By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council voted to notify the county clerk of its intent to exceed the Revenue Neutral Rate at its meeting on Tuesday.
"It gives the finance director, myself, the authority to provide this to the county clerk, to provide notice that we will exceed our Revenue Neutral mill levy," said Angela Richard, Director of Finance. "It also establishes the public hearing date. You can see on your memo that our 2021 mill levy was 44.462 and from our budget study sessions, a majority of the council would like to keep that mill levy flat."
Because of an increase in overall valuation to the city, much of which is a result of the Siemens plant coming on the tax rolls, even holding the mill levy flat generates about $270,813 more in taxes than the city did last year, but an average homeowner will only pay more if their individual house value goes up.
"If your valuation stays flat and our mill levy stays flat, you will be paying the same amount of tax year after year," Richard said.
However, with real estate prices going up across the country and appraisals for valuation purposes at least to some degree based on sales of comparable homes, it is logical to think that homeowners who keep their properties in good repair could still see valuation increases over the long term simply because of inflation in home prices overall and the devaluation of the dollar.
The council voted 4-1 to approve the notification, with council member Sara Bagwell voting against. The public hearing will be September 7th.