By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Both the city of Hays and Ellis County have included funds in their draft 2024 budgets for the state's Rural Opportunity Zone program.
They have additionally committed to funding the program for an additional four years.
A change in the population size for eligible counties in 2021 from 20,000 to 40,000 residents made Ellis County, its communities and employers eligible to offer the incentives.
The Kansas Legislature created the Rural Opportunity Zone program in 2011 as a tool for communities experiencing depopulation to encourage new residents to move to the region.
Benefits of the program include a 100 percent state income tax credit and/or student loan repayment assistance for up to five years.
Michael Berges, county commissioner, told Hays city commissioners at their July 20 work session Ellis County would be participating and allocating $15,000 dollars for the program, to recruit up to 10 new residents. Ellis County signed a resolution of participation in 2021 but did not budget any money for the program at that time.
Sandy Jacobs, Hays vice-mayor, said she likes the program but believes it hasn't been very successful for the state because it isn't well-promoted.
"Fifteen-thousand dollars is a small investment to get 10 new people in our community. ... I know the county is real interested in new employees even for themselves. This would be an opportunity to partner with the county," she said.
"I think it could be worth it," said Shaun Musil, mayor. "Some other towns haven't been successful but I think we can be."
Collin Bielser, deputy city manager, told the commission Rooks County reported in 2021 families had taken advantage of the program in that county.
"They don't know for certain whether it was the program that drew them there. The comment was at the time that a lot of people happened to be moving back and were able to take advantage of it," Bielser said.
Bielser said many of the counties that used the program still saw decreases in population, which was contrary to the state's goal.
A sponsor's maximum annual financial contribution per participant in the student loan repayment program is $1,500. Funding is equally shared between the state and the local sponsor.
City commissioners agreed to earmark $15,000 a year for the next five years, for a total of $75,000 from the general fund.
During further discussion at the Aug. 3 work session, Bielser told the commission that Grow Hays will oversee the program's promotion.
"I think that's the key," Jacobs said. "Give it a couple of years, give it the marketing it deserves and see what happens.
"We're a different community from all those others that were decreasing in population."
"One person may take advantage and bring along a family of four or five," Musil said. "Then we will grow just not by one person, but several."
Commissioner Mason Ruder looked even further into the future.
"Yeah, the family moves here. Five or six years from that, are the parents also going to come to Hays to retire?" he said.
"I think it's more a long game than it is something in the short term," Ruder said.
Reese Barrick, commissioner, said a lot depends on how this is marketed.
"If it goes to people who were already planning on moving here, it's just a way for them to get some help paying back their student loan," he said. "It's not doing what our purpose is.
"If we're marketing the community to places and people, they'll be like 'That's a cool place to be and there's a job there.' They move here. That's exactly what we want," Barrick said.