Mills fail to tell of soaring spending, disparities
Staff writer
Although proposed tax rates are rising in aggregate only 0.9%, total government spending in Marion County — absent the county itself — is poised to rise a whopping 21.8% next year.
If budgets submitted by governmental units are adopted, proposed authorized spending by local units of government will continue a two-year trend of rising 37.9% over what actual spending was in 2019.
Huge discrepancies exist in property tax rates among similar governmental units.
Among cities, Ramona will be the most taxed, with a tax rate of 105.420 mills.
On a typical Marion County house with a median fair market value of $86,800, that amounts to a property tax bill of $1,052.30 a year for city purposes alone.
That’s 5.8 times as much as the owner of an identical home in Lost Springs will pay.
The owner of an average $86,800 house in Marion will pay $246.33 more than he or she would if the same house were in Hillsboro. Here are other comparisons:
Proposed city tax bill on median house |
|
1. Ramona |
$1,052.30 |
2. Lehigh |
769.42 |
3. Marion |
718.21 |
4. Goessel |
681.69 |
5. Lincolnville |
574.94 |
6. Tampa |
475.23 |
7. Hillsboro |
471.89 |
8. Durham |
279.34 |
9. Lost Springs |
181.35 |
Other cities have not yet published proposed budgets. |
Part of the reason for rate disparities may be how deeply in debt cities are.
Hillsboro is the most heavily burdened by debt, with all reportable debt totaling 95.9% of the appraised value of all property in the city.
Comparing this to purchasing a new home, it would be as if Hillsboro could put down only 4.1% equity in its “house” while Marion, with a debt load of just 27.8%, would have a whopping 72.2% equity.
Both Hillsboro and Goessel have much greater debt loads that other county cities:
Debt to valuation ratio |
|
1. Hillsboro |
95.9% |
2. Goessel |
92.5% |
3. Lehigh |
28.3% |
4. Marion |
27.8% |
5. Lost Springs |
19.7% |
6. Lincolnville |
19.5% |
7. Tampa |
4.5% |
8. Ramona |
0.0% |
9. Durham |
0.0% |
Other cities have not yet published proposed budgets. |
Excluding the county itself, which has not yet reported, county taxing units have $38.7 million in reportable debt:
Total debt for all governmental units |
|
1. City of Hillsboro |
$16,459,822 |
2. St. Luke Hospital district |
5,213,577 |
3. Hillsboro USD 410 |
5,205,000 |
4. Marion-Florence USD 408 |
2,895,000 |
5. City of Marion |
2,835,531 |
6. Goessel USD 411 |
2,615,000 |
7. City of Goessel |
1,965,000 |
8. Burns rural fire |
570,835 |
9. Lake improvement district |
388,710 |
10. City of Lehigh |
193,336 |
11. City of Lincolnville |
188,587 |
12. City of Lost Springs |
82,420 |
13. City of Tampa |
41,173 |
Other units either have no reportable debt or have not yet published proposed budgets. |
Figures cited were obtained from analysis of proposed 2021 budgets submitted by governmental units to date for publication this year.
Each notice includes a time, date, and location for a public hearing at which taxpayers may question the proposal budget. At the conclusion of each hearing, the governmental unit typically adopts its proposed budget, with or without making changes to it.
Budget hearings usually are sparsely attended, and changes seldom are made.
More budget proposals will be released within the next week or two.
In the budget for the county itself, which (along with some other units’ budget proposals) has not been released yet, roads are always a major source of expenditure.
Property owners both rural and urban share the cost of maintaining rural roads, even though streets within cities are the sole responsibility of city taxpayers.
Because the county no longer employs a township system of road maintenance, most townships spend very little and tax residents even less, despite having sometimes huge property valuation bases they could tax.
If township budgets are adopted as proposed, the highest tax bill for the owner of a home with the county’s median home valuation will be in Peabody Township.
Township tax bill on median house |
|
1. Peabody Township |
$62.89 |
2. Liberty |
54.57 |
3. Risley |
41.09 |
4. Gale |
26.82 |
5. Wilson |
13.30 |
6. Fairplay |
10.93 |
7. Centre Township |
10.17 |
8. East Branch |
3.95 |
9. Caitlin |
1.96 |
10. West Branch |
0.00 |
Other townships have not yet published proposed budgets. |
Properties used for commercial or agricultural purposes are assessed at different rates, but the relative difference remains proportionately the same.
