Sedgwick County official says assessed values rose 8.6% and county likely will exceed revenue-neutral rate; sales-tax option proposed

A Sedgwick County commissioner told a public forum that assessed values across the county rose 8.6% this year and that the county is preparing to exceed the state'defined revenue-neutral rate rather than make the deeper cuts that would be required to hold revenue flat.

"We're going to exceed the revenue neutral rate. We're going to increase our property tax collections some amount," the commissioner said, and invited residents to speak at upcoming hearings on the 2026 budget.

The matter matters because Kansas law requires a recorded vote if a local government intends to exceed the revenue-neutral rate. The county plans to consider the manager's recommended 2026 budget when it is released to the commission in late July, hold at least two public hearings (including an evening session about two weeks before adoption) and adopt a budget in August, the commissioner said.

How the increase arises and what it would mean Assessed value is the starting point for property-tax bills. The presenter said county appraisers convert market appraisals to assessed values (residential assessed value is 11.5% of appraised value) and then multiply by the total mill levy for the many jurisdictions that share each property tax bill. The county'wide assessed-value increase of 8.6% would have produced roughly an 8.6% revenue boost if the commission kept mill levies unchanged.

The commissioner described a likely compromise: keeping roughly 4% to 5% of the assessed-value growth to fund rising operating costs while "giving up" the remainder. That approach, according to the presentation, would capture about half of the roughly $14 million in new assessed-value revenue associated…