Butler Community College has found itself on the defensive after the school’s plans for a new building and renovation at its Andover campus were put on hold with a vote by the Andover City Council on Tuesday.
Various local leaders are questioning the school’s funding and pressuring its board of trustees to lower its mill levy. Andover Mayor Ben Lawrence said it’s time to take a stand against “the tax and spend policy” of the community college, which he said has grown out of control in recent years.
Butler’s president, Kimberly Krull, said if the project is not approved, it will have lasting consequences for students, including fewer course and degree options, lower retention and completion rates, larger class sizes and potentially higher educational costs if they have to attend a different institution.
“We will work with an external group of Butler County residents and leaders to develop a vision and strategic plan process to determine what Butler County wants in its higher education system and what it will pay for,” Krull said Tuesday in a letter to Lawrence and the Andover City Council.
The strategic plan will consider input from students, residents and businesses about what they need Butler to be, Krull said.
The project was initially stalled on Thursday when Lawrence vetoed a special-use permit that would have allowed the building project at Butler Community College’s 5000 Building, near 13th and Andover Road, to move forward. The school needs new classrooms to make up for lost space at Andover High School, a spokesperson for the community college said.
With a 5-1 vote Tuesday night, the Andover City Council sent the college’s special permit request back to the Planning Commission, which meets again on Oct. 16. The commission and the college could work toward an agreement that would satisfy Lawrence, but the concerns raised in his veto are about much more than a zoning permit, he said.
Officials call for tuition raises for Wichitans
Lawrence’s veto is the latest in a series of hits the school has sustained in a higher education funding turf war that started after the state cut general support funding to community colleges.
In Butler County, state legislators and county commissioners have criticized the school and pressured its board of trustees to reduce its property tax mill levy and charge out-of-county students, mostly from Wichita, higher tuition rates to make up the budget gap.
In Sedgwick County, county commissioners are concerned about the school’s involvement in Wichita after the county has committed millions of taxpayer dollars to Wichita State and WSU Tech.
Wichita State put the brakes on the college’s plans to open a hospitality and culinary arts program in downtown Wichita, calling it “directly adverse to the efforts by WSU and WSU Tech” to develop their own, similar programs.
Andover’s mayor said he wants to see Butler Community College succeed in that city, that he thinks it does “a great job educating,” but that it needs to make some changes.
In a statement attached to his veto, Lawrence called into question the “content and character” of the community college, which he said has an attitude to “do what they want, when they want and tax what they want, regardless of community opinion” or city ordinances.
Kelly Snedden, Butler Community College’s director of college relations and marketing, characterized the college differently.
“We take very seriously our commitment to our county taxpayers,” Snedden said. “Our actions in Andover have always been transparent and above board. We have not heard or received complaints from the Andover City Council or the planning commission.”
Tax causes “a disadvantage”
Lawrence’s veto lists a number of factors the mayor said need addressed before the project should move forward, including following an agreement made in 2005 — after Lawrence vetoed that permit — that allowed the school to use the former Raytheon building as a campus.
As part of that deal, seven conditions were placed on Butler. The school’s president says it has satisfied the conditions, while the mayor says it has not.
One of the commitments made by the college in 2005 was to host Butler athletic games and events in Andover. That year, the football team played one game in Andover, and it has not played there since.
In 2006, the Butler men’s and women’s basketball teams played one game each in Andover.
Aside from a few scrimmages, Butler Community College has not returned to Andover for athletic games since 2006.
“Considering the Andover campus has the highest enrollment, over and beyond the home campus in El Dorado, I find this particularly odd,” Lawrence said.
“It seems and appears the Andover location does nothing more than generate money which can be sent back to El Dorado,” he said.
Krull agrees it’s time to go to the drawing board and figure out what Butler County residents are willing to pay for, but she asked that the special use permit not be politicized.
“Approval of Butler’s special use permit should be focused on zoning, not on politics,” Krull said in her response to the veto.
Lawrence said he thinks Krull’s letter is “smoke and mirrors” and that attempts at transparency by the college have come only after demands by the public.
He roundly criticized the school for the tax burden it places on Butler County citizens, which he said is unreasonable if one considers that more than 80 percent of its students come from outside of the county.
A 2013 study often cited by Krull shows out-of-county students put an additional $6 million into the Butler County economy. Lawrence said he’s not sure where that number comes from or if it’s accurate.
“Those students aren’t spending money in Andover. They’re blowing through the intersection, parking, going to class and driving back to Wichita as fast as they can go,” Lawrence said.
“They might stop at the gas station for a snack or something, but it’s not enough to justify the taxes.”
On average, Andover residents pay 30 mills more than Wichita residents, Lawrence said, which places them “at a disadvantage attracting property owners and business to the area.” He said Butler Community College’s mill levy is the primary source of the problem.
According to the Butler County clerk’s office, the owner of a $200,000 home in Andover pays $3,782 in annual property tax. Of that, about $462 goes to support the college.
The Sedgwick County clerk’s office said the owner of a similar home on the Wichita side of the border would pay $3,016 in property tax. Sedgwick County residents also pay one cent on the dollar for sales taxes supporting local services, while Butler County’s sales tax is a fourth as much.
Criticism building against Butler
Lawrence’s arguments are similar to those made by Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, in May. She said the school’s “value crosses our county line and heads back to Wichita most of the day” and asked the college board to consider lowering its mill levy.
In response to the lawmaker’s criticism, Krull sent a newsletter to all residents in Butler County explaining the school’s budget and how its mill levy compares to other agencies in the county. She noted that Butler Community College is the largest employer in the county.
The newsletter points out that Butler Community College has the third-largest enrollment of the 19 community colleges in Kansas, but its mill levy is the fourth lowest, according to Kansas Board of Regents data.
Its mill levy is also significantly lower than the three largest school districts in Butler County: Andover, Augusta and El Dorado, the newsletter says. Each of those school districts have mill levies over 60 mills. Butler Community College’s is 20.063 mills, even though it has almost as many students (12,895) as the three districts combined (13,069), according to last year’s fall enrollment numbers.
Butler Community College has traditionally allowed students to complete their first two years of college at a much lower cost than attending a four-year school. It also offers professional certifications and programs not offered by other colleges and universities.
Lawrence said he thinks Butler should increase out-of-county tuition for the large number of students coming from Wichita and elsewhere, lower in-county tuition and lower its mill levy.
“I think a lot of my voters feel the same way,” Lawrence said. “They want a public process and a public vote and they want their input to be taken seriously and not ignored.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2018 8:56 AM.