Shawnee County commissioners vote to exceed revenue neutral rate after lengthy public comment

Shawnee County commissioners voted 3-0 on Sept. 8 to adopt Resolution 2025-68, authorizing a levy of property taxes for the 2026 budget year that exceeds the revenue neutral rate of 46.211 mills.

The vote followed a staff presentation and an extended public-comment period during which more than a dozen residents described rising property-tax burdens and urged the commission not to exceed the revenue neutral rate. Jennifer Sauer, the county's financial administrator, opened the hearing by explaining that being revenue neutral "means that Shawnee County budgets the exact same amount of property tax revenue in dollars for the 2026 budget year as it did for the current 2025 year." She added that state law requires a public hearing and a roll-call vote before adopting a levy that would raise even a single dollar above the prior year's total property-tax revenue.

The hearing drew speakers from around the county. Jack Calcutt, who identified himself as "a resident and property owner in Shawnee County," told commissioners his family faces more than $20,000 in property taxes next year and urged them not to raise the mill rate. "This increase essentially…