Fw: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
Sent: Tuesday, 03 November 2026 08:46:04
To: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>; Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli <mespinelli@topeka.org>
Cc: City Clerk <cclerk@Topeka.org>; Bonnie Williams <bowilliams@topeka.org>
Subject: RE: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
Good Morning,
Henry stopped by the office and paid the $36.00 for his records.
Thank you!
Megan Brunson
Administrative Officer, Special Events
785-368-3940
“The preceding email message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential, protected by the attorney/client or other applicable privileges or that may constitute non-public information. This message is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s). If you are not listed as a recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately by replying to this message and then delete it from your system. Use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.”
From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2026 7:07 PM
To: Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli <mespinelli@topeka.org>
Cc: City Clerk <cclerk@topeka.org>; Bonnie Williams <bowilliams@topeka.org>
Subject: RE: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
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Mary,
Thank you for the quick response. I'll bring a check for the $36 to the Clerk's office at 215 SE 7th Street, Room 166, tomorrow morning. Please go ahead and pull the invoices, including the one paid after September 28, and thanks for having staff check the older system for anything before 2021.
I still need an answer on one part of my request: fees paid at bond closing. Please provide the closing statements or cost-of-issuance schedules that show any Columbia Capital fees paid from bond proceeds, including the $480,308 coded as bond issuance costs. If no such records exist, please tell me that in writing.
I'd also like the total of the fund 499 invoices that developers paid through the Economic Development incentive application.
Thank you,
On Mon, Nov 2, 2026 at 4:43 PM Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli <mespinelli@topeka.org> wrote:
Mr. McClure,
You can make payment for the staff time needed to gather the actual invoices by calling the Clerk’s office at 785-368-3940 to provide a credit card number or mail or hand-deliver a check or cash to the Clerk’s office at 215 SE 7th Street, Room 166, Topeka, KS 66603.
Regarding your questions in #1 below about the funds that the invoices were charged to, the Finance Department has clarified that while the invoices are not charged to specific bonds/projects, they are charged to numbered funds that correspond with a category of projects or bonds. 301 represents the Debt Service fund, 499 represents the Economic Development Clearing fund (invoices charged to this fund are generally paid by the relevant developer through the Economic Development incentive application), and 821 is the Water Utility CIP fund where capital projects for water are charged to.
Regarding #2, the report previously provided only went back to 2021 because the retention period for this category of data is 5 years. City staff will look into what additional invoices are available in an older system that is in the process of being phased out.
Regarding #3, there is an additional invoice that was paid after the below mentioned date and that invoice will be provided with the others once payment is received and staff has gathered what is responsive.
Thanks,
Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli
Senior Attorney
Mailing Address:
215 SE 7th Street, Room 353
Topeka, KS 66603
(785) 368-3883
NOTICE: This message and any attachments may be confidential and contain legally privileged information. If you are not an employee of the City of Topeka (see K.S.A. 75-6102(d)), we do not waive any legal protection that may apply such as attorney-client or work product privileges. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete the message and any attachments. Further, this communication is not intended to constitute, nor should it be relied upon, as legal advice to you.
From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2026 4:05 PM
To: Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli <mespinelli@topeka.org>
Cc: City Clerk <cclerk@topeka.org>
Subject: Re: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
Notice: -----This message was sent by an external sender-----
Ms. Spinelli,
Thank you for the invoice report and the agreements. Please go ahead and pull copies of the actual invoices. I'll pay the $36 to the Clerk's office. Let me know how you'd like payment.
The response leaves three parts of my request open:
1. Fees paid from bond proceeds. Your email says the invoices are paid from the general fund and not from specific bonds. But the report you sent shows about $2.2 million charged to funds 301, 499 and 821, and $480,308 coded "Clearing Exp - COI Bonds." Please provide records of any fees paid to Columbia Capital at bond closing or out of bond proceeds, including closing statements or cost-of-issuance schedules, and identify what funds 301, 499 and 821 are.
2. Years before 2021. My request covered the start of the engagement. Please provide payment records from the first Columbia Capital engagement through 2020.
3. Payments after September 28, 2026, if any.
If any of these records don't exist, please say so in writing.
Thank you,
Henry McClure
(762) 291-2765
Henry McClure
Time kills deals
785-383-9994
On Thu, Oct 29, 2026 at 5:46 PM Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com> wrote:
Received - thanks
H
MCRE, LLC
3625 SW 29th Street
Topeka KS 66614
762.291.2765
From: Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli <mespinelli@topeka.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2026 12:17 PM
To: mcre13@gmail.com <mcre13@gmail.com>
Cc: Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>; City Clerk <cclerk@Topeka.org>
Subject: RE: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
Dear Mr. McClure,
This is in response to your below open records request. Staff has identified the attached/linked records as responsive to your request.
