Topeka ? Local governments Thursday said they wanted to publish fewer legal notices in Kansas newspapers, but a key lawmaker said more notices were needed, including ones that are more plainly written.

“Our real intent is to expand public notices to inform the public better,” said Rep. Jene Vickrey, a Louisburg Republican and chairman of the Special Committee on Local Government.

Vickrey’s comments came as newspapers and local government associations squared off over the issue of publishing the legal notices usually found in the back of newspaper classified sections. Governments are required to publish the notices in newspapers to notify readers about proposed ordinances, bankruptcies, budgets and numerous other governmental actions.

The League of Kansas Municipalities and Kansas Association of Counties say the notices are costing city and county taxpayers too much money — about $3 million per year statewide — and serve little purpose because hardly anyone reads them.

Last legislative session, the two groups pushed for a law that would have given cities and counties the option of publishing legal notices on Web sites instead of in the local newspaper.

But newspapers opposed the provision, and it was tabled.

As a compromise, the local government groups on Thursday offered to publish in newspapers summaries of the legal notices that would refer readers to a Web site for the complete notice. The groups also want to reduce from three to one the required number of times they must publish lists of delinquent taxpayers.

Continuing the current publication requirements “we think is about subsidizing newspapers,” said Don Moler, executive director of the League of Kansas Municipalities.

Details, details

¢See public notices online

Representatives of newspapers, including the Lawrence Journal-World, cried foul.

A summary of a legal notice would not suffice because “we know the devil is in the details,” said Dane Hicks, publisher of the Anderson County Review.

And reducing the number of times the delinquent tax lists are published actually would hurt local governments, said Patrick Lowry, editor and publisher of the Atchison Daily Globe.

He said many people paid off their taxes after the first publication to save themselves further embarrassment.

“Basically, everybody examines the list to ensure they’re not on it and to see who they know that is on it,” Lowry said.

Al Bonner, advertising and marketing director for the Journal-World, said Douglas County spent $15,000 to run delinquent tax notices in the paper three times during the summer. Between the first and second time the list was published, $91,000 in back taxes was collected by the county, and between the second and third time the list was published, another $75,000 was paid.

Bonner said he didn’t believe all that collection could be attributed to the publication of the names of delinquent taxpayers, but said some of it probably was.

Transition issues

Committee members seemed to side with newspaper representatives, saying too few cities and counties maintain Web sites to rely on the public getting access to legal notices on the Internet.

“I don’t think the public is quite ready to make the transition to a Web site,” said Sen. Kay O’Connor, R-Olathe.

Later, Vickrey said he would like to work on legislation that would provide for having the legal notices in the newspapers and Web sites, both headed with summaries that would try to lure the reader into reading the entire notice. The Journal-World already publishes legal notices both in the paper and on its Web site, www.ljworld.com.

And, Vickrey said, perhaps the committee should consider legislation that would require local governments to provide simplified budgets that could be put in the legal notices.