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Minutes for HB2083 - Committee on Local Government
Short Title
Creating the Kansas vacant property act to prohibit municipalities from imposing any fees or registration requirements on the basis that property is unoccupied.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 21, 2023
Chairperson McGinn opened hearing on HB2083. Jason Long, Office of Revisor of Statutes, gave a bill brief and answered questions from the committee.
Mark Tomb (Attachment 1) on behalf of the Kansas Association of Realtors spoke as a proponent of the bill. He stated that cities already have many tools to help regulate bad properties and bad property owners for nuisance abatement. Nothing in the bill would prevent those activities from continuing. Assessing vacancy fees upon owners of distressed properties will likely be ignored but assessing fees on property owners who have may have legitimate reasons for a property to sit vacant is a violation of property rights. To do so interferes with a property owner's rights to use their property as they see fit. He suggested that municipalities can still identify vacant properties through registries but not charge a fee.
Kelly VanZwoll (Attachment 2) for the Kansas Banker's Association also spoke in support of the bill. Their concern is that some municipalities have these registries and acts in place in which financial institutions are treated as the mortgagee or lien holder. But since Kansas is a lien theory state and not a title holder state, banks do not automatically receive the title on properties in default. They must go through a processes which can take anywhere from 15 to 27 months to become the title owners. Kansas law is such that they cannot take any action towards any real estate, including abatement nuisance, while in this process. They believe that imposing excessive fees is for a vacant property registry is unnecessary and unfair to financial institutions.
Ed Jaskinia (Attachment 3) of The Associated Landlords of Kansas was in favor of the bill also. He stated that allowing municipalities to register vacant properties without imposing fees for such is a compromise that allows all parties to be satisfied.
Written testimony in support of the bill was received from Martha Smith (Attachment 4) representing Kansas Manufactured Housing Association.
Those speaking in opposition to the bill included Jay Hall (Attachment 5) for the Kansas Association of Counties. They oppose legislation that pre-empts local government from exercising local control. Counties have the responsibility to their residents to ensure vacant properties do not become future sources of problems concerning public safety or crime.
Spencer Duncan (Attachment 6) of the League of Kansas Municipalities was also against the bill. He expressed concern that the legislation is government over-reach and issue can be solved at the local level. Although the bill allows for a registry to exist, it renders it ineffective without the ability to apply penalties. At the least, he says, the bill should be amended to allow for a capping of fees.
Casey Woods (Attachment 7) for Emporia Main Street spoke of his opposition to the bill because chronic property vacancies do cause harm. The proactive approach to prevent blight, public eyesores, and dangers to health and safety is to register properties and allow municipalities to take appropriate corrective action. Fees are critical and necessary for this. If something has become a nuisance it is often too late. No one wants to invest in properties that are adjacent to chronic vacancies for fear of the risk of losing their investment and that is how blight starts. Communities across Kansas are adopting vacancy registries because they have identified chronic vacancies as a real and pervasive problem.
Dana Peterson (Attachment 8) from Smith Center Economic Development was also an opponent of the bill. She believed that this bill takes away a tool from the community's toolbox. One of their biggest challenges is vacant houses. In a community of 1500 people, 20% of the houses are vacant. Smith Center has invested numerous years of clean up and revitalization grants to fix the problem. But the incentives for homeowners are not working. They looked at vacancy registries and vacancy fees for the benefit of the community. Property owners have rights and they also have responsibilities to do their part to help with the housing crisis in rural America.
More written testimony in opposition to the bill was received from Michael Halpern, President of MuniReg (Attachment 9), Paul Davis, Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City (Attachment 10), Lucas Herb-Mullen, City Administrator, City of Eureka (Attachment 11), Ethan Reimer, City Manager, City of Halstead (Attachment 12), and Cindy Entriken, private citizen (Attachment 13). Neutral written testimony was also received from Amanda Stanley, City Attorney, City of Topeka (Attachment 14).
Chairperson McGinn closed the hearing on HB2083.
