As the recession eases, the county and the nation search for a “new normal.” How fast will the downtrodden sectors revive, if at all, and what opportunities are ripening?

Get a read on what to expect in the near and extended future as a panel of business experts discuss Johnson County after the Great Recession.

Confirmed Panelists are:  

Doug Davidson, President of County Economic Research Institute Inc.

Clinton Robinson, Associate Vice President and Director of Community Affairs for Black & Vetch

Brian Rodrock, CEO of Rodrock Homes

Chris Wally, President of Wally & Co

Joel Wiggins, CEO of the Enterprise Center of Johnson COunty

The meeting will be on Thursday, April 26 at the Overland Park Marriott. Registration and breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m. The panel discussion will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 9 a.m.

The cost is $35 per person. Table sponsorship is available for $540 and includes preferred seating for 10 and a new one-year subscitpion to the Kansas City Business Journal. Advanced registration is required.

Register at http://bizj.us/b45nn. The deadline for registration is Friday, April 20.

All city council candidates for office are invited to participate in the forum, and there will be an independent moderator who will oversee the forum.
The public will be allowed to submit questions by e-mail to the NEJC Chamber at info@nejcchamber.com up until 12 Noon, March 21, the day before the candidate forum.

The final questions will be shared with all candidates in advance of the forum. Each Question and Answer session will last 20 minutes per Ward. The moderator will ask the candidates from each individual Ward the same questions, but every Ward will answer a different set of questions.

The Q&A session will take place in the following order: Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 3, and then Ward 4.

Candidate responses will be limited to 2 minutes per question, and they will also have 2 minutes to make any closing remarks. No questions will be taken from the audience during the actual forum.

For questions regarding the format of the forum, please contact the NEJC Chamber at (913) 262-2141.

Major themes emerged from the survey, indicating that despite the difficult economy of the past several years, Johnson County residents still believe quality of life issues are important to our success. K-12 Education, job creation and public safety emerged as clear priorities for both voters and businesses when asked to prioritize limited resources for public officials. Voters ranked K-12 first as top priority, and economic development as second; while the business community switched the priority order. Both groups expressed great confidence in local officials and the value they find in the taxes they pay.

Highlights of tax questions revealed the following opinions:

• An overwhelming majority of Johnson County voters believe that for the services they receive the level of taxes they pay is “about right.” Voters-70%, Businesses-64%
• Voters overwhelmingly would support a tax increase for K-12 education (80%) somewhat less (63%) for higher education
• There is support for a tax increase dedicated specifically for social services, such as senior citizen and disability services (77%)

• Increased taxes for infrastructure (aging sewer/stormwater) are supported (70%) as are roads and highways (67%)
• Voters are divided on questions of libraries, public transportation, arts and parks, but were clearly opposed (78%) to raising taxes to build a new Johnson County Courthouse
• There was strong sentiment that there should be local control over public education decisions (voters-90%, businesses-83%)
• On the issue of state tax levels, voters felt sales, income and property tax levels should remain “about the same.”

For the first time, Johnson County is launching an online Budget Simulator allowing citizens to submit their county service priorities and how they are willing to financially support their rankings in balancing the county budget.

Accessibility to the Budget Simulator, which is being coordinated by the County Manger’s Office and Department of Budget and Financial Planning, began Thursday, February 16 and will be available through Friday, April 6. It is accessible through the county’s main website at www.jocogov.com

The goals are to seek increased community feedback in the budget process, foster an ongoing dialogue with the community regarding public services and develop an informative, reliable process for the Board of County Commissioners to use for county service prioritization and budgetary decision-making that hits warp speed from June to August.

Participants using the online web tool will be able to communicate their priorities about county spending by various strategic service areas, such as public transit, public safety, human services, parks and recreation, library, etc.

The Budget Simulator will allow online users to rank service areas by a wide range of levels, such as wanting more services or opting for less. A sliding bar will reflect the tax impact by adding or reducing the service areas. It’s a give-and-take challenge:

• Citizens can increase, keep the same, or decrease various service levels to balance a budget.
• Citizens will have the option to increase budget revenues, such as raising park fees or property property taxes.
• Citizens also can choose to decrease budget revenues, such as reducing taxes, which in turn, means cutting county services.

The community feedback collected through the Budget Simulator will be complied by the Budget Department. A report highlighting the findings will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners in late April or May and will be posted on the budget website. It, too, is accessible on the county’s main website.