After months of preparation, the Great Bend City Council Tuesday night approved the city’s 2022 operating budget. The action came following a public revenue-neutral rate hearing and public budget hearing on the spending package.
As OKed, the budget calls for a mill levy rate of 54.684 mills and a spending authority of $27,461,000, with $5,591,308 coming from property taxes.
Last year’s rate was 54.242 mills and the spending authority was $21,258,014.
The revenue-neutral rate came into being following action by the Kansas Legislature this year through Senate Bill 13, he said. This is the tax rate that would generate the same total property tax dollars for the city as the previous year using the current year’s assessed valuation.
The city’s RNR rate that was certified by the County Clerk’s Office is 54.684 and the city’s proposed rate is 54.684, City Clerk Shawna Schafer said. To protect the amount of revenue Great Bend has levied in the budget, it was recommended to hold a RNR hearing regardless of whether the city exceeded RNR or not.
The budget included pay raises for employees from $1 per hour up to 5%. There is also a 2% cost of living increase built in and up to 3% for merit pay.
It also factors in possibly not filling the city attorney’s position after Bob Suelter retires, but continuing to fund the hiring of an assistant city administrator (this remains open). In addition, there are projects like renovations to Heizer Park, street repairs and the basic needs of other departments.
Besides funding basic city services, the city funds several outside agencies, such as the Golden Belt Humane Society, Barton County Historical Society, Commission on Aging, Great Bend Public Library and Sunflower Diversified Services. Not all got what they were asking for, but all received something.
Francis first presented the 2022 the budget the governing body at a July 12 budget work session.
Notices of both hearings were published on Aug. 22 in the Great Bend Tribune.
What about SB 13?
Kansas Senate Bill 13, the Revenue Neutral or Truth in Taxation statute was approved by the Legislature late in the 2021 session. The aim was to make the state’s complex tax system more transparent.
Basically, SB 13 prohibits all taxing entities from increasing their tax collections by more than they did the year previous. This means, if an entity’s valuation (the total value of all property) goes up, the mill rate would have to go down to collect the same amount of taxes.
In addition, it establishes a requirement of notices to taxpayers and public hearing for municipalities seeking to collect property taxes exceeding their revenue-neutral rate.
This is up a tad from the previous year, but, in keeping with the law, the total taxes levied remains unchanged. The reason for this is the loss in valuation.
The city’s valuation, the net value of all property, declined about $134,000 to $102,247,431. Each mill represents $1 in taxation per $1,000 of valuation.
This marks the second year of a valuation decrease. It is down roughly $3,000,000 since the 2020 budget year.
Why is this an issue?
The city received only its preliminary property tax totals from Barton County in July, Francis said. The deadline to notify the County Clerk’s Office with the intent to hold a hearing was July 20.
The problem lies with the valuation numbers. The early figures come out in July, but the finalized one won’t be available until November, and possible fluctuations could impact the city’s budget one way or the other.
Under the statute, should the city over charge taxpayers, it must refund the amount. And, should it be less than anticipated, the city loses out on that revenue.
This is why Francis back in July suggested the RNR hearing, which had to occur by Sept. 20. The budget must be certified to the County Clerk’s Office by Oct. 1.
SB 13 law replaces the property tax lid put in place by the legislature in 2016. It, among other things, imposed a restriction on the amount that municipal property tax levies could rise.
The property tax lid required municipalities to obtain a majority vote of residents in order to pass property tax levies that increase more than the rate of inflation in the previous year.
Great Bend City Council meeting at a glance
Here is a quick look at what the Great Bend City Council did Tuesday night:
• Held a revenue-neutral rate hearing and public hearing for the city’s 2022 operating budget.
The budget was ultimately approved at a mill levy rate of 54.684 mills and a spending authority of $27,461,000, with $5,591,308 coming from property taxes.
Last year’s rate was 54.242 mills and the spending authority was $21,258,014.
• Approved an agreement with McCown-Gordon Construction of Wichita for $343,000 for construction manager services for a new police station.
The city recently released a Request for Qualifications for Construction Manager services for a new police station and received eight submittals. A committee reviewed and ranked them and conducted in-person interviews with the top three firms. McCown-Gordon was unanimously selected.
• Canceled an executive session to discuss the performance review of City Administrator Kendal Francis due to the absence of Mayor Cody Schmidt who was unable to attend the meeting.
The contract with Francis required that a review be carried out annually on his anniversary date of July 30. At the July 19, council meeting, the council announced it would reevaluate him in 90 days.
• Held a public hearing on an unsafe and dangerous property at 403 Buckeye, a home severely damaged by a fire. No contact from any interest holders has occurred said City Attorney Robert Suelter.
The council then adopted a resolution directing the owners to raze the structure by no later than Sept. 30.
• Held a public hearing on an unsafe and dangerous property at 1007 10th.
On July 6, 2021, the council passed a resolution to conduct a hearing on this date to determine if the structure located at 1007 Tenth Street is an unsafe and dangerous structure. Since that date the owners and a prospective buyer have contacted city staff and presented a plan to rehabilitate and repair the structure.
It was from this home where the residents, including children, were removed due to what was reported to be filthy conditions and a lack of utility services.
In light of the progress, the matter was tabled until the Nov. 1 meeting.
• Approved a 2023 Communities Connecting Link Program (CCLIP) initial project design and construction administration agreement with Professional Engineering Consultants of Wichita (the city’s on-call engineering firm) for $34,800.
The city recently received notification that its application for the FY2023 CCLIP was approved. The project is the mill and overlay of K-96 from US-56 to Patton Road.
The total project cost is estimated to be $ 534,183. The project is funded 90% by KDOT up to $300,000 with a required 10% local match. A funding agreement with KDOT is forthcoming, said City Administrator Kendal Francis.
• Heard a report from City Administrator Kendal Francis.
• Heard a report from Great Bend Economic Development Inc. President Sara Hayden. She focused on business recruiting and workforce development initiatives.
• Approved closing Forest Avenue from Main Street to Williams Street from 6-11 a.m. Saturday Oct. 16,, for the Flatlander Half Marathon.
• Approved a tree trimmers license for Flatland Tree Service (Skyler Edwards) out of Great Bend.
• Approved the 2021 Uniform Public Offense Code Ordinance.
Kansas League of Municipalities prepares yearly code. This is the majority of the city’ s criminal code.
It complies with the State of Kansas changes to its criminal code and reflects changes made by the Kansas Legislature during its most recent session. The ordinance excludes certain sections of the code which historically been prosecuted by the County Attorney’ s office. This is an annual action.
• Approved the 2021 Standard Traffic Ordinance.
The KLM updates this annually as well and it makes up the majority of the city’s traffic code. This is also an annual action.
• Approved abatements for trash and refuse violations at: 2212 Main, Hammond Inc.; 1431 22nd, Carolyn Stacey Farris; 0000 Eisenhower Ct., Cheyenne Village LLC.; 0000 Churchill, Hammond Inc.; 5812 Rosewood, Shonda Newick; 2210 San Domingo, Kimberly Andrews; 2706 19th, Lonnie Philbern; 1310 Morphy, Stueder Rentals LLC.; 3812 10th, DS&J Holdings LLC.; and 1900 Madison, Shane Satterfield.
