The fallout continues across Kansas after state lawmakers failed to pass legislation limiting property tax increases. Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, are our latest examples of property tax increases funding eye-popping salaries and pay raises for government employees, some of which may result from additional overtime, payouts of unused sick or vacation leave, or working a partial year in 2023.
County Administrator David Johnston, hired in March 2023, was paid more than $285,000 last year. Police Sergeant Matthew Cross was the second-highest paid employee at nearly $251,000; Cross collected $44,000 in overtime and may have received additional pay from unused paid leave.
A dozen Wyandotte County employees were paid more than $200,000 last year. Three employees collected more than $100,000 in overtime.
Wyandotte County did not increase property tax revenue in 2024, but it is still 300% higher than in 1997 and more than three times the combined increase in inflation and population.
Wyandotte County residents who are customers of the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities pay some of the highest electric and water rates in the region, and their utility payments underwrite some very lucrative pay packages.
Retiring Board of Public Utilities (BPU) General Manager William Johnson was the highest-paid employee in the county, receiving a nearly $ 60,000 pay increase (14.9%) in 2024 to over $461,000, which will also increase his pension in retirement. His successor, current Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Ash, earned over $304,000 last year, while Chief Financial Officer of BPU, Lori Austin, earned over $368,000. The following table, along with financial data from counties and cities throughout Kansas, is available at KansasOpenGov.org, which has pay listings obtained in Open Records requests by The Sentinel’s owner, Kansas Policy Institute.
Last year, we reported that BPU had 18 employees exceeding $50,000 in overtime. This year, 23 employees are on the list, including one person with more than $100,000.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City may be seeing the financial handwriting on the wall. After freezing property taxes last year, the UG produced its first balanced budget since 2018, and KCK balanced its books for the first time since 2014, according to reporting in The Kansas City Star.
Mayor Tyrone Garner praised budget cutters for eliminating vacant and unnecessary positions:
“Even with the revenue neutral from last year, we did become structurally balanced, we are operating a little more fiscally responsible. The belt was tightened at the demand and request of a lot of our residents, and these numbers are reflective of that.”
