Fw: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It




From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2026 1:31 PM
To: marcusm@topeka.org <marcusm@topeka.org>; Governing Body <governingbody@topeka.org>; City Clerk <cclerk@topeka.org>; Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>; John Kollhoff <johnkollhoff@gmail.com>
Subject: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It

The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
Take one Topeka building as an example. A city water main broke, and deferred maintenance meant there was no way to shut it off. Water backed up inside and flooded the space, and the sheetrock was ruined. The owner has spent years paying for damage he didn't cause. If that owner ever wanted to set up a Community Improvement District (CID) to help rebuild, he would first have to pay a consultant to run a "but-for" test. That's a theoretical exercise to decide whether the project "needs" help and what his rate of return should be.
That's the problem in one sentence. A property owner who has already absorbed the cost of the city's neglect would have to pay an outsider with no money at risk to judge what his own risk is worth.
This isn't about one building or one owner. It's about a test that fails every time it meets the real world.
It measures the wrong thing. The but-for test asks whether a project would happen "but for" public help, and it answers with assumptions on paper. It can't see floods, failed infrastructure, ruined interiors, years of lost use, or what it costs to rebuild after damage someone else caused.
It puts the cost on the wrong people. Owners pay up front just to be allowed to ask. Every dollar spent on a consultant's opinion is a dollar not spent on roofs, drywall, and tenants. The consultant gets paid whether the project succeeds or fails.
It slows down the very reinvestment Topeka says it wants. Older corridors and distressed buildings are exactly where reinvestment is hardest and matters most. A costly gatekeeping step makes small, local owners less likely to try at all. Only those who can afford the paperwork move forward.
It's outdated. Tools like CIDs already come with public hearings, council approval, and limits set in law. Adding a paid rate-of-return opinion on top of that is redundant. It's bureaucracy, not accountability.
There's a better standard. Judge projects on what they deliver and verify it: restored buildings, jobs, a stronger tax base, and blight removed. Make the owner prove results, not pay for a forecast.
Topeka should retire the but-for test. The people with skin in the game have been through enough. Future owners shouldn't have to pay for a litmus test that was never built to understand them.
Henry McClure, mcre Media | (762) 291-2765 | mcremedia.blogspot.com



From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2026 1:24 PM
To: Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>; City Clerk <cclerk@topeka.org>; David Banks <dbanks@topeka.org>; Governing Body <governingbody@topeka.org>; Spencer Duncan <sduncan@topeka.org>
Subject: Re: You should be fired. 

This property has already absorbed significant damage in recent years from a City water main failure. Deferred maintenance left the main unable to be isolated, the break flooded the building, and the resulting interior damage—including to the sheetrock—was extensive and costly. Those problems were not caused by weather or by anything the ownership did; they were caused by the condition of the City’s infrastructure.
The ownership is now being asked to absorb still more disruption from a City project, again without notice or permission. Against that history, it is especially hard to accept analyses from outside consultants who have no connection to the property, no knowledge of what it has already endured, and no stake in the outcome. A rate-of-return calculation that ignores prior City-caused damage, and that treats the property as if it has operated in a normal environment, is not a useful measure of anything. The owner is not seeking special treatment. He is simply trying to keep a property functional after repeated problems that originated with the City.

From: Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2026 1:14 PM
To: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>; City Clerk <cclerk@topeka.org>; David Banks <dbanks@topeka.org>; Governing Body <governingbody@topeka.org>; Spencer Duncan <sduncan@topeka.org>
Subject: Re: You should be fired. 
 
Mr McClure

Thank you for the communication.  Please give me an opportunity to look into this matter.  I will be in touch

B

From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, 24 October 2026 14:02:48
To: Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>; City Clerk <cclerk@topeka.org>; David Banks <dbanks@topeka.org>; Governing Body <governingbody@topeka.org>; Spencer Duncan <sduncan@topeka.org>
Subject: You should be fired. 
 
Notice: -----This message was sent by an external sender-----

Braxton

This is shameful

H

Henry McClure 
Time Kills Deals 
762-291-2765 

444

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