Johnson County Commission to receive report on public input on new courthouse

The Johnson County Commission will receive a report Thursday detailing the public’s feedback about the proposed new $182 million Johnson County courthouse.

The report will compile survey results, comments and concerns gathered at six open house meetings held to educate the public about the plans, which also include a new coroner facility and courtyard green space. About 20 people attended the final open house on Monday. Attendance has fluctuated between five and 15 people at the four previous meetings.

Because of deterioration to the current building, plans for a new courthouse have been discussed since at least 2005. The current courthouse opened in 1952 and has been expanded and retrofitted with at least seven renovations over the years. Besides structural fixes and additional space needed, other significant problems include a lack of wheelchair access and Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations, energy inefficiency and outdated technology. Another concern is security at the front entrance and a lack of separation between inmates attending court and the general public.

Katherine Stocks, 10th Judicial court administrator, attended five of the six meetings and said public engagement had been productive.

“The public has had good questions that have brought up issues and ideas that we hadn’t initially considered,” she said. “ADA compliance is a real concern for us because people cannot navigate the courthouse effectively without assistance.”

The proposed new courthouse would solve the existing problems and meet the county’s expected growth for the next 75 years. The building would be 283,000 square feet and, at 180 feet, taller than the existing courthouse. Included in the estimated $182 million cost is the new courthouse, which would be located across Sante Fe Street north of the existing building; demolition of the current building; a new courtyard replacing the existing courthouse, and a new coroner building. Construction on the project is expected to take four years.

The coroner building would be built near the county criminalistics lab on Sunset Drive in Olathe. It would be about 29,000 square feet and cost about $19 million. The county currently outsources autopsies to doctors who perform the work at a facility in Kansas City, Kan.

“For the most part people agree with the need for a new courthouse and agree that the county has a need for a new coroner’s facility. There’s probably some variation in what they feel about how it should be funded,” said Brad Reinhardt, director of facilities management. “I think in general it’s been very positive and people have been supportive.”

The new courthouse and coroner building would be funded in one of three ways.

Option one is a one-quarter-cent sales tax for 10 years. That would mean an extra 25 cents in sales tax to a $100 retail purchase.

Option two is a combination one-eighth-cent sales tax and mill levy increase for 10 years. This would add 12.5 cents in sales tax to a retail purchase of $100 plus increase property tax by $2.85 a month, based on the 2015 average Johnson County home value of $261,000.

Option three is a 20-year mill levy increase that would increase property tax by $3.88 per month on the average home.

Feedback at the final open house favored financing option one or two, which would allow the cost of the courthouse to be shared between residents and nonresidents of Johnson County. An estimated 22 percent of sales tax raised would come from outside Johnson County with the sales tax option, as opposed to 100 percent of the revenue being shouldered by Johnson County property owners with option three.

Shawnee resident Gary Horst, 68, attended the open house with his wife, Susan Horst. Both were in favor of the new courthouse.

“I think the thing that sways you the most is that the population of the county has increased by 10-fold since the first courthouse has been built,” Gary said.

Susan added that she didn’t want to see any more money spent on the old facility.

“The old courthouse is a money pit. It’s just going to drain us. Something has to be done. It’s just too costly to try and patch up the old one.” she said. “Personally, I think a balance of part sales tax, part property tax is good. It seems like the right balance.”

Mission resident John Arnett, 62, also favored the second option and was pleased with the town hall meeting.

“The presentation was well organized and the questions were answered adequately. Overall it looks good to me. The location is fine. I like the green space idea for the old property. A share between sales and property tax would be agreeable to me knowing that the sales tax includes those who aren’t residents,” he said.

Merriam resident Wayne Hooker, 74, supports the plans and attended the meeting to learn more about paying for the facility.

“My main concern was the financing options available. I think the fairest thing would be a quarter-cent sales tax. Property taxes are high enough as it is. The sales tax is the fairest to everyone concerned,” he said. “I’ve been in the current facility to serve on juries and it’s outdated and crowded. If they do renovate it, it’s going to take 13 years and you still would have a crumbling facility to maintain. I think a new courthouse at this time is in order.”

Overland Park resident Gary Marsh, 71, said he trusted the commission to choose the best financing option, but sharing the cost of the new facility with non-Johnson County residents was favorable.

“I can go with any of the options, whichever one the commissioners think is more preferable to put to a vote. One side effect of the sales tax is that you get people that aren’t residents paying some portion of the facility.”

The results of all the public feedback will be presented at 11 a.m. Thursday at the County Administration Building, 111 S. Cherry St., Olathe. The meeting is open to the public. The report will be available on the Johnson County website after the meeting.

After reviewing the report, the commission is expected to move forward with direction on a financing option for the new courthouse on April 21. The issue would then be put before voters in November.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Johnson County Commission to receive report on public input on new courthouse."