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Riley County residents raised concerns Monday about the county government’s 2024 budget.
Monday’s meeting included public hearings for the 2024 budget and the mill levy rate for both the county budget and the Riley County Fire District No. 1 budget.
Resident Barbra Stevenson advocated for affordable taxes and asked whether the county commission would consider giving an adjustment for retired people who are on a fixed income.
“My income is not going up 7 percent, which is what the paper said you were proposing to increase your budget,” Stevenson said.
As previously reported by The Mercury, the overall county mill rate for 2024 is 39.956 mills, which would mean a budget authority for expenditures of $92.3 million. This is an increase from 2023 expenditures, which were $75.6 million, and a decrease in the mill rate, which was 42.214 in 2023.
A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 in assessed, taxable property value.
That means the owner of a $100,000 property would have paid $485.46 in county taxes in 2023; that same person would pay $519.69 on a home now valued at $113,100 home in 2024, given the average increase of 13.1% for existing single-family homes.
Another resident, Gary Olson, said he objected to setting the mill levy higher than the “revenue-neutral” rate.
“Why is it that this commission could not meet the RNR (revenue-neutral rate)? Specifically why is it that this commission could not meet the RNR of 38.379, when we in fact know there is substantial money in savings?” Olson said.
Commissioner John Ford said he has a statutory and a moral obligation to finance some of the services in the budget.
He also everything has been going up in cost, including personnel cost needs.
“I can tell you this, Gary, sometimes it’s really about balance,” Ford said. “Everyone in our community expects certain kinds of services we’ve seen the data, and we’ve seen the polls and people want all of it.”
Olson also asked whether next budget season county officials could post the entire drafted budget and not just the mill rate increase and total numbers.
There was also an increase in the Riley County Fire District No. 1 budget for 2024. The overall budget authority for 2024 would be $1.37 million, while total expenditures for 2023 were $1.25 million.
The mill rate would be 7.63, up from 7.74 last year.
This means the owner of a $100,000 property would have paid $87.78 in county taxes in 2023.
That same person would pay $100.63 on a home now valued at $113,100 home in 2024, given the average increase of 13.1% for existing single-family homes.
