Garden City proposes 7.581 millage to cover $2.8M shortfall after loss of fire fees

Garden City officials on the public record on Monday presented a proposal to raise the city property tax millage rate to 7.581, saying the change is needed after the city stopped collecting fire protection user fees and the fire department was moved into the general fund.

"We are proposing a millage rate of 7.581," Finance Director Katie Dreggar (S4) said in her presentation, describing an amended 2026 budget that added the fire department into the general fund after the user-fee enterprise was discontinued. She told residents the city had reduced the proposed change from an earlier estimate of 8.0 because the tax digest came in higher than expected.

Dreggar said the city had previously used a $2.7 million transfer and about $1.4 million in fire protection user fees to subsidize fire operations; after losing the user-fee revenue the city faces roughly $2.8 million in additional property-tax- or reserve-funded needs. "We are only increasing the property tax millage rate to cover $2,800,000 of that combined revenue needed to fund the continued operations in the fire department," she said.

Officials repeatedly emphasized that the change shifts revenue previously collected on utility bills into the millage calculation rather than creating a new or separate charge on top of existing taxes. The hearing included multiple residents asking for more information about how the change would affect individual bills, and staff offered to run one-on-one calculations for homeowners who provide addresses.

The council did not vote at the hearing; staff said, if approved by the council and relevant deadlines are met, the change would be reflected on property tax bills in September. The council scheduled a related budget workshop shortly after the hearing to continue discussion.