Thunderstorms, some heavy during the morning hours, then skies turning partly cloudy during the afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..
Tonight
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Riley County commissioners are still raising taxes, but not as much as they planned.
The commission on Thursday unanimously voted to trim a planned property tax increase for 2024.
The increase would have meant 10.67% more in county property taxes for the average homeowner. With the change, homeowners will pay about 7% more than they did in 2023.
The change will reduce the planned budget by $1 million, and officials voted to change the county mill levy from 41.312 to 39.956.
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 $485.54 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.
“The commissioners asked us to rework the numbers and make sure it reflected correctly or if we needed to make any adjustments,” budget and finance officer Brittany Phillips said. “(Former county treasurer) Shilo (Heger) worked very, very hard on these numbers, and we discussed (it) after she worked her magic.”
Phillips said they made the change because they anticipate higher-than-expected revenue from interest and investments.
“Investment income is hard to predict a true final number, because there’s no true way to predict what the economy will do in a year,” Phillips said in a meeting report. “The total investment interest is dependent on cash balances. If we have huge expenditures that significantly lower our balances, this projected investment income may not be the case.”
A public hearing is scheduled for Monday’s commission meeting at 9:15 a.m., and the final Riley County budget for 2024 must be adopted by Oct. 1.
