August 10, 2022 3:47 pm
Updated: August 11, 2022 8:24 pm
The Douglas County Clerk’s Office is sending 45,852 property owners a notification in the mail this week (Aug. 10-11) about estimated property taxes for 2022. It is not a bill.
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 (municipalities, counties and districts) are prohibited from levying property tax that exceeds the revenue neutral rate without having a public hearing and passing a resolution.
FAQs:
Q: What is revenue neutral?
A: Revenue neutral is when a taxing jurisdiction 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 2022, being revenue neutral means they plan to only use $1 million in 2023 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: What do I need to do?
A: The notification that was mailed by the Douglas County Clerk’s Office is for information purposes only. If you would like to attend a public hearing, here is the complete schedule. The list of public hearings that affect your taxes are listed on the back of the notification that you received by mail.
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.
If you have questions, please email realestate@dgcoks.gov or call 785-832-5280.
Contact:Karrey Britt, Communications Specialist, kbritt@dgcoks.gov