OLATHE, Kan. — More than a dozen cities in Johnson County will host public hearings over the next month to discuss potential property tax increases.
Last spring the Kansas legislature approved Senate Bill 13, adding a public hearing requirement for any city, county, school district or other taxing jurisdiction that wants to collect property taxes beyond a revenue neutral rate.
A revenue neutral rate (RNR) is a tax rate that would generate the same amount of property tax dollars for the taxing district as the previous year, using the current tax year’s total assessment valuation. A RNR is expressed in mills. A mill represents one one-thousandth of a dollar. That comes out to about $1 of taxes for every $1,000 a property is valued.
This new rule eliminates the tax lid and automatically reduces the mill rate so the new valuations reflect the same amount of property tax as the previous year.
Any taxing authority wanting to increase property taxes beyond the RNR, either through increased property valuations or by raising the mill levy rate were required to notify the Johnson County Clerk by July 20. The tax rates submitted to the county in July will set the maximum tax rates allowed for that year.
Now taxing authorities are required to host a public hearing to get feedback before voting on the final mill levy rate. Here’s a look at how you can provide feedback for cities in Johnson County that plan to exceed a revenue neutral rate in 2023.
Overland Park
The City of Overland Park will host a public hearing on Monday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. to get feedback on the city’s intent to exceed a revenue neutral rate of 13.226 mills.
According to the Overland Park 2023 proposed budget, the city plans to maintain the 2022 property tax rate (14.578 mills) in 2023.
Under the proposed budget, the city anticipates roughly a 10% increase in property values to generate an additional $6million in property tax revenue for 2023. This will require the city council to host a public hearing to exceed the RNR.
Olathe
The City of Olathe will host a public hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 23 to discuss plans to exceed a revenue neutral rate.
The Johnson County Clerk set the city’s RNR at 22.486 mills. According to plans submitted to the county, city leaders intend to cap the maximum mill levy rate at approximately 24.208 mills, but the official mill rate has not yet been set for the upcoming budget.
The Olathe City Council is scheduled to vote on the 2023 budget on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
Leawood
The City of Leawood will host a public hearing to discuss plans to exceed a revenue neutral rate in the 2023 budget on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
While city leaders intend to maintain the current 24.076 mill rate in 2023, residents could still see an increase in their tax bill based on rising property valuations. The Leawood City Council will consider a proposed tax rate of 24.076 mill over a revenue neutral rate of 22.266 mill.
Shawnee
Shawnee’s proposed 2023 budget outlines plans to decrease the current mill levy by roughly 0.5, setting the new rate at 25.504 mills. Despite decreasing tax rate, the city will be required to host a public hearing because the proposed budget is in excess of the revenue neutral rate (23.393 mills).
In 2022, Shawnee levied roughly $28 million in property taxes. Even with a lower mill rate, the proposed 2023 budget is estimated to bring in roughly $30.5 million in property tax revenue.
Because of the excess revenue over the 2022 budget, the Shawnee City Council will be required to pass a resolution to exceed the revenue neutral rate.The city will host a public hearing to exceed a revenue neutral rate on Sept. 12 at 6p.m.
Prairie Village
The Prairie Village City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6 to hear public feedback on exceeding a revenue neutral rate in the proposed 2023 budget.
The Johnson County Clerk set a revenue neutral rate for the city at 17.247 mills. The proposed budget has a mill rate of 18.322, which is one mill lower than what was set in the 2022 budget (19.322 mills). Following the RNR hearing the council will host a public hearing and vote on the adoption of the 2023 budget.
Lenexa
On Tuesday, Aug. 23 the Lenexa City Council will host a public hearing to exceed the revenue neutral rate in the 2023 budget.
The $204.7 million proposed budget for 2023 includes an increase of about $20.8 million (11.3%) compared to the $183.9 million budget approved for 2022.
The city’s revenue neutral rate is set at 25.938 mills. The estimated mill levy rate outlined in the proposed budget is 28.102 mills, a one mill decrease from the 2022 rate of 29.102 mills. Lenexa’s multi-year financial model also estimates the city will exceed a revenue neutral rate in fiscal years 2024 through 2027.
