Commission authorizes notices and agreements, including intent to exceed revenue-neutral rate

The Newton City Commission on July 14 authorized staff to notify the Harvey County Clerk that the city intends to exceed the revenue-neutral property tax rate for the 2027 budget and approved two agreements resolving a title question and renewing a statewide mutual-aid memorandum of understanding.

City finance staff member Rebecca said the county calculated the revenue-neutral rate at "69.408 mils," and that notifying the county preserves the city’s current levy while the commission finishes budgeting. "If you do not notify them as intent to exceed, then we absolutely could not get a single dollar more during the process," Rebecca told commissioners.

The commission then voted to approve an agreement with Midcontinent Industries to resolve a 0.33-acre question tied to a vacated portion of Douglas Drive. Chris, a city staff member, summarized the deal: the city will repair an entrance drive and Midcontinent will provide a quitclaim to Heartland AV for the 0.33 acres, "so that's the agreement," he said. City staff told commissioners the work can be done internally and Midcontinent has approved the terms.

Commissioners also approved a renewed memorandum of understanding with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to participate in the Kansas search-and-rescue response system. The city’s fire chief described Newton as a deployable asset in past responses and noted that "most of the labor hours are reimbursable through declarations of disaster." Chris highlighted that section 10 of the MOU preserves local response priority.

All three measures were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tallies announced at the meeting. The motions were procedural approvals that allow staff to proceed with notice, contract execution, and mutual-aid responsibilities while the commission finalizes details in follow-up sessions.