Topeka Mayor Discusses City Manager Departure and Sales Tax Vote

Topeka Mayor Spencer Duncan discussed the departure of former City Manager Robert Perez and upcoming city matters in a Nov. 5 interview. Duncan addressed Perez’s resignation, a proposed data center, and an upcoming sales tax vote during the conversation with 27 News Anchor David George.

Perez’s Departure

Duncan stated that Perez’s departure was not due to anything negative and was done in the best interests of the city’s citizens. “We did this in the best interests of our citizens so that we could all move forward and that’s what we’re doing now,” Duncan said. He described it as a mutual decision, explaining, “It’s like with any relationship, sometimes after a while you just say, ‘this just hasn’t been what both sides thought.’ He had some new opportunities he can go explore. We were ready to explore some new opportunities. It really was that simple.” Duncan added that the city will move forward aggressively with identifying a new city manager.

Sales Tax Vote

Topeka residents will vote in a special election on March 2, 2027, on whether to establish a new 0.1% retailer’s sales tax. City staff anticipate the tax will generate $40 million over 10 years to fund homeless initiatives and the affordable housing trust fund. Duncan emphasized that the decision is up to the citizens. The good news is the citizens get to decide this, not the city council, right? So, that’s why it’s on the ballot. At the end of the day, if the citizens say, ‘hey, we really don’t want to do this one-tenth of a cent to go towards housing homelessness,’ that will be their decision.

Topeka mayor shares data center update, details on upcoming sales tax vote

Data Center Discussions

Duncan said the topic of data centers in Shawnee County is currently a county issue. He noted that the city has a moratorium in place and that any decisions related to data centers, including water use, must go through the city council. They [Shawnee County government] are gonna have to make a final decision. All we can do as a city is, we have a moratorium in place. If they’re gonna need water, we’ve been very clear that that decision has to come through the city council and, in fact, any decision as it relates to a data center has now been taken out of administrative hands and put directly with the city council. So, any conversation we have in this city will be public and it will be the decision of the city council, nobody else within the city. Looking ahead, Duncan mentioned the city’s approved budget and upcoming road project completions.