Guess where else is thinking about a tax increase? That would be Johnson County

Kansas City, Missouri, grabbed no shortage of headlines over the last month for the various sales-tax hikes and renewals facing its residents this year. 

But Johnson County, the wealthiest county in the metro area, also might consider a tax increase of another kind to make ends meet. County Manager Hannes Zacharias’ proposed 2015 budget contemplates a small mill levy increase (.814 mills) to bring up the property-tax rate to 23.247 mills. If passed later this year, it would mark the first such hike in Johnson County since 2006.

How did Johnson County get to the point where it needed to consider boosting the property-tax bill? Two things, mainly. One is a scenario that Johnson County Commissioner Ed Eilert warned about earlier this year when the Kansas Legislature considered getting rid of the mortgage registration and collection fee. GOP-controlled lawmakers, in their unquenchable desire to shrink government, jettisoned the fee during the last legislative session. The fee tolled 26 cents on every $1,000 that a homebuyer borrowed to buy a house and drummed up about $16 million a year for Johnson County’s coffers.

Without that revenue stream, the property-tax increase would offset some of that income loss.

Eilert told lawmakers during the session that getting rid of the fee was a bad idea, the type of idea that might result in a tax increase on the other side of their decision. Eilert has typically opposed tax increases and has cast one of the opponents to his re-election, Ed Peterson, as a commissioner keen on boosting the mill levy.

“I think the commission will take a hard look at any opportunity to mitigate the property-tax increase that has been recommended,” Eilert told The Pitch on Wednesday.

The proposed budget is simply the start of a summer-long process of hearings after which the county commission will approve final spending for the year, usually with some differences from the original proposal.

Peterson maintains that he’s not bent on increasing taxes, but says that the county has budgeted itself into a position over the last several years where a mill-levy escalation has become part of the conversation.

“It’s simply because we’ve cut things so far down to the bone, so we don’t have adequate resources to respond to these situations,” says Peterson, a longtime northeast Johnson County commissioner.

Peterson, who used to be Fairway’s mayor, is running for Eilert’s seat along with Olathe’s Patricia Lightner.

The other side of the proposed property-tax increase would fund part of Johnson County Sheriff Frank Denning’s request for more personnel. Zacharias’ budget meets Denning part of the way. The budget would give the sheriff’s department 20 additional civilian positions and $1.4 million for overtime.

Perhaps county staff is hoping that a few additional sheriff’s personnel will help contain costs on that department’s overtime expenses. An audit from earlier in the year dinged how much Denning’s sheriffs spent on overtime, pointing out that it had reached $4.75 million. Denning thinks he needs more staff in order to curb those costs. His hope for more uniformed personnel was not included in Zacharias’ budget.

While Denning is elected and can spend his budget however he wants, it’s the commission that sets how much money the sheriff’s department receives.

Denning’s spat with commissioners, Eilert in particular, has taken a strange tone. The sheriff’s Facebook page is full of derision toward Eilert. Denning thinks the county wants to overtake his elected position and make it into an appointed position.

“No,” Eilert says. “Absolutely not.”