University Heights sets April 1 public hearing on FY2025-26 levy after local-option sales tax boost

The University Heights City Council voted 4-0, with one member absent, on Feb. 11 to set a public hearing for 7 p.m. April 1 on the proposed city maximum tax dollars and levy for the fiscal 2025-26 budget.

Council staff and finance presenters told the council that participation in the regional local option sales and services tax has produced larger-than-expected receipts and will allow the city to apply revenue to reduce property-tax levies. Staff estimated the participating jurisdictions are collecting about $2.94 million through the pool; using the city’s 12.75% share, administrators estimated University Heights’ portion would be roughly $375,000, about half of which must be used for property-tax relief under the state formula (about $187,500). Council staff said those figures are the basis for proposed FY26 calculations.

City staff explained how that allocation can be applied: the debt-service levy — approximately $128,000 on the draft schedule — was proposed to be entirely offset by local option revenue, reducing the city’s debt-service levy to zero in the FY26 proposal. The remaining local-option funds were proposed to be applied against other levies (transit, liability insurance, payroll-related levies and employee benefits) rather than the constrained consolidated general fund levy. Staff projected the city regular levy would fall from about $11.83 per $1,000 taxable value to about $10.43 per $1,000 taxable value under the proposed allocations.

Finance staff gave examples to illustrate homeowner impact: using a hypothetical property assessed at $400,000 and a 50% rollback to taxable value of $200,000, the proposed levy reduction translates to roughly $2.80 less in city property tax for that owner under the FY26 proposal. Staff cautioned that the total property-tax bill depends on decisions by other taxing entities (school district, county, etc.).

The council also heard from staff about transit-cost reapportionment with neighboring jurisdictions. City Administrator Troy said staff and transit representatives favor a population-based formula that would raise University Heights’ share by about 30% over current contributions, staged over three fiscal years (about a 10% increase this coming fiscal year). Troy said the city paid a little over $45,000 in transit costs in FY24 and that the increase would be less than $5,000 this year and similar amounts in the following two years. Staff said the transit levy and the city’s transit levy rate would cover the expected increases.

The council motion to set the public hearing was made by Council Member Lisa and seconded by Doug; the council approved by roll call: Moore — aye; Schroeder — aye; Swails — aye; Gaughn — aye; Herbold — absent. Motion carried 4-0 (1 absent). Staff said the public-notice materials must be filed with the Department of Management and the notice window runs in mid-March; final levy adoption is scheduled for the April 1 meeting.

Votes at a glance from the Feb. 11 meeting: minutes of Jan. 4 were approved by unanimous consent; three additional warrants were added to the warrants list (engineering invoice $5,637.10; CenturyLink bill approximately $131.28; UMB Bank bond administration fees $550) and the warrants were approved by unanimous consent; the meeting adjourned by unanimous consent.