On Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, the Prairie Village, Kansas, City Council moved forward with a plan to construct a nearly-$30 million Municipal Complex, after Finance Director Jason ZHannaman declared that the lawsuit challenging the project had “been resolved.” Except it isn’t; the lawsuit remains alive on appeal.
Earlier this year, Prairie Village resident Marc Vianello filed a suit asking the court to require the city to put the bond issue on the ballot.
“Mr. Vianello, like the vast majority of Prairie Village taxpayers, wants the City to follow the law and hold an election before issuing $30 million in general obligation bond debt that will cost the taxpayers for the next 30 years for this City Council’s pet project,” said Attorney Fritz Edmunds, who represents Vianello, in June. “We are merely seeking to enforce the Kansas statute requiring a public vote on general obligation bond issuance in excess of $100,000 in a given year. The City Council is trying to bypass state law through a charter ordinance issued in 2016 for a street lights project. We believe that’s illegal.”
The lawsuit was dismissed after Federal Judge Julie A. Robinson found both a lack of standing to sue and a lack of jurisdiction by federal courts. However, Vianello, through Edmunds, filed a notice of appeal Monday afternoon — before the meeting took place — something of which Hannaman was apparently unaware.
The Sentinel asked Prairie Village City Administrator Wes Jordan how the appeal would affect the bonds and if the city would go forward with the bond issue despite the pending appeal.
Jordan replied with a statement from Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson.
“We continue to work with our bond counsel and financial advisor on the answer to that question,” Mikkelson said. “Our intent is to move this project forward as soon as possible in accordance with the decisive will expressed by Prairie Village voters and Council.”
“Will” of the voters perhaps not as “decisive” as Mikkelson thinks
While Mikkelson declares voters “will” to be “decisive,” polling in June showed residents of the small, land-locked community in the Kansas City, Kansas metro area, overwhelmingly wanted a chance to vote on the bond issue to build a new municipal complex. The Prairie Village City Council has denied residents a vote without explanation.
The poll of 435 adults completed by SurveyUSA on behalf of Kansas Policy Institute, The Sentinel’s parent company, shows that 85% of participants said the city should hold an election for the project, and only 6% say there should not be an election. Results are very similar across age groups and political ideology. For example, 92% of self-described conservatives, 83% of moderates, and 86% of liberals agreed that residents should vote on the bond issue.
The city is using a 2016 charter ordinance originally intended to finance small projects, such as a $3 million street light installation, without having to resort to a special election to avoid putting the matter before voters. Charter ordinances are the “constitutional amendment” of city government in Kansas, allowing cities to replace certain types of state laws that affect different sizes of cities differently with local ordinances.
While the charter ordinance allows the city to issue bonds without a resident vote, it does not prevent the city from holding a bond election.
Moreover, while the city claims the matter won’t affect property taxes, city officials won’t state the mill rate that would be required to pay off the bonds, nor the total cost to taxpayers, including interest.
Prairie Village taxes up more than 300% since 1997
The total cost of the project and the mill rate to pay it off are important information, as over the last 27 years, Prairie Village residents have watched City Council members raise property tax revenue almost four times the combined rate of inflation plus population growth.
As the chart below shows, property tax revenues in the city have increased 322% since 1997, inflation has increased 85%, and the mill rate has gone up 12% — all while the population has decreased by 3%
