Atchison County Commission adopts 2026 budget, sets mill levy at 59.201

Atchison County commissioners unanimously adopted the 2026 budget certificate and set the property tax mill levy at 59.201 during a special budget hearing Sept. 21, voting 3-0 to certify the budget and associated appropriations.

The move raises the county’s mill levy from 54.861 in 2025 to 59.201 for 2026, a change the county described in the hearing as a 7.33% increase. The finance director told the commission that an initial set of department and elected-official requests would have yielded a maximum levy of 68.951 — estimated at $15.8 million in ad valorem tax revenue — but the board reduced requests and appropriations to reach the adopted figure.

Why it matters: the adopted levy establishes the baseline property-tax revenue the county will collect for operations in 2026 and follows the statutorily required public-notice and hearing schedule. Commissioners said the reductions and baseline are intended to stabilize operations after a year of tighter revenue and to make future budget planning more predictable.

Most important facts - The finance director presented the numbers that produced the initial 68.951 maximum mill levy and the budget request that exceeded $16.6 million; the board trimmed department requests and other appropriations and reduced the ad valorem revenue to roughly $14.8 million before final certification. - Appropriation requests from outside…