By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Property valuations skyrocketed across Kansas in 2023, leaving citizens in fear of paying giant tax bills for 2024. Budget season is in session, and Tuesday morning the Barton County Commission and Fire District No. 1 each finalized budgets that will remain revenue neutral or better. Commission Chair Shawn Hutchinson reiterated any tax increases to the public will not come from the county.
"If your property taxes go up, try and figure out why," he said. "I can tell you for sure that Great Bend is remaining revenue neutral and Barton County is doing better than remaining revenue neutral. So if your taxes go up, why do they go up?"
To remain revenue neutral, taxing entities must collect the same amount of actual dollars or fewer than the previous year. Barton County will assess a mil levy of 37.146 on assessed county valuation of $323,024,644 to generate $11,988,892 in ad valorem tax dollars. That is $9,226 less than collected last year, and the 2024 mil levy is 9.144 mils below the 2021 county rate. However, Hutchinson said not to focus on the mil levy.
"The mil levy fluctuates by valuation and we can't control that," he said. "All we can control is how much we budget and how much we spend. What we're doing, what this commission has done and the previous commission has done is collected less in tax dollars every year since 2021. That's what we need to focus on."
County Administrator Matt Patzner presented the 2024 budget to the commission in a separate meeting. He explained the goal of the county is to maintain quality public services, invest in employees who deliver those services, expand the tax base in Barton County, and enrich the quality of life for citizens.
"Every budget year is unique and presents its own challenges," Patzner said. "This year was no different as the commission had to find a way to accomplish all these goals with continuing rising costs for commodities, services, and quality personnel, as well as overseeing the largest courthouse improvement project the county has taken on in recent memory, along with all the challenges that come along with that."
Hutchinson emphasized the importance of growing the tax base in Barton County to minimize the impact of individual taxes.
"There are only two ways to lower taxes: cut from budget and services provided to the community, or to grow and have more people paying in," he said. "That way the slice of the pie becomes smaller for each individual person. Those are the only two ways. When you combine both of those together a little bit, now you're starting to talk about something that really might have an impact on people's day-to-day lives."
The Barton County Clerk's Office recently mailed out a list of taxing entities that have expressed intent to exceed the revenue neutral rate in 2024. Appraiser Wendy Prosser reminded the public those notices include meeting dates where citizens can express their concerns and ask questions before those budgets are approved.