Garden City proposes 7.581 mill rate after fire-fee shortfall; officials say most homeowners would see lower bills

At a public hearing, Garden City's finance director, Katie Drager, presented a proposed tentative ad valorem tax rate of 7.581 mills for fiscal year 2026, citing the loss of fire-protection user fees and resulting budget amendments.

Drager told the council the city had to amend the adopted 2026 budget because the fire-protection user fees were no longer available to sustain a separate enterprise fund for the fire department. She said the transfer out to the general fund to subsidize the department was around $2.7 million and that budget materials showed the fire department budget at roughly $4.4 million (a slide later referenced $4.8 million). "Now the entire fire department is in the budget of 4,400,000," she said, later noting the fire protection budget figure of $4,800,000 on another slide.

Drager explained that an earlier estimate placed the needed rate at about 8 mills, but increases in the tax digest reduced the needed rate to 7.581 mills. "We're at 7.581 right now," she said, and added the city also performed the required levy calculations for the tax commissioner. She noted an atypical rollback calculation this year (rollback millage cited as 4.031) due to net digest changes from reassessments.

Using city property-count figures, Drager said Garden City has about 2,200 residential properties of which roughly 1,700 are developed. She reported an average home value of $214,000 and an average taxable value after exemptions of about $45,000. In the presentation Drager said the top three tax categories (which account for over half of property owners) would see a decrease in combined taxes and prior fire-protection fees under the proposed millage; higher-value properties without homestead exemptions would see the largest increases. She provided example ranges for increases and averages in the slides (the presentation cited low-end increases measured in cents per year and high-end examples in triple digits per month for certain commercial values).

At least two residents spoke during the hearing. Shawanda Jeff, a 5th District resident, asked, "Why are we going up on taxes again?" and said she was concerned because the city reported substantial revenues. Ozzie Rollinger asked for printed copies of the slide numbers, said he "didn't understand" how higher taxes would result from the presented figures, and requested staff follow up with a property-by-property comparison; Drager offered to contact residents and review individual records.

Drager also explained homestead exemptions, including a local $40,000 homestead exemption the city offers, and how exemptions and a separate homestead freeze interact with taxable-value calculations. She reminded the council the numbers must be certified by the tax commissioner and that the council faces a deadline to return the chosen millage for state certification.

No formal vote on the millage was recorded during the portion of the meeting in the transcript; the city held the hearing to receive comment and present the calculation and impact analysis.