Prairie Village Councilman Ian Graves’ Facebook post denouncing some citizens’ concerns about the city’s spending growth is inaccurate. The mistakes seem driven more by his reading of the budget than by deception, but the tone of his reply points to a larger problem in many cities and counties.
Graves focuses on justifying city spending when the focus should be on providing services efficiently and within taxpayers’ means.
While his spending explanation cites budget numbers labeled ‘Expenditures’ in the sources and uses section, it does not include other uses of taxpayer funds.
Page 2 of the 2023 Prairie Village published budget shows that actual spending net of transfers in 2021 was $34,686,192. It’s important to note that almost $14 million of the total is in Non-Budgeted Funds; state law allows local government to tuck some spending away in non-budgeted funds and report it on a two-year delay. The 2026 budget below shows non-budgeted spending for 2024, but not for 2025 or 2026.
The absence of an explanation for the missing non-budgeted amounts can mislead someone into thinking that net spending declined since 2024. Fortunately, the Prairie Village budget book lists the non-budgeted spending for 2026 on page 65.
Transfers, by the way, are deducted to avoid double-counting spending. For example, money transferred from the General Fund to another fund counts as a General Fund expenditure and is also an expenditure in the receiving fund.
The adjacent schedule identifies the five missing numbers in 2026 for Risk Management, Economic Development, Equipment Reserve, Meadowbrook TIF, and Capital Projects. Overall net spending shows a 34% increase, rather than the 32% Graves cited, but that is still very misleading because of the decline in Capital Projects, where spending can vary significantly from one year to the next. For that reason, spending net of capital projects is a better measure of ongoing spending.
The 52% increase in non-capital project spending paints a much different picture. The increase is even worse – 59%- if all the transfers occur within those funds.
Graves is also wrong about inflation, saying it increased approximately 27%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for Midwest cities (average annual CPI, not seasonally adjusted) was 252.2 in 2021 and 298.4 in 2025. Allowing a 3% increase for 2026 would put the index at 307.4, which is 22% higher than in 2021. Graves said inflation was 27%.
Affordability for Prairie Village taxpayers is the real issue
Councilman Graves tries to justify the city’s spending jump, saying what he calculated as a 32% increase is “predominantly focused on police and staff pay corrections” plus some material and contract costs.
That is an attempt to justify government actions without regard for citizens’ ability to pay.
City budget reports show a 43% property tax increase between 2021 and 2026, much higher than the change in per-capita income in Johnson County.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, inflation-adjusted per-capita income was only 1.2% higher in 2025 than in 2021.[i] That makes a 43% property tax increase extremely unaffordable for most people, regardless of how their 2026 income changes.
The city’s 2026 customer survey reflects affordability concerns on page 61. Only 49% of residents say they get good value for their taxes and fees, down from 75% in 2018.
Prairie Village residents are sending a strong message to city officials, and they should listen carefully.
[i] Actual per-capita income 2021-2024; 2025 assumed to increase at the statewide average of 5.3% and stated in terms of 2021 buying power using the consumer price index for Midwest cities.
