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 reduces both housing affordability while simultaneously, reducing property values," Calcutt said. Several other speakers, including Connie Hanson and Richard Johnson, described struggles on fixed incomes and said property appraisals and taxes had grown faster than their incomes.

Other speakers offered proposals. Lanell Griffith suggested shifting economic-development funds to reduce property-tax pressure, saying the county could use accumulated economic-development dollars to "give the people a break." Henry McClure urged more aggressive collection of back taxes and proposed a state-level change that would lock a homeowner's tax rate until sale. Patrick Schmidt suggested that a countywide referendum or a primary-election vote be used for future tax-increase decisions so more voters could participate.

Commissioners and staff responded with budget context. Commissioner Aaron Mays noted increases in funding requests for mental-health services and a mental-health facility at the county jail, and said the district attorney's office and the sheriff's office had requested wage increases. Jennifer Sauer said the county has a list of 18 state-mandated functions (including motor-vehicle services, courts and elections) that consume budget resources, and she reminded the public that several state programs that once offset local property taxes have been discontinued.

Commissioner Kevin Cook emphasized limits on county revenue sources and the impact of rising costs for materials and labor. Cook said property taxes make up the "vast majority" of county general-fund revenue and that reaching revenue neutral would require deeper personnel and program cuts. He said the county had already cut more than $5 million from the proposed budget and was using reserves to cover a one-time extra payroll period in 2026.

After discussion, Commissioner Rippon moved to adopt Resolution 2025-68; the motion was seconded. The clerk called the roll: Commissioner Mays — aye; Commissioner Rippon — aye; Commissioner Cook — aye. The resolution passed 3-0.

The board then held two separate required hearings and votes for sewer-district levies that would exceed their respective revenue neutral rates: Resolution 2025-69 for Shawnee County Sewer District No. 2 (7.31 mills) and Resolution 2025-70 for Shawnee County Sewer District No. 6 (20.567 mills). Both resolutions also passed 3-0. Public-works staff explained those increases are intended to build reserves for periodic lagoon maintenance and other long-term system costs.

The county's formal public hearing on the 2026 proposed budget followed later in the meeting; commissioners did not adopt the final county budget at the Sept. 8 session and scheduled further consideration for the next meeting.

About the public record: The county allowed four-minute time slots for each speaker and a timer was used. Several speakers noted that scheduling hearings at 9 a.m. limits attendance; commissioners said they had previously tried other times and received similar complaints.

The commission's adoption of Resolution 2025-68 is the official action authorizing the levy that will allow the county to budget property-tax revenue above the 2025 dollar total for the 2026 fiscal year. Next steps include final budget actions on a later agenda and the county's submission of budget documents to state authorities before the statutory deadline.

Ending: Commissioners scheduled further budget work before final adoption; no final budget vote occurred on Sept. 8.