Johnson County commission candidates clash over TIFs, vaccines

Four Johnson County commission candidates clashed over property taxes, TIF incentives and vaccines at a forum Tuesday, Oct. 6, in Overland Park.

The Johnson County Post hosted and live-streamed the event at Central Resource Library. About 130 people attended, with questions submitted by audience members and Post readers. The races are non-partisan, and voters will decide both on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

In District 1, which covers northeastern Johnson County, incumbent Commissioner Becky Fast of Roeland Park faces Ben Hobert, a retired business lawyer from Westwood Hills. In District 5, covering the central part of the county west of Overland Park, incumbent Commissioner Michael Ashcraft of Olathe faces Greg Mitchell, a semi-retired hospital executive also from Olathe.

Spending and property taxes split the field

The forum opened on county spending and quickly turned to property taxes. Hobert said county officials have been misleading when they claim mill levy cuts, because rising home valuations still produce bigger tax bills.

"The valuation increases post-COVID were so great that if they would have kept the mill levy static, people wouldn't have just been screaming about property taxes; they'd be saying we need to tar and feather some people," he said.

Hobert said he would cut 11 new full-time positions added to strategic communications, calling them "duplicative" and "wasteful." Pressed on further cuts, he said he was thinking more of "trimming" than cuts.

Fast countered that the commission used an AI program called Resource X to find $32 million in savings by modifying services, plus $15 million in cuts. She said state policies have shifted more of the tax burden onto residential homeowners while giving breaks to commercial and agricultural interests.

Mitchell said commissioners need to get creative. Ashcraft, the commission's longest-serving member, first elected in 2010, said the challenge is discipline.

TIF deadlock resurfaces

Tax increment financing, or TIF, became a flashpoint. Under Kansas law, cities create TIF districts, but the county can veto them within 30 days if commissioners believe the incentive hurts county services.

The commission deadlocked 3-3 on Aug. 13 over whether to veto a TIF for a proposed 53-unit assisted living and memory care facility in De Soto. Ashcraft moved to block the project, but no commissioner seconded him. Because the board did not act, the project moved forward. County staff had estimated unreimbursed emergency-call costs of $652,000 to $941,000 over the TIF's 20-year life.

At the forum, Ashcraft said the De Soto TIF should have been vetoed. Fast said the county often lacks information when handed the veto decision. Hobert called for stricter scrutiny, saying TIFs have been used too often.

Vaccine exchange gets personal

An audience question about the county's vaccination program sparked the sharpest exchange of the night. Fast said Hobert had made roughly 200 trips to the commission dais and had referred to the COVID vaccine as the "clot shot," asked commissioners to support Ivermectin and spoken against vaccines for RSV and the flu.

Mitchell answered “Yes” when asked whether he supported county immunization services. Including that gives readers all four candidates’ positions.

Hobert disputed those characterizations. He said he is "totally in favor of vaccines that are tried and true," such as those for measles, mumps and rubella. He also noted that some of his public comments may not have been recorded because the commission excluded public comments from recordings for a time.

The Johnson County Post reported that the tuberculosis vaccine Hobert and Ashcraft cited as one he supports is not among those the county offers. According to the CDC, the TB vaccine is typically given to children in countries where TB is common and is not generally used in the United States.

Ashcraft called the COVID vaccine "a whole different ball of wax" but expressed support for the county's vaccination program overall.