5-MILE-WIDE CORRIDOR CREATES DIVISION LINE ACROSS KANSAS

5-MILE-WIDE CORRIDOR CREATES DIVISION LINE ACROSS KANSAS

Aug 12, 2024 | Federal Over Reach, Kansas Farms & Land Ownership News, Property Tax

Invenergy’s Grain Belt Express Rolls Over Landowners

Joe Biden Interjects “Fast 41” Status on Transmission Line

The Biden administration is looking to speed up the permitting of Invenergy’s $7 billion Grain Belt Express Electric transmission line by giving it a special designation reserved for large complex infrastructure projects.

With the designation of FAST-41, the project’s first phase will be capable of delivering up to 2,500 MW of renewable energy from southwest Kansas to northeastern Missouri  These projects will receive a comprehensive and integrated federal permitting timetable.  So, how did the Grain Belt Express Project find it way from the KCC’s graveyard of dead projects to a “Fast-41” designation?

From Moth Balls To Full Steam Ahead 

The 2012 transmission project, the Grain Belt Clean Line Express, never gained approval for a Transmission Siting by the Kansas Corporation Commission during 8 years of hearings.  Grain Belt Clean Line Express, LLC exhausted the financial backing used to keep the project alive and in 2018 pulled the plug on the project.  During the four public hearings required by the Kansas Statute, the transmission project faced opposition from thousands of Kansas landowners. Over 100 public meetings, 11,500 attendees, 56 sworn statements, 2600 written comments, 26 Newspaper opinions, and lawsuits by Counties, the Grain Belt Clean Line Express raised the white flag of surrender.

In 2019 Application for Acquisition by Invenergy Transmission LLC to purchase the Grain Belt Express Clean Line LLC, changing the name to Grain Belt Express with a new sunset of 11-23-2023.  Designation of a FAST-41 Project, Financing of the Grain Belt will fall on taxpayer funding and assurance from the federal authorities the Transmission Line will be built in the name of National Security of the Electrical Grid.   

FERC Unveils 2nd Project-          5-Mile Wide NIETC Corridor

Landowners had just discovered that the Grain Belt Line was being expedited only to find out about another project heading to Kansas. Property owners in Kansas have once again found themselves at a disadvantage without notice from the Kansas Corporation Commission.  The Midwest Plains Project is a 580-mile 5-mile-wide Corridor that will cross Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois for a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC).   Again, federal fast-tracking past any public input gave little time for the facts to be exposed. The “Fast 4 Projects” process is being used to expedite projects at warp speed, neglecting the rights of property owners to be able to respond publicly.   

The silence of the KCC on these Federal projects designed to accelerate the DC electric transmission infrastructure has left Counties and Property Owners at a loss.  Information for “Fast 41 Projects” does not appear on the KCC Website News or in the agency’s email notices. The proposed area for the Midwest Plains Corridor would equal 1.2 million acres of Private Kansas land.  Those acres will be transferred to Federal Control and much of it through eminent domain.

Senator Hawley Calls Out “huge land grab”

Is Missouri Senator Hawley correct in calling Joe Biden’s “Fast 41 Projects” nothing more than an unconstitutional Land Grab?  Most Landowners on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas State Line agree.  The federal government’s confiscation of private property for transmission corridors that serve no utility customer in either state amounts to an abuse of power to implement an agenda lacking a proven scientific theory.  Ideology is not science nor is manufactured data to fit the narrative.   What has been proven through history has been agendas such as “Zero Carbon” will cripple individual livelihoods and destroy local economies.  Land is what secures every American’s Freedom as stated in the Constitution.

