La Cygne council wrestles with language on sales tax ballot ahead of town hall meeting

On April 1 at 5 p.m., the La Cygne City Council begins a series of town hall meetings on the proposed changes to one of the city's 1% sales taxes. (Wix file photo)

By Roger Sims, Journal staff

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

LA CYGNE – In the run-up to a town hall meeting on the proposed change in one of La Cygne’s two 1% sales taxes, the consensus of the La Cygne City Council was to not determine how the sales tax would be split if the issue passed.

A town hall meeting about the proposed change in the sales tax for the pool is slated for 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, at the Swan Room in the La Cygne Library.

In an issue that is expected to be on the Nov. 3 ballot, voters will determine whether to keep the current 1% sales tax that has all of the proceeds going to the city’s swimming pool and park. A “no” vote will keep the sales tax as it is until it sunsets on Sept. 30, 2034.

A “yes” vote will allow the city to use the sales tax for street repairs,  stormwater management, sidewalks, and maintenance of the swimming pool and improvements at La Cygne Community Park. If that sales tax issue passes and the council decides go for a 25 year term, it will go into effect on April 1, 2027, and will sunset 25 years later on March 30, 2052.

The discussion by the council centered around how flexible the uses of the tax could be.

Councilmember Jerome Mitzner said that it wouldn’t make sense to lock in 10% of the tax proceeds to the pool maintenance and 90% to streets and improving stormwater drainage that needs might change and would call for a different allocation of funds.

Wade sent out a revised sample ballot with the language on Thursday. While city staff was hoping to have the language of the ballot question clear by the time the series of town hall meetings began, council members did not particularly like the first three samples that were presented to them.

Mitzner also suggested that the council should be open to allowing members of the public give input on the ballot language.

The vote will not affect the other 1% sales tax that has been in effect since 1988, according to Wade. She said that sales tax does not have a sunset date, nor does it have a specific target for use of the funds.

Councilmember Robert Sullivan said that many city residents had the idea that the sales tax issue that passed in 1988 was targeted to maintaining the streets.

“From our research, that’s not the case,” Wade said. “That’s why you should specify what it's for. Our only concern with verbiage is it doesn’t target what tax will be used for.

That sales tax approved in 1988 added about $200,000 to the city’s general fund budget in 2025. If the council was to delete that sales tax the city would need to increase property taxes or cut services.

A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property valuation. Kansas has a statewide assessment percentage of 11.5% for residences, so a house with an appraised market value of $300,000 would have a tax assessment value of $34,500. If the tax rate on that residence is one mill, the tax levied would be $34.50.

According to Wade, 2026 assessed valuation for La Cygne was just over $9,848,500, so a mill is worth $9,849. If the sales that goes directly into the general fund was eliminated, it would take a property tax increase of 20.31 mills to make up the $200,000 that sales tax currently adds to the general fund. That would be a property tax increase of about $700 annually on that $300,000 home.

Wade said it was important for the council to specify that the issue was a sales tax issue and not an increase in property taxes.