KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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As Oct. 1 approaches, many Wyandotte County members are not only preparing for a PILOT fee removed from their bills, but also finding a way to afford other utility fees.
Alma Hall knows these concerns all too well.
She’s a Wyandotte County resident who helps other residents — particularly immigrants like herself or those too fearful to ask for help — make sense of their Board of Public Utilities bills and look for resources.
Hall is not with a group or volunteer organization doing this work, she says.
In fact, it was an unexpected endeavor.
"I was not looking to find them, but the community found me," Hall said.
As a former coach and educator, she says community members knew she was helpful.
Hall says growing up as an immigrant with a single mother attributed to that.
"I’m doing this for the community that I represent: the immigrant community or the ones that are in fear for speaking up, or the ones that just gave up," Hall said.
Hall’s no utility expert, but it doesn’t take one to know when people are struggling.
“It does get emotional because I do know that even though there's a lot of awareness of the language barriers and stuff like that, you still have to understand the sacrifices that people make when they come here,” Hall says.
It’s why she translates the notes she takes at Unified Government and Board of Public Utilities meetings for her community members.
She’s already on her fourth BPU notebook since beginning this journey in 2023.
When the Unified Government announced it would remove the PILOT fee from bills come Oct. 1, Hall started hearing feedback.
"We do feel a relief, but we are aware that somewhere along the line, that money is going to be requested," Hall said. "Somewhere along the line, it's gonna come up."
That’s just one of the concerns she and other residents have regarding the removal of the PILOT fee.
Hall says she's also run into barriers with trying to get financial support from groups that don't solely offer one-time fees.
As for other residents, they also have questions about how they’ll be able to get relief for additional fees like stormwater or sewage fees.
Fees like this are related to services provided by the UG. They are collected through a customer's bill and then remitted to the UG.
Still, there are also questions about if there will be a need to cut back on funding for services related to these fees if there’s no money coming in for the PILOT.
"That's yet to be determined," said Tyrone Garner, the mayor of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas. "The information I've gotten so far is 'no.'"
Garner says he’s been advocating for the PILOT fee’s removal since he’s been in office, but he also knows it’s only a start.
"That’s one of the questions that I’ve posed: is BPU a benefit or is it a burden," Garner said. "I can tell you a lot of the residents that I've talked to have indicated that it is a burden."
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County owns the Board of Public Utilities, but it is the BPU’s responsibility to make sure the PILOT fee is collected.
Garner confirmed there are no intentions of selling the BPU, but he said consolidating certain aspects has been brought up but not acted upon.
He also said there are currently no plans for the PILOT fee removal to be grandfathered, in that someone who has been kicked off prior to this change for not paying that fee will be brought back on.
A BPU spokesperson says board members are still deliberating with the Unified Government to come up with a solution for how to collect that fee going forward.
Garner says it’s likely these conversations will continue long after Oct. 1.
In the same vein, Hall’s not stopping her advocacy until she sees equity.
"I often hear people that are born and raised here in this county [say], ‘This is the way it’s always been, it’s always been like this, it’s not going to change,’” Hall said. “I don’t believe that. I come from other countries, I don’t believe that."
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