The attached invoice report includes all requested data fields that the City tracks for invoices from 2021 through 2026. The City does not charge invoices to specific projects, therefore that information is not tracked in a report form. Similarly, invoices are paid from the general fund and not specific bonds. The invoices themselves may include additional information related to the purpose of the services provided or what project or bond the services might be associated with. If you would like to obtain copies of the invoice, staff estimates that to research and identify the responsive invoices it would take two hours of staff time at the rate of $18.00 per hour for a total of $36.00. If you would like to proceed, please contact the Clerk’s office to make payment.
Please also find linked the responsive agreements with Columbia Capital: https://cityoftopeka.sharefile.com/d-s7be9c7c7bb3946b081a36a74758c047d
Thank you,
Mary E. Kuckelman Spinelli
Senior Attorney
Mailing Address:
215 SE 7th Street, Room 353
Topeka, KS 66603
(785) 368-3883
NOTICE: This message and any attachments may be confidential and contain legally privileged information. If you are not an employee of the City of Topeka (see K.S.A. 75-6102(d)), we do not waive any legal protection that may apply such as attorney-client or work product privileges. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete the message and any attachments. Further, this communication is not intended to constitute, nor should it be relied upon, as legal advice to you.
From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, 24 October 2026 19:58:58
To: Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>; Marcus Miller <marcusm@topeka.org>; Governing Body <governingbody@topeka.org>; City Clerk <cclerk@Topeka.org>; John Kollhoff <johnkollhoff@gmail.com>
Cc: Leigha Boling <lboling@topeka.org>; Jeff White (jwhite@columbiacapital.com) <jwhite@columbiacapital.com>
Subject: Re: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
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Dear City Clerk,
Under the Kansas Open Records Act, K.S.A. 45-215 et seq., I am submitting a new, separate request.
Background: The City's September 23, 2026 response to my request McClure KORA 091826 stated that Finance records and January through June 2026 were included. However, the spreadsheet I received contains only Public Works and Utilities payments for 2024 and 2025. No payments to Columbia Capital Management, which serves as the City's financial advisor, appear in it.
I request:
- A check register or payment report of every payment the City of Topeka has made to Columbia Capital Management, LLC, including any affiliates, predecessor names, or individual principals such as Jeff White, from the first date the City engaged the firm through the present, across all departments and funds (including Finance, bond and debt issuance, and capital project funds).
- For each payment: the date, amount, fund or account charged, and the project, bond issue, or purpose, if recorded.
- A grand total of all payments, and totals by year if readily available.
- Copies of all engagement agreements, contracts, or amendments with Columbia Capital, including scope of services and fee schedules.
Please also note that fees paid to a financial advisor may be paid at bond closing from bond proceeds rather than through the City's regular accounts payable. If so, please include those payments as shown on closing statements or settlement memoranda.
I am requesting the register data only, not copies of individual checks. An electronic spreadsheet is preferred. If any portion is withheld, please cite the specific exemption and release the remainder. If fees will exceed $100, please let me know before proceeding.
Separately, please send the Finance and January through June 2026 portions that were described as included in the KORA 091826 response but were not in the spreadsheet I received.
Thank you for your help.
Henry McClure
MCRE Media
(762) 291-2765
From: Braxton Copley <bcopley@topeka.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2026 5:24 PM
To: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>; Marcus Miller <marcusm@topeka.org>; Governing Body <governingbody@topeka.org>; City Clerk <cclerk@Topeka.org>; John Kollhoff <johnkollhoff@gmail.com>
Cc: Leigha Boling <lboling@topeka.org>; Jeff White (jwhite@columbiacapital.com) <jwhite@columbiacapital.com>
Subject: Re: The But-For Test Is the Failure: Topeka Should Retire It
Thanks Mr. McClure
Appreciate your sharing your opinion. We will have to agree to disagree on this issue. The resolutions adopted by the governing body establishing the economic development programs for TIF, RHID and CID all require financial analysis to determine that the incentive is necessary to achieve a market rate of return—commonly referred to as the “but-for” test.
Because a developer is asking the governing body to forego tax revenue as an inducement to construct the project, the governing body needs to assure itself that it is not using tax dollars to over-incentivize the project
Attached is a memo explaining capitalization rates and the “but-for” test that was shared with the governing body earlier this week.
This is a policy matter for the the governing body. Until they choose to remove or modify the requirement to do the financial analysis to determine the need for the incentive, staff will continue to follow requirements set forth in the various resolutions.
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From: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, 24 October 2026 14:31:52
To: Marcus Miller <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
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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
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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.
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Braxton
This is shameful
H
Henry McClure
Time Kills Deals
762-291-2765
444
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