By Jackson Swearer
You have probably noticed: it’s budget season for local governments.
It is hard not to, with the extra meetings and notifications.
In recent years, the Kansas Legislature has required cities and counties to take an extra step to declare that they intend to exceed the revenue neutral rate, which Reno County did earlier this year.
That sounds to some like a tax increase, but remember that remaining revenue neutral means cutting the mill levy every year, losing ground to inflation and placing us on a path of inevitable decline.
While no one likes property taxes, we do need our local governments to at least function. Just maintaining what we have requires revenue to go up year-over-year.
I, for one, am not willing to settle for the slow whittling away of services until our rural communities fade away.
In fact, I’d like to see us reverse our declining population trend. We won’t do that with more cuts.
Having said that, many of our neighbors have low and fixed incomes and cannot afford property taxes to be raised too high. Some say they already are.
Despite these concerns from residents, some of our local taxing entities seem prepared to modestly raise their mill rates. For a median-value Reno County home, this might result in about a $60 increase.
Investing in the growth of our tax base is the only sustainable way for us to reduce the tax burden on the people who live here now.
That may mean some additional spending in the short term. Fostering housing development and job growth requires investments in staff, programs and outside agencies who provide crucial support.
More crudely, you have to spend money to make money.
Still, we do have a group of very tax-conscious policymakers on the county commission. They’re taking a look at what they can cut.
It is prudent and good governance to look for fat in the budget to trim. Earlier this month, our Editorial Board suggested a way Reno County could avoid spending $500,000.
I urge our commissioners to be wise and judicious with what they cut. Some investments are worth making.
My hope is that we move forward with optimism toward a bright future of sustained growth rather than accepting a slow decline toward inevitable death like so many other rural communities across Kansas.
Jackson Swearer is the Publisher of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached jackson@hutchtribune.com.