Most Topeka City Council members voiced opposition Tuesday evening to raising the amount being expended to renovate City Hall to $17 million. Councilman Tony Emerson used the term “extravagant” to describe the proposed increase in scope from previously approved plans. “This should have been stopped a long time ago,” Councilman and Deputy Mayor Brendan Jensen said while holding up a copy of a booklet sharing suggestions for renovation. “This is too nice for us.” Councilman Mike Lesser said the plan would have to be “scaled down drastically to get any type of support from me.” He suggested city manager Brent Trout [...]

Topeka’s governing body on Dec. 4 will hold a public hearing on whether to make five amendments to the city’s 2018 adopted budget adding a total of $574,000 in revenues the city has brought in that weren’t previously budgeted. The money would finance various purposes, including putting up a fence at the Law Enforcement Center, 320 S. Kansas Ave., according to a document in Tuesday’s meeting’s agenda packet. The proposed amendments would earmark $60,000 to go toward tax increment financing, $300,000 for the information technology fund, $106,000 for the city’s special alcohol fund, $85,000 for the S.E. 29th Community Improvement District [...]