• YouTube
  • Find us on the web:

Wyandotte County, Kansas

Wyandotte County is one of 105 counties in Kansas. Wyandotte County and the Kansas City, Kansas have a unified government. Wyandotte County's population is 157,505.[1]

Grade2.pngA-
Budget Y
600px-Yes check.png
Meetings Y
600px-Yes check.png
Elected Officials Y
600px-Yes check.png
Administrative Officials Y
600px-Yes check.png
Permits, zoning Y
600px-Yes check.png
Audits Y
600px-Yes check.png
Contracts Y
600px-Yes check.png
Lobbying P
Partial.png
Public records Y
600px-Yes check.png
Local taxes Y
600px-Yes check.png
County websitesGuide.png
Transparency grading process

Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Kansas county websites

This website was reviewed on Feb. 5, 2013.

The good

  • Elected Officials
    • County commissioners are listed with contact information.[2]
  • Administration
    • Contact information for administrative officials is posted. [3]
  • Meetings
    • Meeting agendas and minutes are posted.[4]
    • Agendas and minutes are archived to 2006. [5]
  • Budget
    • Current budgets are posted,[6]
    • Budgets are archived to 2003. [7]
  • Taxes
    • Local tax information is posted.[8]
    • Property taxes may be paid online.[9]
  • Contracts
    • Bid and contract information is posted.[10]
  • Audits
    • Audits are posted.[11]
    • Audits are archived to 2001.
  • Public Records
    • Information on and a form to submit public records requests are posted.[12]
    • A Freedom of Information Officer is listed with contact information.[13]
  • Permits and Zoning
    • Building permits are posted,[14]
    • Zoning information is posted.[15]
  • The public relations department describes its duties as including legislative lobbying.[16]

The bad

  • Meetings
    • Links to archived agendas and minutes older than 2010 are dead.
  • Lobbying
    • The amount of money spent on Taxpayer-funded lobbying is not posted.
    • Contracts with private lobbying firms are not posted.

Public employees

Elected officials

2011 Board of Commissioners[2]
Name District
Rev. Mark Holland At-large, District 1
John J. Mendez At-large, District 2
Nathaniel Barnes 1
Brian McKiernan 2
Ann Brandau-Murguia 3
Tarence Maddox 4
Mike Kane 5
Angela Markley 6
Thomas R. Cooley 7
Benoyd M. Ellison 8

Administrative officials

The mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, is Joe Reardon. Wyandotte County's administrator is Dennis Hays.[17] Reardon won an award in 2011 for his work attracting Google to the Kansas City area.[18]

Budget

2012 Budget Revenues[19]
Source Revenue % of Total
Property Tax $76,404,818 29%
Sales Tax $38,917,810 15%
Franchise Tax $36,740,440 14%
Other Taxes $24,704,464 9%
Charges for Service $45,924,850 17%
Intergovt. Revenues $11,336,256 4%
Interest Income $1,858,100 1%
Fines/Fees $10,062,450 4%
Fund Balance $2,481,111 1%
Other $15,399,565 6%
Total $263,829,864 100%
2012 Budget Expenditures[19]
Area Expenditures % of Total
Public Safety $122,881,760 46%
Public Works $59,670,955 23%
Community Services $52,038,373 20%
Administration $18,402,791 7%
Judicial Services $7,391,591 3%
Other $3,444,394 1%
Total $263,829,864 100%

Retirement costs

The unified government has $180 million in unfunded liabilities for county employees' retirement benefits. The ratio of these liabilities to current payroll is 165.8%.[20]

Board of public utilities

Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS, has $21 million in unfunded liabilities for the BPU pension plan, and $42.1 in unfunded liabilities for the BPU other post-employment benefits.[20]

Taxes

The 2012 mill levy for Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS, is 81.396, up from 74.711 in 2011.[19]

Economic development

In 2011, Kansas City, KS, won its pitch to have Google select the city as the site of its new Fiber Project, whose goal is to develop super-fast internet access. Kansas City came out ahead of 1,100 other cities that applied, including Topeka, KS, which even went so far as to rename itself Google for a day in an effort to secure the Google project.[21]

External links

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau "QuickFacts," Accessed November 20, 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Board of Commissioners
  3. ↑ Administration
  4. ↑ Current Agendas and Minutes
  5. ↑ Meeting archives
  6. ↑ Budget
  7. ↑ Budget archives
  8. ↑ Taxes
  9. ↑ Treasury
  10. ↑ Purchasing
  11. ↑ Audits
  12. ↑ Public Relations Open Records Request
  13. ↑ Freedom of Information Officer
  14. ↑ Permits
  15. ↑ Zoning & Subdivision Regulations
  16. ↑ Public Relations
  17. ↑ Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas "Government," Accessed November 20, 2011
  18. ↑ Kansas City Examiner "KC Mayors Win OneKC Award," Accessed November 20, 2011
  19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named budg
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 WYCOKCK "2010 CAFR," Accessed November 20, 2011
  21. ↑ CBS News "Google to boost Internet in Kansas City, Kan.," Accessed November 20, 2011

Allen • Anderson • Atchison • Barber • Barton • Bourbon • Brown • Butler • Chase • Chautauqua • Cherokee • Cheyenne • Clark • Clay • Cloud • Coffey • Comanche • Cowley • Crawford • Decatur • Dickinson • Doniphan • Douglas • Edwards • Elk • Ellis • Ellsworth • Finney • Ford • Franklin • Geary • Gove • Graham • Grant • Gray • Greeley • Greenwood • Hamilton • Harper • Harvey • Haskell • Hodgeman • Jackson • Jefferson • Jewell • Johnson • Kearny • Kingman • Kiowa • Labette • Lane • Leavenworth • Lincoln • Linn • Logan • Lyon • Marion • Marshall • McPherson • Meade • Miami • Mitchell • Montgomery • Morris • Morton • Nemaha • Neosho • Ness • Norton • Osage • Osborne • Ottawa • Pawnee • Phillips • Pottawatomie • Pratt • Rawlins • Reno • Republic • Rice • Riley • Rooks • Rush • Russell • Saline • Scott • Sedgwick • Seward • Shawnee • Sheridan • Sherman • Smith • Stafford • Stanton • Stevens • Sumner • Thomas • Trego • Wabaunsee • Wallace • Washington • Wichita • Wilson • Woodson • Wyandotte

List of Kansas county commissioners • Evaluation of Kansas county websites
Kansas-county-map.gif
Retrieved from "http://sunshinereview.org/index.php?title=Wyandotte_County,_Kansas&oldid=89382"
blog comments powered by Disqus