This week, the House Local Government Committee will hold a hearing on HB2506, a bill regarding abandoned and blighted property in Kansas cities. The League will offer testimony on this issue during the hearing on Tuesday, January 23 at 1:30 p.m. in 281-N at the capitol.
The League supports legislation to streamline and expedite the process for local governments, neighborhood organizations, and private businesses to deal with the blight of abandoned, nuisance, and foreclosed property.
The League, and eight member cities, provided written testimony supporting legislation to address abandoned property. This issue affects all cities in Kansas — from small to large. The League recently completed a member survey about the impact of blighted and abandoned property. Overwhelmingly, 89% of our member cities indicated abandoned or blighted property was a significant or very significant concern for their communities and that the median length of time a property was reported as abandoned was four years. An alarming one-third of the respondents noted they have properties that have been abandoned for over 10 years.
Why does this issue matter to Kansas’ cities?
Abandoned structures erodes property values for adjacent landowners, creates dangerous conditions for public safety officers, generates code enforcement complaints, and leads to an influx of vermin and pests.
Abandoned property affects the health, safety, and the welfare of the entire community, including property owners and residents of rental property. These abandoned properties lead to an increase in police calls for theft, intruders, drug issues, and squatting. Not only are these properties a problem for law enforcement, they also lead to an increase in fire calls from accidental fires and arson.
These properties also lead to many code enforcement issues that include overgrown vegetation, dilapidated structures, wildfires, illegal dumping, and additional demand for sanitation services. Abandoned properties have the potential to become dangerous structures as they deteriorate.
Abandoned properties can result in unpaid property taxes, which in turn creates a higher tax burden on other property owners for government resources. As these properties fall further into disrepair, the neglect will cause a blighting effect on the surrounding properties, and it rapidly leads to a loss in values to surrounding properties. This loss in property value makes it difficult for surrounding property owners to secure financing to improve their property and for potentional buyers to obtain a mortgage.
Abandoned properties regularly provide a home for vermin and pests including snakes, raccoons, rats, cockroaches, and other insects. These vermin and pests unfortunately do not remain contained to the abandoned property but rather become an issue for neighboring properties.
Cities have long had tools available to them to address issues when a dangerous structure is involved, but have limited resources to deal with abandoned property. HB2506 would give cities the same ability to deal with abandoned and blighted real estate as they now have when dealing with dangerous structures. HB2506 would allow rehabilitation action to be taken before the property became a “dangerous structure.”
The following cities submitted testimony for Tuesday’s hearing. The testimony can be found online at the League’s website. These cities offer real-world examples of how this issue affects their communities and we thank them for their support in providing testimony.
- City of Chanute
- City of El Dorado
- City of Lansing
- City of McPherson
- City of Olathe
- City of Salina
- Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS
- City of Wichita
The League encourages the House Local Government Committee to support HB2506 and favorably recommend the bill to the House for full debate.
Established by municipal officials in 1910, the League of Kansas Municipalities is a voluntary, nonpartisan organization of over 500 Kansas cities. The League works for its member cities through advocacy, legal advice, education and other services.