City to pursue low-income housing with Burns, Florence
The City of Hillsboro is one step closer to getting more affordable low-income housing.
At its regular biweekly meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Hillsboro City Council decided to join Florence and Burns in pursuing new duplex units that would serve as low-income housing.
The other two cities approached Hillsboro about this opportunity last year, said City Administrator Steve Garrett. For this particular arrangement, three cities were needed.
The final decisions are still a long way off, Garrett said, but if everything goes as proposed a total of six duplexes will be built, with two in each city. That means four family residences per city.
The city would donate the property for the duplexes, but an independent agency would build and manage the properties. The management company would finance the project through tax credits, which they would market to area residents.
Right now, the city doesn't know where exactly it would build the duplexes. But wherever it is, the property would always belong to the City of Hillsboro, and it would receive a 100 percent tax abatement for the first 10 years.
Garrett is in favor of the undertaking, as is Mayor Delores Dalke.
"I can't imagine that this project would not be successful," Dalke said. "They're very affordable."
In further City Council business:
— The city approved the sale of two Hillsboro Heights lots to Rod and Carrie Koons. The lots, numbers 17 and 18, are located east of Rod's Tire.
— Starting Feb. 1, Hillsboro residents will pay five cents more per month on their trash bills. The additional funds will go toward the city recycling program. It should give the city $55 extra dollars per month, Garrett said.
— The Convention and Visitor's Bureau requested funds to help pay a $712 bill for advertising in the Kansas tourism guide. The money was approved, and it will come from the CVB's annual budget of $8,500.
The CVB will receive $1,500 now — that's for operating expenses. The rest of their budget, $7,000, is divided among the months of the year.
— The city continues to face a budget crunch thanks to budget cuts from the governor's office.
After cuts by the former governor, Bill Graves, the city expected to lose $22,000 in funding, Garrett said. Now, the new proposed budget also takes away funding from the next year — totaling just over $47,000 in the 2003 calendar year, he said.
— The Hillsboro Police Department will begin moving into their new offices at the former AMPI building at the end of this week. City crews are working behind that building now to connect the property's sewer line with city lines. The line will cross Ash Street.
