Pratt County, city officials set schedule to implement Neighborhood Revitalization Program after state approval

Chair (S3) opened the meeting by celebrating passage of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, saying the bill cleared both chambers and was signed by the governor. "I would just like to say for the record how excited I am how we got this accomplished," Chair said, crediting local staff and representatives who lobbied in Topeka.

A county staff member (S4) reviewed the implementation materials: a map in Appendix A (areas not shown as red or orange should be green), Appendix D with interlocal agreement drafts, and Appendix E containing the application and checklist. S4 warned of a prior attorney general rejection of an agreement that lacked required signatures and described the plan to collect signatures on a single page before filing for AG approval. "There does need to be a notice published twice that's statutory," S4 said, noting each entity must publish consecutive-week notices before a hearing.

Officials discussed timing: some smaller taxing entities meet only monthly, which complicates meeting notice windows and the AG review lead time. The group agreed to form a small working group of taxing entities and to meet next Wednesday, May 13, at 5:00 p.m. in City Hall to walk through the materials, invite townships, cities and school districts to participate, and try to align hearings so the interlocal can be executed and sent to the attorney general with sufficient lead time before the July 1 statutory change.

The meeting produced two implementation takeaways: staff will circulate the application/checklist to key contacts and pursue signatures for the interlocal agreement, and the small-group meeting will be used to finalize outreach and decide which entities will formally adopt the program at their hearings.