September 3rd, 2024 Newsletter
Mill Levy Reduction
For 2025, we lowered the county tax mill levy more than any commission in nearly 30 years. Past commissions raised the mill levy repeatedly between 2008 and 2016, adding things like justice programs and the Eudora ambulance station. Past commissioners stabilized the mill levy from then until the pandemic, but the steep valuation increases of the last few years (from inflation and lack of housing supply) absolutely needed to trigger decreases in our taxing authority. We turned back 2.0 mills last year and it was not enough to counter the valuation spike. We turned back an additional 2.91 mills this budget cycle. In my two years I have decreased the county’s property taxing authority by over 10%.
Property taxes are calculated as:
Property value (based on market value)
x
Assessment (set by the state)
x
Mill Levy (set by each local taxing authority)
You hear commissioners talk about the mill levy for the county because that is the one piece of the tax equation that we influence. In future newsletters I will go into more detail about:
Purposes for our Fund Balance
LDCFM
City vs County Budgets
Housing and Diversifying our Economy
Again, if you have any questions or hear something said that is confusing, please feel free to reach out. It is important to me to ensure that taxpayers are clear about how their money is being spent. Please feel free to forward this email.
In the Community
I had fun exploring the Big Springs School, a key piece of Douglas County history! We had a first look inside with the Lecompton Historical Society to see what might be needed to stabilize the structure. It was built 1926, hosted the largest one-teacher school in Kansas, and then served as the Douglas County Fairgrounds for a number of years.
