Commission locks in revenue neutral tax rate with split vote

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – The Linn County Commission will have less than a month to determine where it will trim about $600,000 in county expenses for 2026. In a default move, the county following a hearing on Monday, Aug. 25, was forced to adopt a revenue neutral budget after a tie vote on whether to accept a budget with substantial cuts.

Commission Chair Jim Johnson

As in the last several years, a county official warned county commissioners Alison Hamilton and Chair Jim Johnson that continuing to approve a revenue neutral budget would push back expenses yet another year and result in increases to taxpayers as early as next year that would shock taxpayers even further. 

But with the insistence of Johnson to continue the county trend over the past few years of keeping the budget revenue neutral, the insistence of Hamilton that the county not lock itself into a tighter budget, and the absence of Commissioner Jason Hightower and his deciding vote, the net result is that the county will be revenue neutral for 2026.

The revenue neutral rate for taxing by local government entities – including the county, school districts, library and cemetery districts and townships – is set by the state of Kansas. In this case, by adhering to the revenue neutral rate the county is limited to levy the same amount of taxes in dollars that it did the previous year.

However, in order to keep employees, the county after several years of only one longevity raise and minimal cost-of-living raises is faced with no raises, a cut in employee benefits, or a cut in staff. A survey of the county employees by County Clerk Danielle Souza earlier in August to measure which benefits employees preferred to lose set off a firestorm of protests, including promises by some workers to look for employment elsewhere. That included certified law enforcement officers from the sheriff’s office, which have been particularly difficult to replace.

The survey signaled that the commission was looking at replacing an employee-favored health insurance policy, dropping its health savings plan, or passing on the cost-of-living increase for 2026.

For the past several years the county has resorted to using reserve funds to cover the cuts.

However, as inflation continues to force higher wages for employees, increase the costs of materials and contractual services, and delay replacement of essential equipment. Even as commissioners delay purchasing or leasing newer equipment for county road crews, costs for that equipment continues to spiral upward.

Several taxpayers attended the Monday’s revenue neutral hearing, but they weren’t concerned about the cost squeeze to the county. Almost all of them were retired, living on a fixed income, and they voiced a continuing concern that their property taxes continued to skyrocket.

“That’s just beyond our budget,” said resident Kathleen Thompson, who said that at 81 years old she was on a restricted income. She said her taxes on 80 acres of farm ground went up $500 and taxes on her 1,550-square-foot home had increased by 30%.

“We don’t want to leave Linn County, however, that’s an option,” said resident Rhonda Croan, who said taxes on her property with a 1,200-square-foot home with no recent improvements doubled over the last year.

“You’re taxing us out of our homes,” another resident from Sugar Valley complained. Cheri Nutt said the taxes on her 600-square-foot home increased $70 this year.

Former state Sen. Robert Tyson pointed out that the La Cygne Generating Station should be paying more than 60% of the taxes and that the property taxes should be half of what they are. He also complained, as he has done in the past, that the county has a mapping department with four or five employees. Not even Miami County has that he said.

However, Miami County does have a two-person mapping department similar to Linn County’s. And because of the proliferation of lake lots in Linn County along with those lots changing hands, the mapping, register of deeds and treasurer’s office has an increase in lake loads.

State Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican who is also Robert Tyson’s daughter-in-law, also spoke at the hearing. She noted that Miami County does indeed have a mapping department. However, she also complained that people were being “taxed out of their homes.” (See related story.)

Caryn Tyson is considered to be one of the key architects of Senate Bill 13, which repealed the previous “tax lid” legislation and implemented in its place the “Truth in Taxation” process, a.k.a. “revenue neutral,” in 2021.

At Monday’s meeting, Tyson praised the commission on maintaining the county’s revenue budget over the past few years and argued the it should continue to keep a lid on taxes for 2026. 

County Counselor Jacklyn Paletta made an effort to steer the hearing away from valuations complaints and back to the subject at hand: whether to implement a revenue neutral budget.

She spoke to Johnson’s concern whether he could vote to exceed revenue neutral now evening though he had voted against it earlier in August. She also made a case for not adopting a revenue neutral budget. It was a similar argument used by former county clerk David Lamb last year before he retired.

“If you don’t vote to exceed revenue neutral, you will be at revenue neutral and you will have a lot of cuts that you have to do,” Paletta said. “We know that revenue neutral, for the years that you have done it so far, revenue neutral is not sustainable into the future, so at some point, and that could be as soon as next year, exceeding revenue neutral next year might not be the three mills, it could be six or seven or eight mills.

“So that consideration has to be taken into account as well; that we don’t want to overtax the people by a catastrophic increase in a next-year situation. So as you look at the entirety of the picture you need to consider where you are with your cash reserves, how much it depletes your . . . cash reserves, in so doing prognosticating where you will be next year.

“That could really be high next year. There’s still plenty of work to be done on the budget to decrease it even more as was already pointed out in an earlier budget meeting, that workshop that you all had. So you aren’t bound by your earlier decision, but it does take the both of you voting to exceed in order to exceed.”

Sensing that Johnson’s vote to go revenue neutral would negate her vote to delay being locked into a revenue neutral budget while continuing to work toward that goal, Hamilton asked if the commission could not take a vote on the issue.

But Paletta said that wasn’t an option and that by statute the commission needed to take a roll call vote on the revenue neutral issue once the hearing was completed.

She also explained that the only way the commission could put off locking in a revenue neutral budget was for either commissioner to make a motion not to exceed it and both of them voting “yes” on the measure. She also pointed out that if, during the next few weeks the commission was able to pare the budget down to below the revenue neutral rate, that was also possible.

However, she said that if the two commissioners split 1-to-1 on a motion to either approve or disapprove a budget for a revenue neutral rate, the motion would fail and the county would be forced to accept a revenue neutral budget of the 2026 calendar year.

Johnson couldn’t be dissuaded from his commitment to approve a budget that was revenue neutral and he made a motion to do so. Hamilton seconded the motion but voted against locking the cap on the budget.

With that decision behind the commission, Scot Loyd, an accountant for Linn County, recommended that the final budget should be completed and published by Sept. 20 and then forwarded to the state by Oct. 1.

Despite Loyd’s recommendation, Hamilton suggested the commission hold three budget workshops on Sept. 15, Sept. 22, and Sept. 29. Johnson agreed with the dates.