Goodland commissioners approve 2025 budget, levy above revenue-neutral rate

The Goodland City Commission voted unanimously to approve the city’s 2025 budget and adopt Resolution 16-44 to levy property taxes at 50.923 mills, above the revenue-neutral rate of 49.374 mills. City Manager Kent told commissioners the published budget would generate an estimated $2,162,833 in property-tax revenue to support total budgeted expenditures of $13,532,865.

The vote followed a statutorily required public hearing on the tax rate; no members of the public spoke during that hearing. Kent said the published rate reflects department requests tempered by nearly $500,000 in cuts from original submissions and that the full budget will be posted on the city website after approval.

Commissioners thanked staff for the work to bring the package forward. Commissioner Howard commended department heads and staff for what he described as “appropriate use of tax dollars.” The commission then approved Resolution 16-44 to levy above the revenue-neutral rate and moved to adopt the 2025 budget in a single roll-call vote.

Why it matters: raising the levy above the revenue-neutral rate allows the city to collect more property tax revenue than if it remained at the RNR; staff emphasized the numbers are estimates tied to assessed valuations and will be finalized after the November certification. Kent noted that figures change slightly as final valuations are set.

Next steps: the full 2025 budget will be made available online and staff will implement the expenditure plan approved by the commission. Any technical adjustments based on final assessed valuation will be handled according to state timelines.