The Douglas County Clerk’s Office will be sending 45,990 notices to property owners on Friday, Aug. 11. It is not a bill.

The notification is for information purposes only. It includes estimated property taxes for 2023 and a list of public hearings that affect the owner’s taxes. A list of all public hearings can be found on the Douglas County website.

In March 2021, the Kansas Legislature passed a law that requires county clerks to send a notice that explains each taxing jurisdiction’s intent or non-intent to exceed the revenue neutral rate. Taxing jurisdictions such as cities, counties and schools are prohibited from levying property tax that exceeds the revenue neutral rate without having a public hearing and passing a resolution.

If you have questions, please email realestate@dgcoks.gov or call 785-832-5280.

FAQs:

Q: What is revenue neutral?

A: Revenue neutral is when a taxing jurisdiction, such as a city, county, or other taxing district, budgets the exact same amount of property tax revenue, in dollars, for the upcoming budget year as they did for the current year.

For example: If a taxing entity uses $1 million of property tax revenue in 2023, being revenue neutral means that they plan to only use $1 million in 2024 as well.

If a taxing jurisdiction plans to use more property tax revenue in the next budget year compared to the current year, even $1 more, they would exceed the revenue neutral and need to hold a public hearing.

Q: What is the revenue neutral rate?

A: The revenue neutral rate is the mill levy rate used to generate the exact same amount of property tax revenue as the year before using the current tax year’s total assessed valuation.

Q: How is the revenue neutral rate calculated?

A: Prior year tax revenue divided by current year assessed valuation estimate times 1,000.

Q: Is the estimated tax notice a bill that should be paid?

A: No. This is just an estimation. Your tax bill will be mailed in the fall.

Q: What is a taxing subdivision?

A: A taxing subdivision, also known as a taxing authority, is any entity that is set up to levy taxes. Some examples would be the State of Kansas, Douglas County, cities, school districts, fire districts, cemeteries, drainage districts, etc. On any given tax bill, you will see the taxing subdivisions listed that are authorized to levy a tax on your property.

Q: Will my property taxes increase as much as my appraised value increased?

A: The estimate is included in the notification. 

Property values are a reflection of property sales in the local real estate market and/or improvements or changes made to an individual property. When property values increase, that does not necessarily mean more property taxes will be assessed. In essence, the valuation of property determines each owner’s slice of the pie, but not the size of the pie. 

Property taxes are determined by taxing entities such as local cities, counties, school districts, libraries, police and fire departments when they determine yearly budgets. For more information, watch this video from the Douglas County Appraiser’s Office: https://youtu.be/3oS0lAZztXk.