(Editor’s Note: this story is revised to correct the tax increases proposed by USD 202 Turner and USD 203 Piper.)
Wyandotte County commissioners voted recently to exceed a revenue-neutral budget next year, reversing their decision a year ago not to impose a property tax increase on residents. Commissioners approved a “cap” of three mills, but the increase is much more than residents are being led to believe.
A three-mill increase over the current rate of 33.459 sounds like it would be about 10%, which is substantial. The real tax increase, however, would be 17%. The Truth in Taxation law, passed in 2021, requires the current mill rate to be reduced to deliver the same dollar amount of property tax with the new valuations, making the valuations revenue-neutral. The County Clerk says the revenue-neutral rate would be 31.156, so the County’s proposed rate of 36.459 would result in a 17% tax increase.
A press release from Wyandotte County indicates the City of Kansas City wants a 16% tax hike, USD 203 Piper is proposing a 13% increase, USD 202 Turner wants a 12% increase, and USD 500 is proposing a 7% increase. The City of Lake Quivira is pushing for a 45% increase.
County officials showed a chart at the meeting indicating a $9.3 million deficit if taxes are not increased, but that seems like a contrived number to justify a tax hike, according to Kansas Policy Institute CEO Dave Trabert:
“There is no record of elected officials instructing staff to prepare a budget that reduces costs without service cuts and no tax increase, so the alleged deficit is likely crafted to justify a big tax increase. Many county costs increased much more than inflation over the last five years, and there is no evidence of a performance-based or zero-based budget process.”
Kansas Policy Institute owns The Sentinel.
Wyandotte County hasn’t published its full budget proposal, but there are substantial cost increases in the 2025 budget. General Fund costs (not counting transfers to other funds) are up 32% since 2020, while inflation will only be around 24%. Personnel is 28% higher, Contractual Services are up by 47%, and there is a 96% increase in Commodities.
Other categories that are also partially funded by property tax include County Health, up 130%, and Parks General Fund is 124% higher.
County commissioners have the required public revenue-neutral hearing set for August 26th at 7:00 p.m. in the County Commission Chamber, at which time they will vote to approve the budget for the coming year.
