This information was passed along to us about the Proposed Mill Levy Increase for Overland Park. Hopefully it answers any questions you may have!
Good Afternoon Everyone,
I’ve been getting calls and emails from some of you regarding a possible mill levy increase under a 2012 budget proposed last month by Overland Park City Manager, Bill Ebel. Because this issue is getting a lot of press, I wanted to provide you all with the following information.
The 2012 budget contains two proposals for a mill levy increase: Either a 3.6 or 4.1 mill rate increase.
When the proposed rate increase is applied to the current mill rate of 8.876 mills, Overland Park’s mill rate would increase to either 12.476 or 12.976, about half of the five largest cities in Johnson County. In comparison, Leawood’s mill rate is 24.382; Shawnee, 24.717; Olathe, 24.840; Lenexa, 26.626; and Prairie Village, 28.951. This excludes the other taxing jurisdictions including schools. Overland Park has the lowest mill rate of any first class city in Kansas.
The impact to Overland Park homeowners is as follows: A home with a market value of $250,000 would see an annual increase of $104 with a 3.6 mill rate increase or a $118 for the 4.1 mill rate proposal. Currently the same home pays $255.19 in city taxes for the 2011 budget. Less than $22 of that goes to the Police Department; $134 to the Fire Department and $38 to public works.
The City’s budget has been reduced $48.1 million or 18.1 % since 2008. The Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget has been reduced by over half since 2009, from $225 million to $103 million in 2012. The CIP is a 5 year working plan for capital improvements including streets, bridges, traffic and street lights, sidewalks and more. The city has also deferred maintenance on streets, eliminating $1.7 million annually. Other factors in the budget reduction include a 6% decrease in revenues from all sales and use taxes for 2010 and refunds of more than $28 million over three years that the city had to make as part of the compensating use tax. The refunds have depleted reserves and eliminated the city’s financial flexibility.
Each City Council committee will review the specific proposals within the proposed 2012 budget. These meetings are open to the public. The next public hearing is tentatively set for August 1st. For more information on the proposed budget visit www.opkansas.org. The website also has a tax calculator that residents can go in and see a breakdown of their taxes among the varying taxing jurisdictions.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments regarding this information and the proposed 2012 budget. I will have more information available at the next KSGAC meeting scheduled for August 5th.
Thank you.
Jeff Carson
Governmental Affairs Director
Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS®
