Four Johnson County cities may become the first to commit to annual contributions for a countywide homeless shelter.
But local officials are already raising concerns about the abbreviated process to allocate the funds, with a county-determined deadline set for just over two weeks.
This week, the cities of Prairie Village, Leawood, Olathe and Mission are all discussing their individual cities’ prospective payments to go towards supporting the early years of operation at a new proposed homeless shelter at the La Quinta Inn and Suites hotel in Lenexa.
The agendas for Prairie Village, Leawood and Mission show that each of those cities are each discussing making five years of annual funding assistance. Prairie Village and Leawood are anticipated to take a vote on the matter Monday night.
One Johnson County has already voted against contributing.
On July 25, the Edgerton City Council opted against supporting a commitment to annually contribute to the homeless shelter, city officials confirmed with the Post.
These city-level conversations are coming about a month after Kansas City-based nonprofit reStart told the county commission that it would need a roughly $500,000 annual contribution from local governments to help operate the shelter. That would be about a third of the total cost of roughly $1.5 million the group estimates is needed to run the shelter in its early years.
Johnson County is putting in roughly $10.5 million worth of federal funds to purchase and renovate the hotel property.
Initial plans show the shelter will include about 50 private units for short-term shelter and 25 studio apartments for transitional living, according to Prairie Village city documents.
Cities are asked to contribute 76 cents per resident
The county, on behalf of reStart, is asking nearly every city to contribute a specific, annual amount to the homeless shelter based on each city’s population.
The amount each city would pay in 2025 would amount to 76 cents per resident.
Here’s a look at what that dollar figure is for each of the four cities discussing the commitment this week, as well as Edgerton:
- Edgerton: $1,310
- Leawood: $25,920
- Mission: $7,638
- Olathe: $112,485
- Prairie Village: $17,468
Johnson County’s biggest city, Overland Park, will be asked to contribute $150,342 next year, though that city has yet to take up a local funding measure.
If the cities agree to the five-year funding commitment, then the 76 cents per resident is projected to increase by two cents annually, equaling 85 cents per resident by 2030.
One JoCo mayor shares concerns with county
In an email to the county commission from July 26, Mission Mayor Sollie Flora outlined several questions and concerns she says have come up in her conversations with other northeast Johnson County mayors.
For instance, Flora wrote that the county is requesting an annual contribution starting in 2025, but it is late in the cities’ 2025 budget cycle process and adding expenditures could complicate that.
Flora’s email notes the “late engagement of cities in the process” and a lack of city input on the “feasibility or sustainability of operational funding” for the shelter.
She also asks why cities should fund a countywide service when the county often provides other services — including mental health and housing support — to all Johnson Countians without cities’ support.
Flora proposes the county consider removing the request for funding in 2025, restarting conversations with city leaders and returning for a funding request in 2026.
reStart needs to know city decisions by Aug. 20
- On behalf of reStart, Johnson County gave cities a deadline of Aug. 20 to provide documentation of their commitment to funding, according to Prairie Village city documents.
- The cities are not required to contribute funds and can decide whether to participate and at what level to participate, according to city documents.
- If the cities commit to the five-year funding agreement, then funding would be distributed only after the county finalizes its purchase of the Lenexa hotel and the city of Lenexa approves a special use permit for the site.
- Lenexa’s Planning Commission is next poised to consider the special use permit on Aug. 26.
Listen to your city council’s discussion
- The Prairie Village City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, at City Hall, 7700 Mission Rd. (live streaming option here). The item is under the new business section of Prairie Village’s agenda, meaning a vote on the matter is anticipated.
- The Leawood City Council meets at 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, at City Hall, 4800 Town Center Dr. (live streaming option here). Leawood city officials confirmed to the Post on Monday that a vote is anticipated on this agenda item.
- The Olathe City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at City Hall, 100 E Santa Fe St. The homeless shelter is an agenda item on Olathe’s planning session as a discussion item with no anticipated vote.
- The Mission City Council convenes at 6:30 p.m. for committee meetings on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at City Hall, 6090 Woodson St (recorded meetings uploaded here). The item is coming up in a committee meeting, so a final vote will not be taken that night. The committee can forward a vote for final consideration to a future city council meeting.
JoCo wants cities to help pay for new homeless shelter, but some officials are pushing back