School districts are among the most costly units of government:
School tax bill on median house |
|
1. Hillsboro USD 410 |
$617.03 |
2. Goessel USD 411 |
569.86 |
3. Marion-Florence USD 408 |
526.33 |
4. Peabody-Burns USD 398 |
496.19 |
Other school districts have not yet published proposed budgets. |
They are by no means the only taxing entities, however. In addition to the county itself, which has yet to release its proposed budget, an array of special districts also tax county residents, depending on where they live.
Special district bills on median house |
|
1. St. Luke Hospital district |
$114.26 |
2. Burns rural fire district |
81.35 |
3. Middle Creek watershed |
40.32 |
4. Eastshore improvement |
34.39 |
5. Cottonwood Valley drainage |
33.01 |
6. Turkey Creek watershed |
29.12 |
7. County lake improvement |
21.23 |
8. Doyle Creek watershed |
19.34 |
9. Peabody-Burns recreation |
18.92 |
10. Chisholm Trail Extension |
17.30 |
11. North Central Kansas libraries |
14.21 |
12. Hillsboro recreation |
13.93 |
. Goessel recreation |
13.93 |
14. Whitewater River watershed |
11.50 |
Other special districts have not yet published proposed budgets. |
Taxpayers tend to watch proposed mill rates. Partly because of a property tax lid and partly because mill rates are so closely watched, these rates rarely increase much.
Proposed changes in property tax rates |
|
1. City of Durham |
+6.1% |
2. Hillsboro recreation |
+3.6% |
3. Goessel recreation |
+3.6% |
4. Catlin township |
+3.2% |
5. Risley township |
+2.6% |
6. City of Lehigh |
+2.3% |
7. City of Hillsboro |
+2.2% |
8. Peabody-Burns USD 398 |
+1.5% |
9. Middle Creek watershed |
+1.4% |
10. City of Marion |
+1.3% |
11. St. Luke Hospital district |
+1.1% |
12. City of Goessel |
+1.0% |
13. Marion-Florence USD 408 |
–0.1% |
14. East Branch Township |
–0.3% |
15. North Central Kansas libraries |
–0.5% |
16. Whitewater River watershed |
–0.6% |
17. Turkey Creek watershed |
–1.4% |
18. Goessel schools (USD 411) |
–1.6% |
19. Peabody-Burns recreation |
–5.2% |
Other rates are unchanged or proposed budgets have not yet been released. Chisholm Trail Extension is a new district with no prior tax rate. |
This doesn’t mean spending won’t increase, however. Depending on the type of governmental unit, multiple other sources of revenue exist, including sales taxes, utility fees, borrowing, and grants.
Overall authorized spending by governmental units in 2021 is set to soar over actual spending in 2019.
Two-year rise in authorized spending |
|
1. Cottonwood Valley |
6,679.9% |
2. Whitewater River |
4,011.1% |
2. Middle Creek |
2,568.9% |
3. Eastshore improvement |
2,095.1% |
4. Turkey Creek |
1,405.4% |
5. Doyle Creek |
1,318.1% |
6. Centre Township |
850.2% |
7. Fairplay Township |
427.8% |
7. Gale Township |
393.8% |
8. Lakeimprovement |
285.4% |
8. East Branch Township |
273.6% |
9. City of Ramona |
197.1% |
10. Risley Township |
194.8% |
11. City of Tampa |
174.2% |
12. City of Durham |
167.1% |
13. West Branch Township |
155.1% |
14. Goessel recreation |
122.5% |
15. Wilson Township |
108.6% |
16. City of Lincolnville |
92.4% |
17. Liberty Township |
87.3% |
18. City of Lost Springs |
84.6% |
19. Chisholm Trail Extension* |
83.2% |
20. Caitlin Township |
76.4% |
21. City of Lehigh |
75.3% |
22. City of Marion |
72.5% |
22. Peabody Township |
63.6% |
23. Burns rural fire |
41.1% |
24. City of Goessel |
35.0% |
25. Goessel USD 411 |
31.2% |
26. St. Luke Hospital district |
30.3% |
27. Marion-Florence USD 408 |
26.0% |
28. Peabody-Burns USD 398 |
25.6% |
29. Hillsboro schools USD 410 |
14.2% |
30. City of Hillsboro |
13.2% |
31. Hillsboro recreation |
8.9% |
32. North Central Kansas libraries |
7.4% |
Other proposed budgets have not yet been released. |
|
*Chisholm Trail Extension is a new district with no 2019 spending. The percentage increase shown is a one-year increase compared to estimated 2020 spending. |