Small business owners take issue with TIF district in Garden City

Local small business owners approached Garden City commissioners on Tuesday with concerns about the proposed establishment of a redevelopment district for a planned commercial project on East Kansas Avenue.

The commission approved a memorandum of understanding with developer 2107 E. Kansas LLC in January to turn 11 acres of undeveloped land near the intersection of Campus Drive and Kansas Avenue into a commercial development anchored by a new First National Bank. About five to six other commercial or retail buildings are included in the project.

Tuesday, the commission held a public hearing before unanimously passing an ordinance that would establish the area as the Campus and Kansas Redevelopment District, marking the area as “blighted” and making it eligible to become a Tax Increment Financing District.
During the public hearing, Henk Rijfkogel, owner of Henk’s Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning at 3025 Commercial Ave., and an employee at Western Irrigation at 2990 Morton Road, asked questions about and showed distaste for the process. The Western Irrigation employee did not give his full name when addressing the commission, and declined to give The Telegram his name.

The crux of their concerns was ultimately adjacent to the issue at hand. They and their neighboring small town business owners, several of whom watched from the audience, have seen large increases in property taxes over recent years and, as Rijfkogel told commissioners, were looking for relief.