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Commission Grants Appeal for 112 West Second Street to Proceed in Neighborhood Revitalization Program
Summary
Commissioners voted to accept an application for a tax-rebate Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) application at 112 West Second Street despite staff denial for timing of work; the commission directed staff to process the application and send it to the county appraiser for value review.
The Liberal City Commission voted to allow an appeal of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program application for 112 West Second Street to proceed after staff had denied the application because work began before the application was submitted.
The city’s NRP administrator told the commission the program’s guidelines require an application be approved before work begins; when the building department discovered the scope of work exceeded the originally described “paint and sheetrock,” it issued a stop-work order. The administrator denied the NRP application under the program rules but said the program’s appeal provision (section 6.j in the meeting packet) allows the applicant to seek commission review.
The property owner, identified in the packet as Mr. King, told commissioners he believed the work would be minor and that, had he known of the NRP rules, he would have applied earlier: “We are residents of Liberal, Kansas. We love this community. This is home to us, and we're putting everything we have into this. And we're asking that you give us a waiver and grant us a little payment on taxation within 5 years with a rebate if possible, please,” he said.
Staff explained the next step: if the commission allows the application to proceed, the application goes to the county appraiser to determine whether the remodel meets the program’s minimum increase-in-appraised-value threshold for commercial property. The administrator noted the county appraisal office makes the final determination about value increases and that an administrative approval by staff does not guarantee eligibility through the full process.
The commission voted to accept the application for processing and to allow the appeal; commissioners said the project met the spirit of the program and tasked staff to continue the review. No tax rebate was approved at the meeting; eligibility and payment depend on the county appraisal result and final program approval steps.