Merriam
The City of Merriam will host a public hearing on Monday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. to discuss plans to exceed a revenue neutral rate. The city intends to set an estimated mill rate for the 2023 budget at 27.665 mills.
Mission
On Wednesday, Sept. 7 the Mission City Council will host three public hearings to review plans to exceed a revenue neutral rate for the 2023 city budget and two drainage districts.
City leaders will discuss plans to maintain the same mill rate for the 2023 budget that was approved in the 2022 budget for all three districts. For the City of Mission the county clerk set a revenue neutral rate at a rate of 14.764 mills. The proposed 2023 budget would set the property tax rate at 16.369 mills.
The city will also host a public hearing for Rock Creek Drainage District #1 and #2. For 2023, Drainage District #1 has an estimated tax rate of 10.499 mills, exceeding the revenue neutral rate of 9.599 mills set by the county clerk. The tax rate for Rock Creek Drainage District #2 is estimated at 7.685 mills, slightly more than a revenue neutral rate of 7.498 mills.
Mission Hills
The City of Mission Hills will hold a public hearing on Monday, Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss plans to exceed a revenue neutral rate. The city intends to maintain its current tax rate of 22.763 mills in 2023. The county clerk set a revenue neutral rate for the city at 21.645 mills.
Fairway
The City of Fairway intends to hold its property tax rate flat at 19.928 mills in 2023, however the county has set a revenue neutral rate for the city budget at 18.281 mills.
On Tuesday, Sept. 12 the city council will host a public hearing to discuss the 2023 proposed tax rate. The proposed 2023 general fund budget is estimated at $5,411,607 which is roughly a 4.4% increase from the 2022 budget.
Following the RNR hearing the council will host a public hearing and vote on the adoption of the 2023 budget.
Roeland Park
The City of Roeland Park will hold a public hearing on Monday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. to get feedback from residents on the city’s intent to exceed a revenue neutral rate.
The revenue neutral rate for the city is set at 24.905 mill. The 2023 proposed budget includes plans to decrease the current tax rate from 28.547 mills to 27.547 mills.
Spring Hill
The City of Spring Hill has two taxing subdivisions and two mill levy rates. Spring Hill’s mill levy is 39.820 within the city’s contract fire area and 26.574 mills within the Johnson County fire district area.
The revenue neutral rate within the city fire district is 30.309 mills and the revenue neutral rate for properties within the county fire district is 19.196 mills. The Spring Hill City Council will host a revenue neutral rate hearing on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.
Gardner
The City of Gardner is scheduled to host a public hearing regarding its intention to exceed the revenue neutral rate on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
The Johnson County Clerk calculated a revenue neutral rate for the City of Gardner as 17.445 mills. In the 2023 budget, city staff have set a tax rate of 18.854 mill, a one mill reduction from the 2022 rate of 19.854 mills.
Edgerton
On Thursday, Aug. 25, the Edgerton City Council will conduct a public hearing to exceed a revenue neutral rate in the city’s 2023 city budget.
The proposed budget includes plans to reduce the current tax rate by approximately 0.8%, setting the new rate at 29.669 mills. The Johnson County Clerk has set a revenue neutral rate for the city at approximately 27.351 mills.
Westwood
The City of Westwood intends to maintain the 2022 property tax rate (21.197 mills) in the 2023 budget. The revenue neutral rate for the city is set at 19.402 mill.
The proposed budget does not require an increase to the mill levy rate, but it does exceed the revenue neutral rate due to additional funding that the city will receive from increased property valuations. A public hearing to exceed the RNR is scheduled during the regular city council meeting on Thursday, September 8 at 7p.m.
De Soto
The proposed 2023 budget for the City of De Soto calls for a tax rate of 20.800 mills, down from the 2022 rate of 22.404 mills.
The county clerk has established De Soto’s revenue neutral tax rate at 19.947 mills. The city council will host a public hearing to exceed a revenue neutral rate on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. at city hall.
Starting next month Johnson County will begin mailing out estimated tax notices to more than 200,000 homeowners. Each notice will include information on all taxing jurisdictions for that specific property, listing the proposed tax rate, as well as detailed hearing information for each taxing district planning to exceed a RNR.
