Olathe has adopted a budget for 2025 that keeps the municipal property tax rate flat but raises city utility rates.
That new budget — valued at roughly $611 million — will keep the property tax, or mill levy, rate static at 23.356. It is also expected to add about $10 a month to the average utility cost in the city for residents who use all of Olathe’s utilities.
Ultimately, the 2025 budget passed 4-2 Tuesday, with councilmembers Kevin Gilmore and Robyn Essex voting no. Councilmember Matt Schoonover was absent.
How will this affect your tax bill?
For 2025, Olathe will keep the city’s property tax rate of 23.356 mills. That’s still one of the lowest property tax rates among Johnson County cities.
But Olathe property owners should expect to pay more next year on their annual property tax bill because home values — which contribute to the amount you pay — have continued their upward trend.
Per the real estate statistics kept by Johnson County, Olathe’s average residential property value is $407,350, up about 7.3%.
To calculate what your bill is, you multiply the value of your home by .115 (the residential assessment rate). Then, divide that number by 1,000. Multiply the result by the adopted mill levy rate of 23.356.
For the average homeowner in Olathe, that means about $1,904 in property taxes owed to the city next year.
Keep in mind that your total annual property tax bill also includes rates from other jurisdictions, like Johnson County and the school district you live in.
Olathe adopts $611M budget for 2025
- Olathe’s 2025 budget covers the general fund, the Olathe Public Library, debt service, public safety, special revenue funds, sales taxes and several utilities, including water and sewer.
- In all, Olathe anticipates a budget of $611.2 million.
- That budget is about 7%, or $40 million, more than what the city approved for 2024.
Olathe raises utility fees 8.6%
- In a separate action, the city council also approved 4-2 a list of comprehensive fees that formalized the increases to city-run utilities for 2025.
- Those changes include increases to Olathe’s water service, sewer, stormwater and solid waste.
- The average homeowner who uses all four utilities (not everyone who lives in Olathe uses the city’s water and wastewater utility) can expect to see their monthly bill go up about $10.09, or 8.6%.
- Olathe has also raised the membership costs for its community center for 2025, increasing it by about $5 per plan.
Some councilmembers opposed the budget
Gilmore has been calling on the city to cap homeowners’ property tax burdens since before the public portions of the budget preparation process began.
Back in March, he first floated a resolution that would have set a property tax revenue increase cap at 4%. His proposal would have only applied to property tax revenues, not other revenue streams or funding sources.
However, no other councilmember backed his resolution when he tried to bring it to a vote in April, and it failed for lack of a second.
On Tuesday, Gilmore brought up his past attempts to rein in the mill levy and noted disappointment at those failures.
“It doesn’t address the issue of property tax relief for our citizens,” Gilmore said in explaining his decision to vote against the budget. “I think as a council, we should lead on this issue.”
In addition to Gilmore and Essex’s dissent, Schoonover, in prepared statements read by Councilmember Marge Vogt, said he would have also been a “no” vote had he been in attendance Tuesday. He was particularly concerned with the utility fee increases.
Additionally, council members who supported the budget seemed to express some discomfort with keeping the mill levy flat after being able to reduce the property tax rate .25 mills in 2023 and one mill in 2024.
That being said, Councilmembers LeEtta Felter and Vogt, who is Mayor Pro Tem, both said they felt another cut would be imprudent at this point, noting a large slate of infrastructure projects underway or fast approaching on the horizon.
“But the reality is, you can’t be very short-sighted, and in the long run, it costs more,” Vogt said. “It’s very difficult to say, ‘OK, let’s do a cut,’ and then ‘Now we’re in trouble, now we need to raise your taxes.’”
Mayor John Bacon also said he couldn’t stomach another mill levy increase due to concerns about cooling growth in sales tax revenue, which makes up a large chunk of the city’s budget.
Olathe adds veterans to property tax rebate
- After adopting an income-based tax rebate program for 2024, the 2025 budget includes an expanded version of that.
- In the initial program, homeowners in owner-occupied residences could have their full city property tax rebated up to $750.
- The updated rebate will also include veterans.
- Find more information about the rebate program and its guidelines here.
Keep reading: Big street projects, new firehouse, animal shelter — What’s in Olathe’s new five-year capital plan?
