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Bonner Springs' two property tax-rebate incentive programs for developers and homeowners have been such a success the city will soon be considering a third plan.

At the study session before its regular meeting Monday night, the Bonner Springs City Council gave the go-ahead to Marcia Ashford, economic development director for the city, to develop a new tax-rebate incentive plan for home builders and improvements to existing properties.

Ashford said she had been in talks with officials of other local entities that receive property taxes - the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School District and Kansas City Kansas Community College - on the new plan that would replace the two programs now in place. Those programs expire in the next two years.

The new plan would be subject to a public hearing before the City Council would vote on it.

Ashford said the neighborhood revitalization plans 1 and 2 had been a success by promoting development of unused lots, bringing money to Bonner business and the city through new residents moving and spending their income here, and helping "to remain competitive with other areas."

The first incentive plan, Neighborhood Revitalization Plan 1, was enacted in 1997 and will expire in August 2010. This plan covered properties in most of the older portion of the city south of Metropolitan Avenue, Lake of the Forest and an area in the city's northwest corner at State Avenue and 142nd Street.

The plan gives home builders and those who improve their properties a 95 percent property tax rebate for the first 10 years on the additional taxes resulting from the increase in the appraised value of the property.

The plan will expire without renewal or replacement, Ashford said, because it's accomplished its purpose of revitalizing the older part of Bonner Springs.

The second plan expires Feb. 9, 2009, and covers the area north of Metropolitan Avenue to south of Interstate 70 and 142nd Street to an area east of Kansas Highway 7 Corridor; the Canaan Center development area bounded by Riverview Avenue, K-7, Interstate 70 and 132nd Street; and an area in the northeast corner of the city near State Avenue and 118th Street.

Ashford's report to the Council said that, as of May, 234 properties had qualified to receive tax rebates under the first plan and 58 properties had qualified under the second plan.

By 2017, when all the properties under both plans would no longer receive tax rebates, the total valuations for new structures and improved properties would be an estimated at $4.18 million, Ashford's report said, which under the current levy of 30.456 mills would mean an additional $127,754 in property taxes to the city.

The new plan's area for eligible properties would be the same as the second incentive plan, Ashford said, as recommended by the Economic Development Task Force.

The new tax-rebate plan, as with the second one, would give home builders and those who improve their properties a 75 percent property tax rebate for the first two years on the additional taxes resulting from the increase in the appraised value of the property, and a 50 percent rebate for the next three years.

To qualify for the rebates, property owners must apply within 30 days of getting a building permit and the improvements must be worth a minimum appraised value or percentage increase of the property's current value.

Smoking ban talk

The topic that drew the most discussion from Council members Monday night was not on the agenda.

Mayor Clausie Smith, in his report to the Council near the end of the meeting, said he'd spoken recently with Mayor Joe Reardon of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., about the possibility of an indoor smoking ban in Wyandotte County.

The Board of Commissioners for the Unified Government has discussed the issue twice, in meetings Thursday and in June, but no timetable has been set for bringing a draft ordinance before the board for a public hearing.

"The UG is beginning to take a strong look at an anti-smoking ordinance," Smith said. He told Council members he wanted to get their consensus on which of three options they'd rather the city take regarding a possible smoking ban in Wyandotte County: Wait for the Unified Government Board of Commissioners to pass a countywide ban; wait for a countywide vote on a ban, or have all three cities in the county deal with the issue independently.

After discussing the merits and disadvantages of a smoking ban for several minutes - Tom Stevens was the only one to favor such a ban, for the sake of employees in workplaces such as bars where smoking is allowed - Council members gave Smith a consensus that the city should wait for a countywide ban.

In other actions Monday night the council:

¢ Approved payment of claims for city operations for $328,334.

¢ Approved claims for Public Housing Authority for $6,388.

¢ Heard a presentation reviewing a new master plan set to come out next week for the city's Parks and Recreation Department by Alan Mackey of Land Plan Engineering. The plan, which used the input of five focus groups, a mailed survey and the Parks Committee, recommended that the city maintain and improve its existing facilities and make a strategic plan for its parks system.

¢ Approved a massage therapy business and therapist license for Anne Platt for Medieval Massage, which will operate at the Renaissance Festival.

¢ Approved a copier lease for the Public Works and Utilities office.

¢ Approved, 6-2, two change orders for construction of the library from Altmar Construction.

The first change resulted from a denial of the city's application for federal E-rate grant to pay for phone and data cabling, which meant city staff would install the cables instead of the contractor, bringing the budget for this part of the library back to its original $45,000.

The second change order was for $23,239, which included $3,150 for removal of unsatisfactory soil where an old utility line was discovered, a $2,598 charge for Westar's setting of two new transformers, $7,576 for the installation of conduits for phone, electrical and data services, and $9,915 for a number of changes to the building structure, including the use of wood-clad steel columns instead of wooden columns in the library. Council members Larry Berg and Bob Reeves voted against approving the change orders.

¢ Approved an ordinance authorizing commencement of condemnation proceedings for the city to acquire construction easements on seven properties for the Kump Street reconstruction and water main replacement project. The project is set to be let for bidding in October.

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