Emporia’s newest housing development could be designated a Reinvestment Incentive District come next month, following the setting of a public hearing date on the matter by Emporia City Commissioners Wednesday morning.
A public hearing on the development’s RHID status will take place on Wednesday, March 18th, following approval of that date by Emporia City Commissioners as part of their regular action meeting on Wednesday morning. The public hearing is a necessary step in the process before RHID status can be officially granted, which will allow developers to capture only new property tax increments to support eligible project costs for constructing the nearly 40-acre development.
This will be an important incentive for developers, as Cocking states that no city dollars have been or will be allocated to the development, which is set to bring more than 120 new units to the community.
As KVOE News has reported before, the new houses are estimated to cost between $200,000-$300,000 which Cocking has admitted will not alone solve the community’s need for affordable housing that has been highly documented in recent years. What he believes it will do, however, is create a “pour down” effect that will create more supply in affordable homes as local homeowners look to trade up, transitioning the local housing market from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market.
Last month, the Kansas Department of Commerce certified the development’s eligibility for RHID status after months of discussions on the matter at the local level. The most prominent talking point between developers and the Emporia Planning Commission last year was that of the lot sizes, with developers wanting to construct units of 7,000 square feet before scaling it down to a little more than 6,200 square feet at the behest of planning commissioners.
In other action items, commissioners approved the appointment of Gina Wichael to the Natural Resources Advisory Board and Aaron Larson, Kevin Johnson and Denise Gilligan to the Emporia Planning Commission/Board of Zoning Appeals. A bid for improvements to Lift Station 1 also gained approval and commissioners recognized a recent award from the KRMCA for Emporia’s Flint Hills Crossing project.
Following an executive session, commissioners convened their regular study meeting with the main item of business being a debt analysis and review, which overall showed the city is in a strong financial position at this time. Deputy City Manager Mark Detter says the report, conducted by Raymond James, came as a result of the city getting set to issue new debt for the recent and upcoming Emporia Fire Station improvements and construction and the purchase of a new aerial fire truck.
According to Detter, the total debt for these projects will be roughly $20 million, to be repaid over 20 years. Noting that is a large price tag, Detter says there are a few important factors residents need to consider aside from just that number.
The first is the total amount of assets the new fire updates and equipment help protect: roughly $2.5 billion in property.
Another factor is that, according to Detter, the city has been financially preparing for the issuance of this new debt for some time.
Construction on the new Emporia Fire Department Headquarters, directly across from White Auditorium, is substantially complete, with the fire department getting set to begin moving into the new facility. Improvements to Fire Station 2 on Industrial Road are set to begin this month.
The Emporia City Commission will next convene on Wednesday, February 18th, inside the Municipal Courtroom at White Auditorium. There will be no study session as part of this meeting, as commissioners are set to meet with Lyon County Commissioners later that day for their first joint meeting of 2026.
