City of Topeka Governing Body Meeting – August 19, 2026
City of Topeka Governing Body Meeting – August 19, 2026
The City of Topeka Governing Body met on August 19, 2026, to address a 54-item agenda covering bond sales, zoning changes, economic development incentives, the FY2027 budget, and public testimony on public safety and data centers. The meeting included presentations, public comments, and votes on multiple action items.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from the August 11, 2026 regular meeting.
- Approved two serial malt beverage license applications: Casey's #5155 (4020 SW 6th Ave) and Quick Trip #280 (3901 SW Topeka Blvd). Staff recommended approval.
Appointments
- Toby Taggart reappointed to the Board of Building and Fire Appeals (term ending September 6, 2028).
- Shannon Coach appointed to the Topeka Landmark Board of Trustees (term ending December 31, 2027).
- Kim Schultz reappointed to the Downtown Business Improvement District Advisory Board (term ending June 18, 2028). Motion carried 9-0-1.
Presentations
- Community Impact Measures for Economic Development Incentives: Staff proposed voluntary reporting measures for CID, TIF, and RHID applications, including workforce training, job creation details, and broader community benefits. Council discussed legal constraints (dormant commerce clause) and the importance of local hiring. No vote was taken.
- 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: Stacey Hammond of SJHL (formerly Swindle Jensen Hawk & Lloyd) presented the audit results. The city received an unmodified (clean) opinion on financial statements and on federal expenditure compliance (single audit). No material weaknesses or findings were noted.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Vanessa Munoz: Testified about the murder of her son, Thomas Brown, on May 16, 2026 at Highland Park Apartments. She urged the council to help advance the investigation and find justice, noting that witnesses have been reluctant to come forward.
- Amy Gillette: Raised concerns about the proposed Compass Data Center, questioning the $3 billion investment figure and the distinction between total capital investment and taxable assessed value. She urged council to demand clear details on phased build-out and property tax impacts.
- Sharon Gillette: Also addressed the data center, requesting that council ask pointed questions about water/energy usage, noise, air quality, and the identity of the ultimate tenant. She cautioned against relying on projections from other locations.
Discussion Items
- Social Service Grant Recommendations: Brett Martin from United Way reported that the 2027 allocation of $491,904 (from general fund and CDBG) was recommended by the Social Services Grants Committee. Scores were higher than in prior years (cutoff at 88%), resulting in fewer funded organizations. Council members praised the process and noted the need for additional community support for unfunded applicants.
- FY2027 Operating Budget Discussion: Staff presented departmental budgets for Municipal Court ($2.1M), Public Works (multiple funds), Office of Inclusive Community ($700K), HR, IT ($6.8M), and Planning & Development. Key points:
- Public Works faces a structural deficit in the Special Highway Fund (expenses ~$7.8M vs. revenues ~$5.7M); a transfer from the half-cent sales tax is proposed.
- Development Services may be moved to an enterprise fund to track cost recovery; 2025 showed $600K expenses over revenue.
- IT highlighted $30K/month savings from auditing phone lines and ongoing implementation of e-citation and enterprise resource planning systems.
- Misty Harbor RHID Application: Developer Floyd McMillan presented a plan for 23 single-family homes (upscale/luxury) in three phases. Councilmember Valdivia Alcala opposed, citing the need for affordable and workforce housing per the 2026 housing needs analysis. McMillan noted that building lower-priced homes is not financially feasible without city-provided land or infrastructure. The motion passed 9-1.
Key Outcomes
- Bond Sale (Action Items A, B, C): Approved the sale of $8.185 million in General Obligation Bonds (Series 2026A) with a true interest cost of 3.99%, and $5.26 million in General Obligation Temporary Notes (Series 2026A) at 3.024%. Both sales were approved unanimously (10-0).
- 2027 Budget Public Hearing Date (Action Item D): Set a public hearing for September 8, 2026, to allow taxpayer objections to the proposed FY2027 operating budget. Approved 10-0.
- Rezoning 1035 NE Monroe (Action Item E): Rezoned from R2 to M1 for duplex conversion. Approved 10-0 after ex parte disclosures.
- Rezoning 1135 SW College (Action Item F): Rezoned to PUD (R2 and O&I2 base) to allow a church sanctuary and prenatal/postnatal medical clinic. Approved 10-0 after ex parte disclosures.
- Misty Harbor RHID (Action Item G): Resolution to submit the RHID application to the Kansas Secretary of Commerce for review. Approved 9-1 (Councilmember Valdivia Alcala dissenting).
- Utility Rates (Action Item H): Deferred to the September 1, 2026 meeting for additional information.
- Executive Session: Recessed for up to 20 minutes for legal advice on litigation and attorney-client privilege. No action was taken afterward.
Upcoming Meetings
- August 19, 2026: Special work session on data centers (Compass Data Centers, Evergy, and city staff presentations and Q&A).
- August 25, 2026: Special budget meeting with public hearings on revenue neutral rates for Topeka Metro Transit Authority and the City of Topeka, plus continued budget discussion and five-year financial forecast.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the August 18th, 2026 governing body meeting here in Good Old Topeka, Kansas. I will now call this meeting to order this evening. If you'd please turn your attention to Councilmember Hiller, who has the invocation. Please rise if you are able. Thank you, Mayor. I chose to bring something forward this evening rather than a guest, but it's sort of a guest, I guess. I always appreciate the invocation starts to our council meetings, whether they are deeply faith-based or more secular. We've been dealing with a lot of issues lately, and the way we've handled some of them has been unsettling and divisive, and many have argued that they don't need to be that way. In the midst of yet another batch of do this, don't do that, communications, passionate, worried, but truly everyone just wanting to do the right thing for everyone. We all on council got a short string of thoughtful centering emails from an anonymous individual who called himself or herself, educate yourself 785. I really appreciated them and told the person so and have taken the liberty of taking one of those messages and generalizing the example in it. Um to be more overall to the issues we've been facing lately. So what that person shared. Impactful change starts with local leadership, local leadership having the courage to remain open-minded, educate themselves, and recognize that new information may lead to a different fact-based perspective. Leadership means being willing to step outside your comfort zone, examine something unfamiliar, and determine whether it can be done responsibly and successfully. There is no reason Topeka Shawnee County has to blindly accept new ideas or categorically reject them. Local leadership includes the elected leaders and local community members. Add value, get us better results in Topeka Shawnee County. Too often we dismiss unconventional or unpopular ideas before taking the time to understand whether they could produce a meaningful benefit for our community. Similarly, we can be attracted by processes that appear to be a quick fix and find ourselves drawn to those versus actually figuring out what we need in a system and fixing that. Today we are dealing with issues such as data centers, health and safety of rental properties, upzoning ideas, chickens, detention ponds, development subsidies, budgets, and hundreds of daily issues with more emerging every day. If you're only searching and learning about negatives or the quick fixes, that's all you find. Have a vision for what is possible. Do the work, set the bar high, use your power for good. Don't let fear determine your legacy. I hope you appreciate that message as much as I did. Thank you again. Educate yourself, 785. Amen. All right, rule call. Mayor Duncan. Here. Council members Hillard. Here. Valdivia Aquila. Here. Ortice. Here. Banks. Here. Kel. Here. Miller. Here. Bradbury. Here. McGee. Here. Anne Hofer. Here.
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