Marion taxes may rise 3 mills
Staff writers
Marion City Council voted Monday to set a new ceiling for property taxes that could increase tax revenue by half a percent.
The council wants to exceed the “revenue-neutral rate” by setting a tax rate ceiling that could bring in $44,000 more.
The council will not propose a final rate until it goes over departmental requests in detail and conducts a public hearing Sept. 8.
The council voted unanimously to increase the estimated tax rate ceiling by 3 mills, to 73.712 mills. At that rate, residential property in the city valued at $100,000 would pay $35 more in city property taxes next year. A $200,000 property would pay $70 more, and a $500,000 property would pay $172 more in property taxes in 2027.
At a brief meeting Monday, council members said they expected to need an increase to meet needs that have gone neglected in the past.
City administrator Brian Wells said the council would consider new expenses such as sewer pipe linings, a roof for a cemetery building, and a new mower. The city also faces a cost in demolishing or selling a building at 202 E. Main St. that has partially crumbled.
He emphasized that the council was adopting a ceiling.
“It doesn’t mean we are going to stick with this,” Wells said. “It just gives us a little more … room to try to squeeze in some other projects.”
Mayor Michael Powers said the council might not propose a full 3-mill increase.
“When we are struggling as is, we have to keep open the options,” he said. “I like the idea of flexibility.”
The city also receives money and other tax distributions. All those sources total about $1.021 million this year. Additionally, the city receives income from sale of electricity, water, sewer and trash services, and from sales taxes.
Marion will spend about
$7.1 million this year from all of its revenue sources, according to an estimate by the city’s consultant, Scot Loyd.
The council’s action Monday came less than an hour before the deadline to declare its intentions.
The deadline is set by a 2021 state law that requires all taxing jurisdictions to declare whether they expect to raise their property levy above the revenue-neutral rate that would produce the same amount of money as property taxes do in the current year.
Most jurisdictions in the county filed papers by Monday saying they would stay at or below the revenue-neutral rate, even though that does not account for inflation.
In Kansas, the state sets an assessed value of 11.5% of the appraised value of residential property, and levies a tax rate expressed in “mills” on that assessed value. An increase of one mill raises $14,724 for the city.