This story is part of an ongoing series, Powering Change: Panasonic and De Soto. If you'd like to share your excitement or concerns about the electric vehicle battery plant, you can do so here.
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Panasonic’s arrival to De Soto is broadening the city's tax base and making it easier to grow and fund new city services, like a community center.
Rhonda Mazlumian lives in De Soto. She wants more sports and community offerings, and a new community center is something she’d like to see.
“Things that improve community, sports, that sort of thing," Mazlumian said. "So, like community centers, walking, biking paths, parks, those were some of the things that I see some improvement."
That’s what the city is working on now. De Soto just wrapped up a survey where the city asked community members what they’d like to see in a community center and how they’d like the city to pay for it.
"There's a possibility where a lot of these development fees from Panasonic and Flint would pay for it, but if there is kind of a shortfall, we'll have a conversation with the public," said Brandon Mills, De Soto assistant city administrator.
Currently, the senior center is open to the whole community. However, there’s not a lot there — only a gym and small fitness center.
Options for a new center could include more indoor sports courts, walking tracks or aquatic spaces.
The city said developments like Panasonic and the additional revenue it’s bringing the city are making projects like this possible.
“The development, the revenues that the city would receive as a result, direct result of Panasonic opening up, is kind of allowing us to do it,” Mills said. “Before that, we wouldn't have had the revenue to be able to pay for something like this.”
The city is in the early stages of planning, but the next step is to present the survey findings to the city council in April.
From there, the council would help decide what exactly this could look like and where the money that doesn’t come from Panasonic will come from. A few options could be an additional sales tax or shifting money from different resources.
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KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.