June 6, 2023

Keeping Media and Government Accountable.

Tag: Truth in Taxation

Cherokee County reduces property tax while maintaining services

While many local government entities have steadily increased property tax, Cherokee County has reduced property tax revenue for two straight…

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Kansas Senate OKs constitutional amendment capping property valuations

Three initial “No” votes on SCR 1610 changed to “Yes” for a revised proposal in SCR 1611 limiting increases in…

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tax increase tax hike

Johnson County residents are looking at another big property tax hike

Johnson County is setting taxpayers up for another big property tax increase in 2024, based on the presentation that county…

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Some Overland Park employees got big raises in 2022

The City of Overland Park last year stuck taxpayers with a 10% property tax hike and now we know that…

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Blue Valley dodges questions about taxes ahead of bond issue

School districts routinely ask voters to approve hundreds of millions in new bond issue debt with the promise that it…

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property taxes truth in taxation increase

Board of Tax Appeals hands Truth in Taxation victory to KJI, Baldwin City taxpayers

In a victory for the Kansas Justice Institute and Baldwin City taxpayers, the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals on Thursday,…

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Taxpayer, KJI say USD 348 violated revenue-neutral property tax law

When the Baldwin City USD 348 Board of Education raised property taxes a whopping 17.8% this year, the board also…

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Leavenworth school board : No property tax increase this school year

The Leavenworth USD 453 Board of Education voted 4-3 not to impose a property tax increase on patrons for the…

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Douglas County officials compete to see who can raise property tax the most

Douglas County residents are being hammered by government-spending-induced inflation.  U.S. Census data show the county has almost 3,000 fewer residents…

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Elected officials use residential valuation spike to hide property tax increases

The Wyandotte County 2023 budget presentation touts a half-mill reduction as property tax “savings” and “tax relief,” but in reality,…

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Shawnee City Council overrules mayor, staff in property tax increase

A new conservative majority on the Shawnee City Council flexed its muscle and recently approved a cut of two mills…

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Big property tax hikes proposed by most officials in Johnson County

As if past property tax increases that far exceed the change in inflation and population aren’t bad enough, most elected…

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Overland Park Mayor Skoog, staff pushing for (another) 10% property tax hike

Overland Park taxpayers could see their property taxes jump 9.7% for fiscal 2023 — on top of a 10.4% jump…

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City of Shawnee votes to make housing more expensive

While the Legislature and Governor Laura Kelly were working in a bipartisan fashion to address issues with affordable rural housing,…

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Small Kansas counties lead the way on spending control

Good things do come in small packages…like taxpayer-friendliness and accountability. Amid the public outcry over ever-increasing property tax bills, several…

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“Truth in Taxation” helps cut property tax in 21 counties

The new Kansas law aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in local government taxing and spending decisions shows some promise…

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JoCo officials setting residents up for a big property tax hike

Johnson County officials appear to be setting their residents up for a major property tax hike this year.  Most residential…

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Transparency works: 52% of local entities won’t increase property tax

Property tax transparency is working even better than proponents hoped, with 52% of local taxing authorities in Kansas deciding to…

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Edgerton councilman resigned in protest over property tax fib

Local elected officials and bureaucrats routinely fib about property tax increases, and most often, those who know that their constituents…

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Dark store theory: counties break the law, threaten residential property tax hike

Even the name — dark store theory — sounds ominous. With the willing participation of local media, some local officials…

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Overland Park city council won’t be honest with citizens

Last night’s Overland Park revenue neutral hearing showed why Kansans support the new Truth in Taxation law.  Taxpayers are fed…

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Go to RNR hearings and demand lower property tax

There will be a lot of RNR hearings coming in the next four weeks where local officials will try to…

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Truth in Taxation is already saving millions in property tax

Now that local officials have to be honest about the entire property tax increase they impose on residents and businesses,…

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Overland Park wastes $800,000 on mini-roundabouts

The late Milton Friedman could have been thinking about the City of Overland Park when he said, “when a man…

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