Johnson County resident sues city, says new City Hall proposal breaks Kansas law
Marc Vianello filed a lawsuit in Johnson County District Court against Prairie Village — claiming that the municipal complex project violates a state law that requires cities to bring bond issues to a public vote.
Last week, the City Council approved a $30 million proposal to build a new City Hall building at 7820 Mission Road to house city administrative staff and City Council and to renovate the current municipal building to accommodate the police department and municipal court.
The project has become the latest in a series of issues that have caused uproar among residents in the northeast Johnson County city.
The approval allows Prairie Village to move forward with pre-sale activities and prepare offering documents, but there would need to be a second approval to actually issue the bonds.
Once issued, the city will commit to paying them off in a 30-year period.
Prairie Village has an ordinance that officials say allow the city to finance a broad array of public improvements through general obligation bonds without voter approval. The local law, Charter Ordinance 28, exempts the city from a state law called the Home Rule Amendment, which requires cities to hold an election for bonds over $100,000 in any one year.
City leaders first approved the local ordinance in 2016 when Prairie Village was looking at a $3.2 million street light purchase from Kansas City Power and Light (now Evergy).
Vianello's lawsuit challenges that local ordinance, claiming that it violates the Kansas constitution and statutory requirements for a bond election. The lawsuit also claims that the city's previous reliance on the ordinance for other projects was illegal.
'Plaintiff (Vianello), a taxpayer in Prairie Village, will suffer irreparable harm if the City issues $30 million in bonds with out a public vote or without following the indebtedness limitations of K.S.A. 13-1024a, as this would deprive (Vianello) of his statutory right to vote, would increase tax burdens indefinitely and would risk indefinite fiscal instability; harms not adequately remedied by monetary damages,' the lawsuit stated.
Vianello is asking the judge to issue a permanent injunction to prohibit Prairie Village from issuing the bonds under Charter Ordinance 28 and requests that the city put the question of issuing the bonds on the ballot instead.
'Mr. Vianello, like the vast majority of Prairie Village taxpayers, wants the City to follow the law and hold an election before issuing $30 million in general obligation bond debt that will cost the taxpayers for the next 30 years for this City Council's pet project,' Fritz Edmunds, Vianello's attorney, said in an emailed statement.
The lawsuit claims that Prairie Village residents 'from all walks of life, all age groups, and all political persuasions overwhelmingly desire a vote on the City Council's plan to issue $30 million in general obligation bonds and new taxes to pay for the lame-duck City Council's pet project.'
The lawsuit cited a survey sponsored by the Kansas Policy Institute, a conservative Wichita-based think tank, which shows that 85% of 435 residents polled want a vote on the City Hall project. However, four of the six ZIP codes that received the survey are outside of Prairie Village.
According to reporting from the Johnson County Post, 149 of the 435 respondents live in the two Prairie Village ZIP Codes surveyed (66207 and 66208, which also covers Overland Park and Mission Hills).
While some residents are concerned about the project's debt potentially driving their tax bills up, city staff have stated that there are no proposed increases to tax rates.
Before the lawsuit, staff anticipated that the council would consider bids during its August 4 meeting and award construction contracts some time in October.
Prairie Village officials said that the city doesn't provide comment on active litigation.
Prairie Village lawsuit, city hall project by The Kansas City Star
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