Stop the Maddness

It is time to bring the Hammer Down on Legislators who are out campaigning.  The Kansas Legislature has authority over the generation and distribution of power in Kansas. The legislative body is the Overseer of the Kansas Corporation Commission by statute.  If the KCC is not acting in the best interests of Kansas citizens, is it merely functioning as an extension of the Federal government?  It is time to make elected officials implement a moratorium on green energy projects, transmission lines, and carbon storage.   If the authority of the KCC has become neutered by the federal government agent, the Southwest Power Pool, the legislature should put on the gloves and get ready for the fight.  Ridding the KCC of less-than-honest commissioners who have become bad actors would be a great start.  Pulling the purse strings of an agency that has failed to deliver for the people of Kansas would be another avenue to reign it in. Call your Kansas Senator & House member today! Request a special hearing to address the federal government’s overreach and the Kansas Corporation Commission’s failure to safeguard the rights of property owners in Kansas. It is time to return to Topeka and hear from the public.  

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SPECIAL TAX HEARING ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

SPECIAL TAX HEARING ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Jul 3, 2024 | Property Tax

Hearing on 2024RS0014 To Put A Lid On Property Taxes

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Even with strong public support from Property Owners from across Kansas, numerous County Commissioner letters of support, and Committee Members working to bring this bill to a vote, Tax Relief will not be coming anytime soon without the support of Leadership in Both Bodies. If leadership looks at passing the constitutional amendment to be untimely for the campaign season, then perhaps leadership would investigate the root cause of the over appraised values that are being driven by KDOR’s Division of Property new ORION ASSESSMENT CONNECT SOFTWARE designed by Tyler Technology Inc. SEE CLICK HERE for the details:
The Special Hearing to move a Constitutional Amendment onto the ballot this November would put a LID on assessments, capping them at 4% for any one year if passed. Thanks to hundreds of Property Owners taking action during this week’s special Session to let Legislators know that Property Tax relief can’t come fast enough for Kansan’s.   
The Special Hearing to move a Constitutional Amendment onto the ballot this November would put a LID on property assessments by capping them at 4% for any one year if passed by Voters. 

Senate Committee on Assessment & Tax held a Hearing on 2024RS0014, with Senator Caryn Tyson, Parker, Senator Molly Baumgardner, Louisburg, Senator Chase Blasi, Wichita, Senator Mike Thompson, Shawnee, all weighed in during the testimony.  All expressing their concerns that property values.  The changes to Kansas appraisal system that resulted in inflated property values  has risen to be the top issue in Kansas.

Concerns about value appraisal methods for agricultural land being impacted were put to rest by Senator Blasi and Senator Tyson who clarified some misnomers about the amendment.  This amendment would not repeal the classification sections in place.  It would bring agriculture land under the 4% limit as every property class would be in Kansas, so it would benefit all property. 

Letting Property Owners Decide

Kansas Livestock Association took the only opponent position with a jack wagon roundabout demonstration.  KLA submised that the amendment would only increase taxes by shifting burden among the other tax classes like Agriculture. “Our position of our members is that shift the funding of schools away from being funded by property tax” stated Lobbyist Aaron Papaika.  Sen. Baumgardner questioned if that was really the stance of the KLA members?  Sen. Baumgardner ended with  “So it is the  of position of  Kansas Livestock Association to NOT fund to Education?”  

Commissioner Mike Steiben, Leavenworth County, presented a letter of support by all five commissioners encouraging leadership to pass this Resolution to a vote.  Rural Counties like Miami and Linn  have seen as much as a 44% increase in Property valuation.   Those increases cannot be absorbed by property owners.  There would be support for this solution.

Kansas is not the only state where property owners are feeling the pinch and those states are finding avenues for property relief according to Lanell Griffith. 

 

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In 2024 states like Georgia, Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado, and Michigan have eliminated property tax.   There are another 18 States putting in place guardrails that prevent the government from taxing owners off their land. “The ability to acquire, keep, and sell private property is a basic human right” stated Lanell Griffith, a sign of a free society. 

Stand 4 The Land Kansas thanks the Senators, the Citizens who took the time to testify, the Commissioner who support the Amendment, and all the Property Owners who made the Call to Leadership without success. It is those small courageous actions that push the needle for Freedom back on track.

In Liberty Always

Virginia

​Leave a detailed message or a phone number or visit us at www.stand4thelandkansas.com  Hope to see you on the trail and remember:  Your voice matters!

 

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