A public hearing on the Unified Government budget is planned on Monday.
The hearing is to address taxpayers’ questions about the budget. The hearing was required as the UG is exceeding a “revenue neutral rate.” Technically, there are two hearings scheduled – one on exceeding the revenue neutral rate and the other for public comments on the budget.
The hearings will be held during the UG meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22, at City Hall, Commission Chambers, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.
The UG Commission was still discussing budget options in mid-August on the proposed $432 million budget.
A straw poll taken at the UG Commission meeting on Aug. 11 found general support on the commission for a 2 mill reduction in the county mill levy.
At an earlier UG Commission meeting in August, an independent auditor warned the commissioners that they were on a trajectory toward bankruptcy in several years if they did not change. The commission either needed to raise more revenue or make cuts to achieve a balanced budget, according to the auditor.
Also at the Aug. 4 meeting, the commission asked for a report on what a 5 to 10 percent cut across UG departments would look like.
As presented Aug. 4, the budget would have included a half-mill decrease on the county side, according to Reginald Lindsey, budget director. It also would have added to the parks and recreation fund, and created a $10 million solid waste fund. A quarter-mill was proposed to be shifted from county funds to the consolidated parks fund, which is a county fund, according to Lindsey.
The proposed Kansas City, Kansas, tax rate was 38.482 mills and the proposed county rate was 38.838 mills. The mill levy rates can stay the same or be lowered before the final budget is approved.
Property taxes would go up even if the mill levy rate stays the same, as valuations have increased this year.
Assessed valuation has risen during the past year in Wyandotte County. According to the UG’s budget document, actual assessed valuation in Wyandotte County was $1.44 billion in 2021; was estimated at $1.5 billion for 2022; and was estimated at $1.7 billion for 2023.
At the Aug. 11 meeting, Kathleen Von Achen, UG chief financial officer, said the property tax on a $150,000 home was $1,342 in 2022 and would be projected to be $1,578 in 2023, if there was a half-mill county reduction and adjusting for increased valuations.
At the Aug. 11 meeting, commissioners and officials continued to voice their support for various programs and departments.
While Mayor Tyrone Garner was in favor of reducing expenditures in the UG’s budget, on Aug. 11 he also told the commission that he did not support any cuts to the public safety budget.
The way out of the current situation is more economic development, which would bring in more tax revenue, Garner told the commission at the meeting.
Commissioner Harold Johnson did not support a mill levy reduction, saying it is not prudent at this time. There was too much uncertainty about the future, and he felt that the UG was “already at the bone,” he said at the meeting.
There are about 124 vacant positions on the county side and about the same number on the city side, according to UG officials. Some of the unfilled positions are funded in the budget. Commissioner Chuck Stites suggested not holding the money in the budget for positions that are not filled. He added he was not suggesting to take all of the vacant positions out of the budget.
Commissioner Christian Ramirez said he was in favor of a 2 mill reduction, and also in favor of finding efficiencies. He said there was a need for more funding for infrastructure, parks and information technology.
Commissioner Gayle Townsend said it was critical for the UG Commission to know what other taxing bodies in Wyandotte County are doing. If the UG reduces its mill levy, that may not be seen by the taxpayer if other taxing entities raise their mill levies, she said. She also said she wants to see where the percentage of each dollar that is spent is going.
Commissioner Brian McKiernan supported a 2 mill reduction in the county mill levy, and also pointed out that some costs had gone up because of inflation. Some constituents were pointing out that they were on a fixed income, but he looked it up and saw that Social Security payments may be going up around 10 percent in 2023.
Commissioner Chuck Stites supported the 2 mill reduction of the county mill levy, and said he wants to see the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) fee that the UG collects on Board of Public Utilities bills eliminated.
“We owe it to the taxpayers that have suffered and continued to pay the high taxes,” Stites said.
Commissioner Tom Burroughs took a fiscal conservative approach to the budget.
Commissioner Andrew Davis supported the 2 mill county reduction, and thought there may be some cost savings in the proposed budget.
Some commissioners did not support an across-the-board reduction through all UG departments, but said they might support targeted reductions.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum, who suggested the idea of a 2 mill reduction, said the UG would still have substantial reserves, and that a 2 mill reduction in the county mill levy would require a reduction of $3.1 million.
Also planned on Monday night is the UG Public Works and Safety Committee meeting at 5 p.m. in the fifth floor conference room at City Hall. To be discussed are entry-level driver training for UG employees who have commercial licenses; an appearance by Christen Fornal-Higbee to discuss animal services and stray animals; and an appearance by Veronica McNeill to discuss police, fire, sheriff and public safety.
Also planned is a 6 p.m. closed executive session to discuss litigation.
The Aug. 11 UG budget workshop meeting, with much more information, is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTIAyD59KZg.
The proposed UG budget is online at https://www.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/finance/documents/budget/unified-government-2022-amended-2023-proposed-budget-document.pdf.
The agenda for the public hearings on Monday is at https://civicclerk.blob.core.windows.net/stream/WYCOKCK/81d08edf-b792-4391-bcbd-8d3e645a4067.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=R1GU33LRAPuKQ79EOYKXt2z3oz4C63ca%2FVuP6LE90LQ%3D&st=2022-08-22T00%3A36%3A37Z&se=2023-08-22T00%3A41%3A37Z&sp=r&rscc=no-cache&rsct=application%2Fpdf.
