Speakers revisited some hot-button issues of the COVID years earlier this week in a high-energy and often angry public hearing on Johnson County’s proposed budget for next fiscal year.
But the crowd at Monday night’s hearing —the majority of whom made impassioned pleas against increased spending — did not win the evening.
County commissioners voted 5-2 to allow next year’s budget to exceed the state-mandated “revenue neutral” rate, meaning the county’s quarter-mill rollback in its property tax rate will still allow spending to go up due to increasing property values.
A proposed mill rate lower than last year’s
The budget public hearing is required each year before the commission makes its final vote at its meeting on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Forty-two people spoke on Monday night but a much larger crowd of about 100 crammed into the board’s hearing room and overflowed out into the atrium area at the county administration building in Olathe.
The $1.79 billion budget under consideration sets a taxing rate of:
- 17.495 mills for the county taxing district,
- 3.808 mills for the library district and
- 3.016 mills for the park district.
Those rates, when combined, total 24.358, an overall quarter-mill reduction from the current rate of 24.608.
A “revenue neutral” rate – the rate necessary to keep spending at the same level as the 2023 budget – would require 15.96 mills for the county district, 3.445 mills for the library and 2.713 mills for the park district.
Those rates would keep spending the same but make no allowance for the needs of a growing population.
Seniors expressed concerns about rising taxes
Speakers Monday came to the hearing prepared with printed signs saying “Enough is Enough. No more Tax Increases,” and American flags attached to rulers.
There were also some homemade signs against tax increases.
The crowd often applauded and cheered and at one point were admonished to limit their outbursts so that the meeting could go forward.
A majority of speakers were against a taxing rate that continued to allow the budget to grow. A few said the increasing tax payments were hard on people with fixed incomes.
Some, like Edward Knight of Leawood, cited big increases in the amount they will owe due to the rapidly rising home values in Johnson County.
Knight said his taxes went up 23% in one year.
Diane Kovich of Prairie Village agreed, saying she feared she wouldn’t be able to stay in her home as a retiree.
“It feels like you are pushing out your senior citizens,” she said.
Local senator vowed a legislative response
Kansas state Sen. Mike Thompson, a Republican from Shawnee, was also in attendance and warned commissioners of legislative retribution if they voted to increase spending.
He said lawmakers passed Senate Bill 13 in 2021 establishing the “revenue neutral” rate because state-imposed caps on property taxes weren’t working.
Now local taxing authorities appear to be “thumbing their noses” at the revenue neutral rate by exceeding it regularly, he said.
“I’ll be paying very close attention tonight,” Thompson told commissioners. “If this goes up and all these other tax authorities continue to increase it – then you think Senate Bill 13 is bad … I’ve got some ideas.”
Other GOP officials criticized the budget
Several of the speakers were regulars at the commission’s regular Thursday meetings, where general public comments are not broadcast.
Among them were county Republican Party Chair Maria Holiday, who ran unsuccessfully for county commission last year, and precinct committeewoman Debbie Detmer, who is a frequent critic of other local governments and school boards.
Holiday said the county’s next budget lacks transparency and is full of waste.
“Most people sitting at this dais tonight are weak. They are too weak to stand up to staff, too weak to ask tough questions, too lazy to do the research themselves to discover redundancies and other waste,” she said.
Speakers also raised a variety of other issues and some conspiracy theories, objecting to the county’s attention to diversity, equity and inclusion, climate change, a new bus route, support for the Panasonic battery factory, and pay raises for county employees.
Unproven election fraud claims also came up
Some also brought up the so far unsubstantiated claims of election crimes being investigated by Sheriff Calvin Hayden.
Thad Snider, of Lenexa, who in the past has called for the 2020 election results in Kansas to be nullified and to ban electronic voting machines, got the loudest applause on Monday night when he accused the commission of trying to defund the sheriff’s office. The commission has in fact recently approved substantial pay raises for sheriff’s office employees.
“We will get to the bottom of the election fraud and you will all be held accountable in 2024 when Trump wins,” Snider said, adding that he would bring evidence of fraud to a future Trump Department of Justice.
The room erupted into loud applause, whoops and whistles, but as it died down, one man in the back of the chambers shouted, “Prove it! One time, prove it!”
Not every speaker was against the proposed budget
A few said they supported items to address homelessness, affordable housing and mental health.
“I am happy to pay my part so I can continue to live in a safe community that prioritizes safety and quality of life,” said small business owner Nikki McDonald, of Olathe.
Lindsay Livingston of Shawnee recounted her experience with homelessness after health problems and brain surgery made it necessary to stop working.
She said the search for affordable housing was grueling.
“It’s as if my community and neighborhood didn’t want me here,” she said. She urged commissioners to approve the budget.
How the commission voted and what they said
Commissioners had varying views.
Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara said she was “absolutely ashamed” that the tax rate was not rolled back further.
Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick said no one on the board has tried to underfund the sheriff’s office, which is the largest budget of any that comes from property taxes.
She pointed out that the commission added $13.2 million in sheriff’s spending last fall.
Chairman Mike Kelly said he values the diverse comments.
He pointed out the county is not immune to the effects of inflation and the challenges of filling positions in a competitive labor market.
The commission took three separate votes to exceed the revenue neutral rate for the county, library and park taxing districts.
The votes were the same in each, with O’Hara and Commissioner Michael Ashcraft casting the no votes and Kelly, Hanzlick, Commissioners Becky Fast, Jeff Meyers and Shirley Allenbrand voting in favor.
Roxie Hammill is a freelance journalist who reports frequently for the Post and other Kansas City area publications. You can reach her at roxieham@gmail.com.
