries, equipment, and vehicle needs. Uh, as we are progressing through our budget calendar, we are on our third work session. Um, and uh just a reminder that on August 20th, with it, which is next Thursday, uh, we will have our another third Thursday event where we have all of our um departments out third Thursdays downtown who are just really being present and engaging with our community. We've had a lot of really good feedback of those, um, and we know that our staff really enjoy going to them as well. Kind of launching into the revenue assumptions that we continue to work with for this budget development season. Uh no change in wastewater rates, a three percent increase in water rate, four percent increase in our stormwater rate. Uh we are renegotiating our franchise fee agreements with our utility companies for the first time in 20 years, and so we are proposing a 2% increase in franchise fees. We are also projecting a 1.75% growth in our sales tax revenues. Um, after a little uh bit of adjustment uh with the county, we have determined that our mill is worth 780,986. After our last work session on July 14th, uh we took the feedback that was given from the commissioners, and we've made several changes uh to that budget. Those changes were distributed to the commission on July 30th, and I have not heard uh any uh individual comments from any individual commissioners uh regarding line items or any specific department uh budgets. So I wanted to run through very quickly uh what some of these changes that were made based on feedback on the July 14th meeting and conversations that we've had over the last couple weeks with you all one on one. So we have decreased the total mill levy to 52.8. Uh we have a library total mill was held flat. We have a library total mill was held flat.
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