WYCO commissioners Davis and Lopez, on both sides of proposed 17% property tax increase, advance to November runoffs

Wyandotte County Unified Government commissioners, who took opposing votes on the recent contentious debate on exceeding Revenue Neutral and imposing higher property taxes on residents, each advanced to the November runoff for their positions.

The top two finishers in the non-partisan primaries earn spots on the November ballot.

Commissioner Philip Lopez, who voted “No” on the tax increase and who left his District 6 seat to run for an At-Large District 2 position, finished second in his primary. Lopez received 1,163 votes to Andrew Kump’s 1,354.

8^th District Commissioner Andrew Davis, who supported the measure that could impose a 17% increase in the property tax, finished first in his four-way primary with 40% of the vote. Davis finished with 616 votes to Jacob Handy’s 393.

Two other supporters of the tax increase, Gayle Townsend in the 1^st District and Mike Kane in the 5^th, each declined to run for another term.

7^th District Commissioner Chuck Stites, who joined Lopez in opposing the tax hike, was unopposed in his primary.

The other vote in opposition to exceeding Revenue Neutral, At-Large District 2 Commissioner Tom Burroughs, lost his primary bid for mayor. The veteran state and county lawmaker finished third, 121 votes short of a chance in November.

Voter turnout in the primary was about 12.5%

We contacted Lopez and Davis for comment and asked each how they saw the impact of the Revenue Neutral vote in their respective campaigns.

Commissioner Lopez:

“I am just doing what the People have asked, and I intend on continuing to ask the hard questions and push for the answers we all deserve. That is what transparency looks like.

“I would like to clarify the 7-3 vote on July 16th, 2025, unfortunately, was a majority vote on the intent to exceed revenue neutral.

 “On August 26th, 2025 at 7pm there will be a public hearing for the People to come and let their voices be heard. The Commission needs to be made aware of how this intent will affect everyone in our community.

Commissioner Davis did not respond to our request for comment.