Butler County holds revenue-neutral-rate hearing, presents proposed 2026 budget and sales-tax option

El Dorado — At a public revenue-neutral-rate hearing in El Dorado, Butler County finance director Ryan Atkinson presented the county’s proposed 2026 budget and the mechanics of property taxation, and the Board of County Commissioners voted 4–0 to adopt a resolution allowing the county to levy a property tax rate that exceeds the revenue-neutral rate.

Atkinson told the board that the 2026 budget proposal is based on property values as of Jan. 1, 2025, and walked through the tax calendar and how notice and appeals work. He said the county’s proposed mill levy in the initial proposal was 29.853 mills and the amended proposal reduced that to 29.625 mills — a reduction of roughly 0.255 mills — and that, as proposed, the county would remain among the state’s lower mill levies.

The presentation emphasized how overlapping taxing entities affect bills: Atkinson said the county accounts for roughly one-fifth of the tax bill for residents…