By Chance Swaim/The Wichita Eagle
In our Reality Check stories, Wichita Eagle journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Story idea? tips@wichitaeagle.com.
Wichita city officials are considering a cut to the city’s property tax rate for the first time in decades. But the cut is so small that the vast majority of homeowners would still see an increase on their city property tax bill as property valuations continue to soar.
The proposal would lower the city’s mill levy from 32.816 mills to 32.316 mills.
For homeowners, that translates to $5.75 in savings for every $100,000 in appraised value. The tax cuts more than double for commercial property owners, who would see $12.50 in savings for every $100,000 in appraised value.
Put another way, the tax break would be enough to cover one day of downtown parking in a city-owned garage — $10 — if your house is worth at least $173,913. Those savings would be captured only by a fraction of homeowners.
Anyone whose appraised value increases by more than 1.6% would not see a tax break from the city next year under the half-mill reduction. They would actually pay more.
For comparison, 99% of Wichita residential properties increased in value by more than 1.6% this year — meaning 1% would see a tax break under the proposed mill levy reduction. That’s 1,635 residential property owners out of 143,830, according to numbers provided by the Sedgwick County Appraiser’s Office.
That increases to 4% (727 out of 19,724) for commercial property owners. It’s just over 1% (30 out of 2,373) for agricultural or rural residential properties.
The mill levy cut is under consideration after the city’s property tax revenue estimates exceeded expectations. The increased revenue comes from new property valuations, which are rising citywide faster than the city’s budget model predicted. The reversal follows years of dire predictions about a fiscal cliff in 2026 and 2027 that have dominated spending discussions since at least 2023.
Last June, city staff told the City Council it should prepare to make cuts to public safety and other top priorities based on a projected budget shortfall of more than $55 million from 2026 to 2028.
Less than a month ago, city staff predicted shortfalls of $2 million in 2026 and $5.5 million in 2027.
Then they got the report from the county appraiser’s office showing valuation increases that flipped those deficits to projected surpluses of $2.6 million in 2026 and $2.3 million in 2027. The surpluses could allow the city to cut its mill levy by half a mill, a proposal that saw mixed reactions from council members who will set the mill levy in August.
Mayor Lily Wu said she supports the mill levy reduction and called the proposal historic. Council member Dalton Glasscock said it was symbolic and could help lay the foundation for more cuts to property taxes, shifting the cost of local government to a future added sales tax.
Others urged caution.
“It is symbolic,” council member Mike Hoheisel said. “If we want to do it, let’s make sure that we do it to where it’s meaningful.”
Hoheisel said $15 for the owner of a $200,000-plus house or “$7 or $8 for someone like me” is not meaningful property tax relief.
“I say put it off and do it in a meaningful manner a little further down the road when we do have these discussions (about a sales tax),” Hoheisel said.
The mill levy reduction would require the council to sign off on some budget cuts that were designed to offset the outdated deficit forecast. The cuts could affect services such as animal control, parks and recreation, public art and libraries.
Wu defended moving forward with cuts to the budget, despite the updated forecast. She said public safety and public works should be prioritized over other city expenses.
“Wants need to be prioritized after we’ve met all the needs,” Wu said. “And needs are when we call 911, we want to make sure a firefighter, a police officer or an EMS from Sedgwick County will show up. And so those are critical.”
“So I believe that it is prudent for us to have a mill levy reduction and seeing it for the first time in over 30 years,” Wu added. “I think it does say something to our community, that we are serious about focusing on needs first.”
Council member Brandon Johnson, who has long advocated for increasing the mill levy, responded to Wu’s comments about priorities. He said public art and parks and recreation help with crime reduction while other initiatives that are viewed as wants by some members of the council are high priorities for many residents.
“As we continue to talk about wants and needs, growing up poor, a lot of things that people would say is a want was something that I needed and something that benefited me,” Johnson said. “And there’s so many in the community like that.”
Glasscock said he would prefer to be more aggressive on lowering the mill levy. But half a mill would be a first step.
“I’m ready to move now on reducing property taxes in a much more substantive way as well,” Glasscock said. “But I think this is symbolic to our community that we’re moving in the right direction and hopefully building trust so when we go towards a sales tax referendum, they know that we’ll be reducing their mill by 10 to 12 mills moving forward as well.”
This article was republished here with the permission of: The Wichita Eagle