Monday, November 9, 2015

Meeting To Decide Bridge Funding

From the Capital Journal:
The Topeka and Shawnee County Joint Economic Development Organization will meet Nov. 18 to discuss the allocation of revenue from a countywide half-cent sales tax dedicated to infrastructure and economic development.
Whether the city and county can reach an agreement at that meeting on how the funds will be used is unknown — there appear to be more worthy causes on the board than can be funded. But it is good that the meeting, called by Mayor Larry Wolgast in response to a request from Shawnee County Commission Chairman Kevin Cook, will occur.
Topeka officials had planned to wait until December to conduct such a meeting but the county has a pressing issue it wants decided earlier — the funding available for construction of a new, $24 million bridge over the Kansas River to replace the deteriorating Willard Bridge.
As of this writing, the city and county governing bodies differ on how they would allocate the revenue generated by a 15-year extension of the sales tax, which voters approved last year. Now, they must draft an interlocal agreement, which has to be approved by both governing bodies, on the use of that money.

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