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The city of Bonner Springs has experienced a first, at least in about 30 years.

At Monday night’s 2010 budget hearing, which took place during the Bonner Springs City Council meeting, it was announced that the mill levies in all four taxing agencies affecting city property owners would be maintained at the same rates as last year.

Mayor Clausie Smith said this was the first time, in about 30 years of living and working in Bonner Springs, that he has seen the city, Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kan., Community College and the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville USD 204neither increase nor decrease their mill levies in the same year — an occurrence he described as quite an impressive feat.

He went on to say that, 10 years ago, the city’s levy, currently set at 29.065 mills, was 46.9 mills.

“That’s a tremendous reduction in the last decade,” Smith said, noting the mill levy in Bonner Springs has steadily decreased every year for the past 10 to reach its current rate. He added that the current rate was just as good as a reduction in terms of benefits to the city.

City Manager John “Jack” Helin emphasized how important it was to not increase the mill levy, but noted that more than $750,000 in budget cuts had been made to prevent such an increase from happening. Despite not being able to lower the mill levy, he said that keeping it flat in 2010 was the city’s way of making this statement to residents in Bonner Springs: “We know it’s tough times on everybody, but let’s hold the line on property taxes.”

More good news abounded during the meeting when it was announced that Bonner Springs had received an A+ bond rating from Standard and Poors, an independent credit rating provider.

The higher rating, Helin said, was due to “the responsible and conservative budgeting the city has done for the past 10-plus years.”

The A+ rating, the highest a city can receive, can mean thousands of dollars in interest savings in the city’s bond issuances.

The council saw the benefits of the rating when it unanimously approved issuing $7.6 million in general obligation bonds for a series of projects that includes improvements to Kansas Highway 32, 131st Street, Riverview Avenue and Woodend Avenue improvements. The city was able to secure an interest rate of about 3.7 percent, down from an anticipated 4.03 rate, due to its higher bond rating.

Later in the meeting, the council approved issuing temporary notes for Front Street improvements with an interest rate of about 1.6 percent, down from 2.73 percent.

“(Standard and Poors) noted that you do a lot of the things a city should be doing,” said Rodger Edgar, executive vice president of George K. Baum and Company, the city’s bond counsel. “You should be very happy with your rating.”

Included in Helin’s 2010 budget presentation were such items as:

• The budget for all funds in the city totals $13,569,076. This is a 7.76 percent decrease from the 2009 budget.

• There will be no capital projects in 2010.

• City staff reduced the 2009 budget by $753,841 to make up for lower property valuations and revenue.

• The estimated cash carryover to 2011 in the general fund is $327,784, which represents 5 percent of the 2010 projected expenditures.

• The mill levy breakdown is such that 13 percent goes to Kansas City, Kan., Community College, 1 percent goes to the state of Kansas, 45 percent goes to the USD 204, 20 percent goes to the city and 21 percent goes to Wyandotte County.

• Of the property taxes levied by the city, 15 percent goes to the Bonner Springs City Library, 55 percent goes to the general fund and 30 percent goes toward outstanding debt.

• City and county sales tax projections decreased by 7 percent from the 2009 estimated projections due to the impact of a Wal-Mart opening in Kansas City, Kan., in 2009 and the overall downturn in the economy.

• Property tax revenues decreased by 9.68 percent due to a reduction in valuations and higher estimated delinquencies.

The council unanimously approved an ordinance to establish the 2010 budget and amendments to the 2009 budget, including a change to the Aquatics Park fund to extend the season one week plus weekends through Labor Day.

Also on Monday, the council:

• Unanimously approved the minutes of the July 27 meeting.

• Unanimously approved the minutes of the Aug. 4 special city council meeting.

• Unanimously approved supplemental claims for city operations totaling $106,428.94 and regular claims totaling $402,124.94.

• Unanimously approved Public Housing Authority claims totaling $16,462.57.

• Unanimously approved a final ordinance to establish the total final project costs of $284,909.67 and to access 70 percent of the final project costs to the properties in the Riverview Crossings 131st Street benefit district.

• Unanimously approved a final ordinance to establish the final project costs of $90,632.11 and to assess 60 percent of the final project costs to the properties in the Riverview Crossings Riverview Avenue benefit district.

• Unanimously approved a bid for the Front Street improvement project to Redford Construction in the amount of $2,388,363. This will be funded with general obligation temporary notes and the total amount includes a $500,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation, which still needs to be approved by KDOT.

• Approved, 7-1, with council member Jeff Harrington opposed, an ordinance to amend traffic regulations for parking restrictions on Bonner Industrial Drive. The ordinance will prohibit parking on both sides of the entire length of Bonner Industrial Drive, not just the 1,255 feet north of 43rd Street it where it was originally prohibited.

• Heard Mayor Clausie Smith’s report. Smith reported that there is no such thing as a county-wide sales tax vote. He said he wanted to make this clear as he had been asked about it several times.

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