Subject: Asking the Mayor to request an Attorney General opinion
Mr. Stephens:
You sit as an elected director of GO Topeka. That board spends the economic-development slice of Shawnee County’s half-cent sales tax. I am not asking the board to request a legal opinion. It cannot. GO Topeka is a private contractor. K.S.A. 75-704 requires a written opinion, without a fee, when the question is submitted by the Legislature or either house, the Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the State Board of Education, or the Commissioner of Insurance. The Attorney General’s written policy also allows a city request, but only from the governing body or the City Attorney. A letter from one director, or from the Mayor alone, does not qualify.
The tax is countywide. The purpose was on the ballot: economic development, roads, bridges, the zoo, the Expocentre. K.S.A. 12-187 requires that purpose to be stated and kept. Attorney General Opinion 2001-014 says the proceeds may be used for economic development only if the voters approved that use. Opinion 2012-017 says that purpose cannot be amended later by practice. Opinion 2017-015 freed only leftover money after the old projects were paid. It did not free this allotment, and it did not define economic development.
GO Topeka’s own list of grants, contributions, sponsorships, and scholarships includes church dinners, festivals, and awards tables. Those checks are written from the half-cent allotment.
The question for the Attorney General is this: is a banquet, a church dinner, or an awards table authorized by the ballot?
Will you ask the Mayor to place that question before the City’s governing body, or to direct the City Attorney to submit it? Yes or no.
I would like your answer in writing.
Henry McClure MCRE, LLC 3625 SW 29th Street #100 Topeka, KS 66614 785-383-9994 mcre13@gmail.com
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