Atchison declines Home in the Heartland grant application and vendor agreement with Make My Move

The Atchison City Commission voted not to authorize a city application or a vendor agreement with Make My Move to pursue a state-funded community talent recruitment grant created under Senate Bill 125. Commissioner Slattery moved the motion; Commissioner Murphy seconded. The motion passed with Vice Mayor Wilcox recorded in opposition.

City Manager Mark Westoff and other staff outlined the state program, described in meeting materials as an $1,500,000 statewide pot for "community talent recruitment" grants, and said the vendorMake My Movewould serve as grant administrator and national recruiting platform. Staff presented a vendor proposal described in various slides and remarks as totaling about $155,000 with an 80/20 funding split (state/local), which staff said would require roughly $31,000 in local matching funds if the city accepted the vendora figure staff tied to a target of recruiting roughly 10 new households from out of state.

Westoff told commissioners he and other staff had concerns but that the city lacked the time and staff capacity to prepare a competitive, independent application for this round. "We don't have time to put together what it would take to independently win," he said, framing the vendor option as a way to move quickly to try to win state funds.

Several commissioners and members of the public raised objections. Resident Jonathan Fedler said offering incentives to attract new residents while local homeowners need repair assistance felt unfair: "Asking for money for our taxes, and then you come up and you wanna bring 10 people in town, that's like a kick in the teeth to us," he said. Staff responded that the city already pursues housing and infrastructure grants and that a separate Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) housing-improvement program is accepting pre-applications now for up to $22,000 per property for qualifying households (up to 10 properties as described by staff).

During discussion staff and commissioners also noted unclear or inconsistent numbers in the vendor materials. The proposal materials shown in the meeting listed different figures for the state/local breakdown and for per-mover costs; staff said the lump-sum proposal would allocate some funds to direct incentive payments (staff mentioned $5,000 cash per mover in one slide) and other funds to platform, marketing and administration. Staff also said the authorizing legislation included a household-income parameter (presented in materials as targeting households with income of roughly $55,000 or higher).

Staff noted the city would not pay the local match unless the state awarded funds, and said financing could come from a variety of existing sources (unspent grant funds, ARPA funds, land bank funds) rather than a tax increase. After debate, the commission voted to decline the Make My Move vendor agreement and not to authorize the grant application for this round. Staff offered alternatives for future action: prepare a city-led application next year, test a smaller local incentive program, or revisit the vendor option if state funding remains available.

The commission recorded the motion and vote; staff will maintain information on other available housing assistance programs on the city website and continue pursuing alternative grant opportunities.