News Release from Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius



May 18, 2006 Sebelius: Protecting private property rights important Sebelius signs eminent domain bill into law, among 5 bills With a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling highlighting the importance of establishing guidelines on eminent domain for both property owners and developers, Governor Kathleen Sebelius today signed into law that will help protect the rights of property owners. “Eminent domain is a big concern, particularly for farmers and landowners near growing communities. While we promote economic growth, we also need to respect the important rights of property owners,” said Sebelius. “This bill strikes an important balance between the two, while also setting out clear guidelines that help enhance the rights of property owners.” SB 323 establishes that, on or after July 1, 2007, the taking of private property by eminent domain for the purpose of selling, leasing or transferring it to another private entity, including takings under the tax increment financing law, would not be permitted unless the taking meets one of the newly established guidelines. The new guidelines include: The private property owner has acquiesced in writing to the taking by any municipality; The property is unsafe for occupation by humans under the building codes; The property has defective or unusual conditions of title or unknown ownership interests in the property and is taken by any municipality; The taking is by any public utility; The taking is by any gas gathering service, pipeline company or railroad; or The property is deemed excess real property that was taken lawfully and incidental to the acquisition of right-of-way for a public road, bridge or KDOT public improvement project or a municipality. Any taking of private property for the purpose of transferring it to any private entity that doesn’t meet one of the above guidelines must be expressly authorized by the Legislature. The Legislature is required to consider providing extra compensation of at least 200% of the fair market value to the person whose land will be taken. The bill also amends several statutes to require surveys of land to be taken by eminent domain be conducted by licensed land surveyors or by a professional engineer competent to conduct a land survey. This bill will take effect upon publication in the Kansas Register. Governor Sebelius also signed into law four other bills. During the 2006 Legislative session, the Governor has signed 192 bills and vetoed two. Helping families save for higher education SB 332 establishes the Low-Income Family Postsecondary Savings Accounts Incentive Program. The program is a three-year pilot providing a state match of postsecondary account (Learning Quest) deposits by Kansas individuals or families with a household income of not more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. It is limited to 400 approved applications each year, with no more than 100 applications from each congressional district. Participants must contribute at least $100 per year to a maximum of $600 per year to receive the match. The bill also authorizes the Board of Regents to enter into contracts for health and accident insurance, or the services of a health maintenance organization, for students of state universities or their dependents, transferring that authority from the Kansas State Employees Health Care Commission to the Board of Regents. Finally, it allows state universities to purchase insurance, other than employee health insurance, independently of the Committee on Surety Bonds and Insurance in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Board of Regents. This bill will take effect after publication in the Kansas Register. Counties to receive additional local sales tax authority SB 435 grants additional local sales tax authority to a number of counties and would clarify the disaggregation of revenues with respect to a previously adopted tax in Phillips County. None of the new taxes could be imposed without voter approval. Counties with new authority included in the bill are as follows: Atchison County, 0.25% to finance the construction and maintenance of sports and recreational facilities; Crawford County, 0.5% authority for economic development initiatives and public infrastructure projects; Harvey County, 1% for property tax relief, infrastructure development and economic development; Marion County, 1.5% for the construction or remodeling of a courthouse, jail, law enforcement center, or other county administrative building; Reno County, 0.25% or 0.5% for the construction or remodeling of a courthouse, jail, law enforcement center, or other county administrative building, and Saline County, 0.5% to finance the construction and operation of an expocenter. This bill will take effect after publication in the Kansas Register. Pilot project for state universities in regards to purchasing requirements SB 52 implements a pilot project to exempt two state universities from state purchasing requirements. The Board of Regents would select the universities to participate in the 3-year program, limited to no more than one from a group including KU, KSU and WSU. The chosen universities would be authorized to purchase supplies, materials, equipment, property and services without going through the Division of Purchases and would be exempt from the Prison-made Goods Act for the duration of the project. The Board and the Division of Purchasing would be required to report annually to the Legislature concerning the activities and the impact of the pilot project. This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book. Clarifications to changing school board member district boundaries and funds for out-of-state students HB 2585 contains many provisions concerning school district boundaries, out-of-state students and assessed valuation of certain districts. This includes requiring local school boards to change member districts if the population of a member district if more than 5% above or below the mean population of other member districts within the school district. It also repeals the statute that provides no out-of-state student will be counted in the enrollment of the receiving school district unless the district has entered into an agreement with the sending district for payment of the cost of educating the student or the district has a hardship application that has been approved by the State Board of Education. This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book.