Barton County is a complex matrix of 56 overlapping taxing entities that either fall entirely within its borders or cover a portion of it. If just one of these is late getting their budget information to the Barton County Clerk’s Office, it delays the Treasurer’s Office from getting property tax statements out to taxpayers.

“It’s a domino effect,” said County Treasurer Jim Jordan, addressing the County Commission Wednesday morning. While the mailing of the statements now rests in the hands of the United States Postal Service, he vented his frustration with how the system works now to sympathetic commissioners.

The statements were mailed in time for taxpayers to receive them by the state-mandated Dec. 15 deadline. They then have until Dec. 20 to pay.

“So the public understands, the only thing we do, or are responsible for, is sending out tax statements,” Jordan said of his department. “That’s it. We don’t put the numbers together. We don’t do anything. We just send them out.”

In order for the Treasurer’s Office to mail the statements, they have to have the correct numbers. They can’t get those numbers until the County Clerk’s Office gets the information and finishes up the tax rolls which include the budget and mill rates for the various taxing authorities.

These include cities, townships, school districts, watershed districts, libraries and others.

Once he has this information, he can prepare the statements, proof them, have them printed and mailed — a process that takes about three weeks.

“So if the public is curious on why they’re late, they need to contact the Clerk’s Office and ask who are the people that we’re waiting on, then they call the folks, whether it be the library or the watershed district or whoever, and put pressure on them to get their job done right,” he said.

Under current state law, the Clerk’s Office must have these figures by Nov. 1.

All the entities have reported their information, but County Clerk Bev Schmeidler said the final straggler was the Wet Walnut Watershed. However, the problem was the watershed was waiting on numbers from Rush County, which, in turn, was waiting for numbers from other counties.

“We have so many shared districts,” she said. “They have to wait for me to send things and I have to wait for them to send things. It’s a long process.”

The crux of the problem

Commissioners understood the complexity and that one entity can hold everyone at a standstill. “So, talking to you, how can it be improved?” asked District 1 Commissioner Kirby Krier. 

The issue is, Jordan said, the taxing bodies having to wait for the finalized November property values before submitting their figures. They all have preliminary numbers by July 1, and they should be allowed to use this information.

This way, Jordan and Schmeidler said, the clerk could act sooner allowing the treasurer to act sooner. But, “the problem is it doesn’t matter if we agree, you’ve got to get the legislation changed,” Jordan said.

He and other county treasurers across the state, and other county officials, have been lobbying for this. They will step up the pressure this year.

This isn’t unprecedented, said Commissioner-elect and retired County Clerk Donna Zimmerman.

Barton County is part of one of the largest taxing entities in the state — the Central Kansas Library System — which takes in all or part of 16 counties. Because of all the moving parts, it is allowed to use the July values, Zimmerman said.

“I don’t know why they don’t just do away with the two rolls,” she said. “If they would allow all joint districts to use the July estimated value, you wouldn’t be waiting on another county” come November.

The reason for the November deadline is to allow all property values to be finalized, County Appraiser Wendy Prosser said. There is a chance they could fluctuate and these changes could impact a taxing entity’s budget and mill rate. 

This is less of a concern for smaller districts and counties, she said. But, it could be significant in wealthier, more populous counties.

Commissioners agreed they, and other county department heads, should send letters to local state lawmakers pushing for this change. They also encouraged the public to get involved as well.

Another monkey wrench

Adding to the consternation is Senate Bill 13, the revenue neutral or truth in taxation law that went into effect last year. 

In a nutshell, 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 established a requirement of notices to taxpayers and public hearings for municipalities seeking to collect property taxes exceeding their revenue-neutral rate.

The idea was to create more transparency in the taxing process, but county officials said there were unintended consequences. It called for extra hearings, paperwork and work at the county level.

“That didn’t help,” Jordan said. “It crunched the timeline.”

“It (SB 13) needs to be abolished,” Krier said. 

District 2 Commissioner Barb Esfeld was less emphatic. She agreed there were serious flaws with the measure, but understood its intention.

She said there’s a chance it could be salvaged with “serious surgery.”

There is talk in Topeka that the Legislature will revisit SB 13 this coming session, which starts in January.