Issue Position: Landowner Property Rights

Issue Position

Keeping in mind that we all must be good neighbors, I believe that all landowners deserve representation in any effort to control what they do with their land.

I have opposed the use of Eminent Domain to condemn property for a private entity simply because that entity can produce more economic growth with the land.
I also supported measures that protected non-productive agriculture land from being classified commercial land if used for recreational hunting.
I did not support a bill that would allow counties to take possession of blighted land to cover the cost of clean up.
Finally, I supported restrictions on annexation and required that cities provide services in a timely manner to any area of a county annexed by that city.

I was unhappy when I read in the paper that the Governor had waited until after the 2011 legislative session to declare the area south of Highway 400 and east of Highway 77 a "no wind" zone. Not one County Commissioner or State Representative in the five counties affected was consulted, nor were any of the landowners. Here is a copy of the text of the letter I composed and which Senator Abrams, Representative Kelley, and I sent to the Governor on behalf our my constituents:
"We were surprised to learn that eastern Cowley County, and for that matter most of Cowley County, had been included in the "Flint Hills Environmental Box" that will now be off limits to all but one new wind energy project. While a number of stakeholders from other parts of the State did work closely with your office, members of our Cowley County Commission, landowners in our area, our county administrator and our legislative delegation were not a part of any conversation or planning in regard to this issue in our part of the Flint Hills. Since our county commission had been in negotiations with Beyond Petroleum (BP) and county landowners to develop wind generation in northeastern Cowley County, the announcement came as a very disappointing revelation. What was more disappointing was to learn that conversations had been held with BP about an alternate site without the knowledge of any stakeholder from Cowley County.
The decision to include our area in the Flint Hills zone, which excludes wind energy, without any representation from Cowley County, appears to fly in the face of the concept of open and transparent government. Our legislative delegation was left to explain why we were left out of the decision making process. In the future and in the interest of fair representation, we would respectfully request that stakeholders in Cowley County be included in plans that will affect our region."

Lastly, I believe the burden of taxation should not be shifted to the property owner as current policies are now doing. As WSU economist Ed Flentje points out:

"…. from 2010 to 2013, property taxes in rural counties increased three times faster than in the five largest urban counties. Property taxes for schools grew over five times faster in rural counties. Property tax increases for rural counties in this period may be summarized as follows:
71 counties had property tax increases of 10 percent or more;
45 counties had property tax increases of 15 percent or more; and
28 counties had property tax increases of 20 percent or more".

The recent equalization formula for education funding did reduce many district's property taxes for the 2014 fiscal year, but that will be temporary considering the looming budget deficit.

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