Property tax freeze prompts KCK to cut police, fire, parks and public transit services
Five weeks ago, Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, leaders promised big cuts to come next year after commissioners approved a policy aimed at stemming the rise of property tax bills.
A proposed budget delivered by County Administrator David Johnston on Thursday night put in sharper focus which government services will be reduced. Elected commissioners face an Aug. 15 deadline to pass a budget.
Cuts under the proposal would come in all but a handful of departments. Overall, the city and county governments are poised to slash at least $14.3 million in expenses.
No layoffs or furloughs are proposed. But roughly five dozen open positions, including several within the fire department, would be eliminated.
Overtime for police officers, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters could also be curtailed, saving an estimated $4.6 million. Fire department leaders continue to work with the union toward identifying more in cost savings, Johnston said.
Another large item is public transportation. Emergency COVID-19 funding provided by the federal government will run dry next year, leaving a $2.4 million shortfall. Government leaders are considering the elimination of two lower-traffic bus routes, along 18th Street and Leavenworth Road.
Wyandotte County leaders are also discussing a reversal of zero-fare public transportation. That decision ultimately lies with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s governing board.
Other cuts include parks and recreation, which will see its operating budget scaled back by $750,000. Savings will come through reduced maintenance, including less frequent lawnmowing on property publicly owned through the government’s land bank.
And the public works department is set up to see $790,000 in cuts from open jobs and fleet maintenance.
During an interview with The Star on Friday, Johnston said the budget proposal reflected concerns raised by commissioners and residents over the growing property tax bills in the county. He also noted the tight timeline ahead as elected officials must meet state-mandated deadlines, saying any adjustments they wish to make would be “tough.”
“There’s no extra money to deal with,” Johnston added, referencing a late June decision by commissioners to cut the property tax rate in step with rising appraisals. “So if they wanted to do trade-offs on expenses on cuts, they want to restore cuts that we recommended, they gotta find the same amount of cuts in other parts of the budget.”
In preparing the budget proposal, the city and county’s financial planners were asked to close $22.6 million in funding gaps. The decision to cap property tax collection came as costs of inflation and employee salaries will rise.
Contracted services will also cost more next year. One example is housing and medical care for people held in the Wyandotte County jail. Built into Johnston’s proposed budget is roughly $1 million less than requested by Sheriff Daniel Soptic to meet that increase.
Also shorted were new jobs requested by District Attorney Mark Dupree, who called on leaders this year to pay for four new crime victim advocate positions, saying his staff is heavily overworked. Those jobs are not included in the budget proposal unveiled Thursday.
During the hearing Thursday night, Mayor Tyrone Garner, who called for the commission to cap property tax rates, described the leaner budget as a step toward addressing the complaints raised by residents overburdened with taxes.
“I want to make it clear: This is not a tax cut by any means,” Garner said. “It is a pressure point on tax increases for one year.”
Commissioner Melissa Bynum, 1st District at-large, applauded the work from government staffers to find cuts across departments.
“We will feel and miss some of what’s being proposed in terms of various reductions and cuts,” Bynum said, adding: “We’ll live through it. It won’t be easy. Sometimes it won’t be fun.”
While tax rates have stayed largely flat in recent years, increases on property tax bills have been driven by rising property values. This year the Wyandotte County Appraiser’s Office reported a roughly 12% increase in values, following a process set by state law to appraise property based on the real estate market.
The actions taken by the local government may lessen the impact of property taxes to Wyandotte County residents. But tax bills could still go up depending on the decisions of other taxing authorities in the area.
Each of the school boards within Wyandotte County has voted to potentially exceed the amount of property tax revenue collected compared to last year. City leaders in Bonner Springs and Edwardsville took that step as well.
