The Trump administration’s promised cuts to the federal government have trickled down to decision makers in Johnson County, leading officials put on hold projects scheduled for this year that would have been funded in part with federal dollars.
At the start of the year, the new Trump administration issued a memo freezing federal grants, loans and other funding streams. Shortly after, a federal judge blocked the order and the White House rescinded the memo. Still, some grant money is on hold and the administration has enacted widespread layoffs and started cutting funding for federal agencies.
While local officials remain unsure what the evolving situation means for their communities, at least two Johnson County cities — Overland Park and Mission — have publicly raised concern in the past few weeks that funding for some projects are now at risk, and some public safety trainings have been canceled indefinitely.
Some Overland Park officials have signaled a growing concern that more changes are on the horizon amid mounting confusion. At a city Public Safety Committee meeting last week, Overland Park Councilmember Logan Heley lamented the chaos sown by some of the federal cuts.
“I’m not sure anybody views that as efficient or effective government,” he said, specifically referencing a last-minute cancellation of National Fire Academy training that Overland Park fire officials had planned to attend.
‘We don’t have a solution’ — Uncertain long-term impact of cuts, freezes
Like other cities, Overland Park has long sought out federal funding to supplement projects and stretch local dollars further.
Around 18% of the city’s capital projects funding comes from intergovernmental sources, which would include federal funds. Roughly $26 million in federal funding is expected between 2025 and 2030 in Overland Park for major road improvement projects alone.
If any or even all of that fell through, City Manager Lori Curtis Luther said, “we don’t have a solution.” She predicted that the city would have to cancel projects or consider looking at raising revenues elsewhere, like through property tax, during an early February Committee of the Whole meeting about the upcoming capital improvement plan.
Later on in February, Gena McDonald, director of finance and budget for the city, told a council committee that it’s “still a developing story.” However, she said if the money didn’t come as promised, “it would definitely put a wrench in our [capital plan].”
Curtis Luther said the city is operating under the assumption that all promised funds will be “honored,” but she did acknowledge the confusion that was arising as a result.
Safe streets project in Overland Park on hold
That being said, at least one Overland Park infrastructure project is on hold amid grant process freezes.
Previously, Overland Park was promised $500,000 from the federal government to complete a traffic Safety Action Plan using the Safe Streets For All (SS4A) grant program. That’s a five-year billion-dollar program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed during the Biden presidency designed to cut down on serious injuries and deaths in traffic crashes.
During a late February Overland Park City Council Public Works Committee meeting, Lorraine Basalo, Public Works Director and City Engineer, said that project has stalled because Overland Park has been so far unable to access the promised funds.
The timing is the main issue, Basalo indicated, because late last year, the city had to take a few additional steps for the Federal Highway Administration to sign off on their plan. By the time that was completed, the Trump Administration was taking office and the city was informed via a phone call that grant activity was on hold indefinitely.
According to the capital plan, Overland Park intends to use the grant money from the Safe Streets For All program to “identify the most significant roadway safety concerns” through data, public engagement and analysis. The idea is then to use those findings to prioritize traffic projects.
Specifically, the city planned to use the federal grant funds to conduct as many as 10 traffic calming demonstration projects around the city.
To be able to move forward, Overland Park would need to have an agreement with the federal government, something that’s also stalled.
The Safety Action Plan is scheduled to start in 2025 and wrap up next year. Basalo has also said the city still wants to get it done.
“This project is something that we are very excited to be able to start in 2025,” she said.
In the meantime, Basalo said Overland Park has started taking some steps internally to be ready to move forward quickly if staff gets word from the federal government that things are back on track, like drafting a request for qualifications document for potential vendors.
Additionally, last month, the public works committee signed off on an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation for the project, which started the process of accepting $62,500 in state funds to support it if it starts back up again.
Meg Ralph, the city’s strategic communications director, told the Post that that there’s no new information about the SS4A grant.
What’s happening with public safety training?
As for the National Fire Academy training cancellations, some firefighters and other city fire department employees got next to no notice that the training they planned to attend sometime earlier this month at the national headquarters in Maryland was off. Overland Park has regularly sent firefighters and officers to trainings put on by the academy.
The Trump Administration has enacted job cuts at the academy, which is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“It just seems wild to me that there was training that was canceled basically 24 hours or one business day before it was supposed to happen,” said Councilmember Heley.
Because those trainings are canceled indefinitely, the department is now looking at other training opportunities, including through some area universities that offer National Fire Academy curriculum, so long as those institutions cover the cost of the instructors themselves, Long said.
He added that the fire chiefs in Johnson County were looking at other potential options for training collectively.
Assistant City Manager Bryan Dehner also suggested that other public safety training programs could be affected, specifically referencing the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy, which offers law enforcement training.
“I think the list will grow, so we’re accumulating that,” he said.
Other Johnson County cities are publicly concerned
In a memo posted on the city of Mission’s website, city officials say they are continuing to try to suss out what kind of impact a freeze on federal funding could have on city projects in the long term.
On March 5, Mission City Administrator Laura Smith said the city had only been able to confirm that federal funding was secure for just three of a dozen city projects. This week, that remains unchanged as of the time of publication, according to the city’s website.
One project that city officials have confirmed is secure is Mission’s version of the Safe Streets For All grant, which the city intends to use to inform future investments in traffic projects to protect pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. That project is still expected to get the $160,000 promised.
“Because we already have obligation and a signed agreement … our funds are secure,” Mission Public Works Director Stephanie Boyce said during the March 5 committee meeting in which the project came up.
Still, it’s uncertain whether the city will be able to move forward with a $13 million project to reconstruct Johnson Drive between Lamar and Metcalf Avenues. Mission is supposed to get $6 million via the federal Surface Transportation Block Grant program for that. Money for a separate project to enhance traffic signals on Johnson Drive from Broadmoor Street to Roe Avenue is also unconfirmed.
What now?
For now, Mission officials are encouraging citizens to reach out to their federal representatives, including Rep. Sharice Davids as well as Sen. Jerry Moran and Sen. Roger Marshall, “to encourage a quick and positive resolution to the funding freeze,” according to the city’s website.
That’s similar to what city leaders in Overland Park are saying too.
Last week at the public safety committee, Councilmember Heley encouraged city staff to keep working with members of the congressional delegation to come to a resolution on some of the confusion that stems from the freezes and other changes at the federal level, including layoffs and restructuring.
“I would encourage us to communicate with our federal representatives about this,” Heley said. “I’m sure there’s others in the metro who are impacted as well.”
Juliana Garcia contributed to this reporting.
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