Johnson County Commission should approve a responsible tax increase plan

For the second straight year, Johnson County Manager Hannes Zacharias has proposed a property tax increase. This time, the County Commission should approve it.

It’s time to end the days of cutting employees, reducing programs and trying to do “more with less” — all of which Zacharias has done while the mill levy rate has been stagnant since 2006.

Zacharias’ almost puny mill levy increase, to be discussed at a commission meeting Thursday, would cost an average homeowner only $48 a year. In an interview, Zacharias said the extra funds of nearly $14 million a year would allow the county to maintain current services.

The commission should not do what it did in 2014, when several state legislators bullied commission members into backing off a similar property tax increase. Lawmakers said the county would not lose a lot of money even though the state had phased out a mortgage registration fee which created revenue for the county.

This isn’t exactly shocking news: The legislators were wrong. The county is on track to lose more than $3 million this year because of the change, and a lot more in future years.

Commission members should adopt the new county property tax — and also thoroughly discuss when to move ahead on proposed upgrades to the parks, libraries and public transportation.

This story was originally published June 10, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Johnson County Commission should approve a responsible tax increase plan."