Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved their 2026 budget, which lowers the property tax rate but will still increase property taxes for most residents.
The five commissioners met for about 21 hours of budget hearings and deliberations in July.
County commissioners voted July 16 to approve a maximum mill levy of 40.669, slightly lower than the 41.298 staff members had recommended. The decreased rate is not enough to offset assessed property valuations that increased 5.7% this year, however, so most property owners will still see their county property taxes increase.
The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 would have paid the county about $950 in property taxes for 2025. Under the commissioners’ maximum mill levy for 2026, that value would decrease to $935; however, if that home’s assessed valuation increased by 5.7%, the owner’s property taxes owed to the county will increase to about $989.
Shortly before the budget approval, Commissioner Gene Dorsey raised concerns about the county exceeding the revenue neutral rate, and ultimately voted against doing so. He said he believed some of staff members’ sales tax revenue projections were conservative, and that they didn’t take into account potential revenues from the 2026 World Cup or the new conference center next to the University of Kansas football stadium.
“I’m not complaining about the budget, I’m complaining about the funding of the budget,” he said.
Other commissioners responded with concerns that he didn’t bring that up during the commission’s 20-plus hours of budget discussions.
The commission’s vote on whether to exceed the revenue neutral rate was 4-1, with Dorsey opposed. They approved the budget unanimously.
A few bullet point items included in the budget:
• $1.45 million for a 3.7% average market raise for county employees;
• $1.22 million for a 3% merit pool raise for county employees;
• $144,840 for longevity pay for county employees;
• $500,000 for Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center for solvency funding;
• $40,000 for eviction diversion efforts;
• $150,000 for World Cup 2026 funding for Emergency Management;
• $247,000 for Cardinal Housing Network, for capital improvements to 1126 Ohio St.; and
• $500,000 for Tenants to Homeowners to build 5 small houses with Peaslee Tech and Dirtworks Studio.
See the meeting agenda and budget documentation at this link and on the county’s budget webpage.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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