On Tuesday, February 25th, 2025 the Liberal City Commission addressed the following items during their regularly scheduled meeting:
Consent Agenda items (traffic safety board minutes, airport leases) were approved by the Commission.
Commissioners voted to approve Ordinance No. 4631 to bring building codes for the City of Liberal to the 2024 ICC (International Code Council) standards. The ordinance amends Chapter 6 of the City Ordinance pertaining to building and structure codes.
Commissioners also voted to approve Ordinance No. 4632, which adopts the 2024 International Fire Code. The ordinance amends Chapter 7 of the City Ordinance pertaining to fire service operations.
Following the approval of Ordinance No. 4631 and Ordinance No. 4632, the Commission voted to approve the adoption of Resolution No. 2429 setting a revised fee schedule for services and permits required to support many of the newly amended building and fire codes adopted.
The Commission reviewed and approved the appointment of Jason Ingland to the Liberal Metropolitan Planning Commission & Board of Zoning Appeals to a term expiring December 2027. Ingland will replace the seat previously held by board member Monalicia Arredondo.
City staff presented a review of financial information regarding the status of the wastewater treatment plant’s operations and construction project funding. In order to avoid violating cash basis statutes, staff have determined an amended loan from KDHE is required in addition to increased customer revenues and/or fund transfers to correct the fund and cover debt expenses for project construction. Staff explained that while implementing gradual rate increases at the start of the wastewater treatment plant project should have occurred many years ago under prior leadership to avoid the problem, taking no action on the issue now would result in a negative cash pattern in the wastewater fund within three years.
Four financial plan options to resolve wastewater fund needs were presented for the Commission for consideration:
1) Assessing a $10.00 monthly sewer improvement fee to residential and commercial accounts through the end of loan repayment in 2037. This option would increase revenues by $852k annually to pay down debt and begin building sufficient reserves to address future infrastructure needs or catastrophic system failures.
2) Assessing a $5.00 monthly sewer improvement fee for residential and commercial accounts through the end of loan repayment in 2037. This option would generate $426k annually to pay down construction debt, but would not provide the wastewater fund with any reserves needed to address future needs or catastrophic events.
3) Assessing a $5.00 monthly sewer improvement fee for residential and commercial accounts through the end of loan repayment in 2037 with fund transfers from the water department filling any necessary gaps to sustain wastewater operations, pay debt, and address infrastructure needs or catastrophic events. This option would meet the needs of the wastewater department’s operations, but places limitations on the project capabilities of the water department due to transfers out of their standalone fund.
4) Making no changes to customer fees and relying solely on fund transfers from the water department fund to sustain the wastewater fund’s balance. This option would require consistent review of the wastewater fund’s cash balance to make necessary monthly transfers needed to operate and pay debt services. This option places significant limitations on new water service expansion and improvement projects through the end of wastewater loan repayment in 2037.
Following discussion, the Commission gave consensus for staff to draft a resolution implementing a $10.00 monthly sewer improvement fee for all residential and commercial sewer accounts to become effective April 1, 2025. The resolution will come back for a final vote by the Commission at a future meeting. Commissioners also asked staff to prepare an action item for the addition of a sewer improvement fee waiver program - similar to the existing Water System Improvement Fee Waiver program - which would allow eligible customers to apply to waive the monthly sewer improvement fee.
The next regularly scheduled Liberal City Commission meeting will take place March 11th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.