By Linda Stinnett

Derby will not offer any type of housing incentives, but the city council this past week told the city manager to take the incentive money and advertise the community.

City staff had taken the council’s rebuff of a proposed “Make Derby Home” program, created by the Wichita Area Builders Association with five years of tax rebates, and created an in-house program. In that program, the city would utilize $15,000 to provide a $1,500 cash incentive for 10 buyers of new or relatively new homes. 

Now that $15,000 can be used to advertise heavily for the coming Parade of Home promotion this fall, said City Manager Kathy Sexton. She said the key to getting people to buy homes in Derby is getting them to know the community. 

“They can’t see any value or experience any value if they haven’t heard from people that are here or experience it on their own,” she said. 

Council members said they have had resounding negative feedback from any suggestion of the idea. One resident spoke By Linda Stinnett

linda@derbyinformer.com

Derby will not offer any type of housing incentives, but the city council this past week told the city manager to take the incentive money and advertise the community.

City staff had taken the council’s rebuff of a proposed “Make Derby Home” program, created by the Wichita Area Builders Association with five years of tax rebates, and created an in-house program. In that program, the city would utilize $15,000 to provide a $1,500 cash incentive for 10 buyers of new or relatively new homes. 

Now that $15,000 can be used to advertise heavily for the coming Parade of Home promotion this fall, said City Manager Kathy Sexton. She said the key to getting people to buy homes in Derby is getting them to know the community. 

“They can’t see any value or experience any value if they haven’t heard from people that are here or experience it on their own,” she said. 

Council members said they have had resounding negative feedback from any suggestion of the idea. One resident spoke during the Aug. 28 meeting, telling them not to approve the latest idea.

Paul Muehring, a real estate agent with J.P. Weigand and Sons, told the council the latest suggestion is a builder bailout.

“I don’t think there’s any other way to describe it,” he said.

Muehring said in just over a year, 43 new homes and 57 existing homes were sold in Derby. There are currently 172 homes on the market in Derby, including 15 new homes, he said.

City staff noted that establishing a direct effect of incentive programs is difficult, but noted three communities which have had success with their programs. Augusta had a 300 percent increase in new home permits after implementing a program, jumping from one new home in 2011 to four in 2012 (a June to June comparison). 

In Maize the increase was 275 percent. That community increased from eight to 30 new homes this year. In Haysville, the numbers jumped from three to seven, a 133 percent increase.

The percentages appear to make the potential somewhat misleading, due to Derby’s size. Mayor Dion Avello compared that to the tale of the race of the hare and the turtle.

“We are going to win this thing because we have more to sell,” he said.

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