We, the undersigned residents and taxpayers of Jackson County, Kansas, formally oppose the Board of Commissioners' proposal to exceed the 2026 Revenue Neutral Rate.

The recent history of this rate:

A quick note on terms first. A "mill" is the unit the county uses to set its tax rate. One mill equals one dollar of tax for every one thousand dollars of a property's assessed value. The numbers below (72.660, 70.417, 68.316, 75.012) are that rate, not percentages and not dollar figures on their own. A higher mill rate applied to the same property produces a larger bill.

According to the Jackson County Clerk's office and reporting by the Holton Recorder, the county's mill levy was 72.660 mills funding the 2025 budget, and was reduced to 70.417 mills funding the 2026 budget, a decrease of 2.243 mills. This demonstrates that the Board of Commissioners is capable of reducing this rate when it chooses to.

This year, the Board is proposing 75.012 mills, a rate higher than both last year's actual levy and the levy from two years ago.

Understanding the numbers:

As explained above, the mill rate is what determines your actual bill when applied to your property's assessed value. When property values rise, county government already collects more tax revenue automatically, even if the tax rate does not change. To account for this, Kansas law requires the county clerk to calculate a revenue neutral rate each year. This is the rate that would collect the exact same total dollar amount the county collected last year, no more and no less, even after this year's higher property valuations are applied. For Jackson County, that rate is 68.316 mills.

The revenue neutral rate already accounts for rising property values. Any rate above 68.316 is not the county keeping pace with rising valuations. It is the county collecting additional revenue beyond what rising valuations already provide. The gap between the revenue neutral rate and the proposed rate amounts to approximately 1.12 million dollars in additional property tax revenue countywide, an increase of 9.8 percent in a single year.

Why we oppose this increase:

The county's own recent history shows this rate can go down as well as up. A reduction happened just one year ago. There is no structural reason this rate must rise nearly 10 percent now, only a decision by this Board to ask for it.

Jackson County taxpayers are already absorbing higher costs for groceries, insurance, fuel, and other necessities. County government should be held to the same standard of financial discipline that every household and small business in this county practices.

We ask the Board to identify, specifically and publicly, what new service or improvement this additional revenue will provide to the average taxpayer that is not already being provided today. Absent a clear answer, this increase should not proceed.

We call on the Jackson County Commission to:

1. Reject the proposed 75.012 mill levy.
2. Adopt a mill levy at or below the revenue neutral rate of 68.316 mills.
3. Identify budget reductions rather than tax increases to close any funding gap.

By signing below, I confirm I am a resident and/or property owner in Jackson County, Kansas, and I urge the Board of Commissioners to reject this proposed tax increase at the public hearing on August 26, 2026, 7:00 PM, Memorial Hall, Jackson County Courthouse, Holton, KS.