By Jody Hanson

Johnson County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson has presented her proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget to Board of County Commissioners.

The proposed budget includes a full mill rollback (0.82 mills for the county taxing district, 0.10 mills for Johnson County Library and 0.08 mills for Johnson County Park and Recreation District). If approved, this would be Johnson County’s fifth mill levy reduction in six years.

The county manager addressed two priority challenges in the proposed FY 2023 budget.

“While we always have the budgetary goal of aligning our resources with the priorities of the Board and the community, this year we must address our workforce market pressures along with our community’s property tax pressures,” said the County Manager.

Along with the nation and the region, in a time of extremely low unemployment, Johnson County Government is experiencing higher-than-typical employee turnover and several years of projected increases in retirements. The proposed FY 2023 budget increases pay and benefits appropriately to help retain and recruit the talented workforce needed to provide services to the Johnson County community.

Additionally, Johnson County’s housing market trends have led to a 10% growth in assessed valuation. The proposed full mill reduction would help address the pressure on property owners.

FY 2023 Budget by the numbers

• $1.64 billion: $1.15 billion in expenditures and $488.1 million in reserves.
• 4,173.74 Full Time Equivalent positions, a net increase of 37.26 FTEs from the FY 2022 budget.
• $4.5 million in ongoing additional resources and approximately $38.7 million in one-time expenses to address increased demands, inflationary pressures and onetime needs.

“The proposed budget relieves workforce pressures, fulfills a portion of the Requests for Additional Resources which align with the BOCC priorities and the feedback we received in the 2022 Community Survey, funds the 2023 capital improvement projects, keeps an adequate reserve that contributes to us maintaining the coveted Triple AAA bond rating, sets aside funds for the potential worst case revenue loss regarding the ‘Dark Store Theory’ cases, and allows us to continue to provide our programs and services,” said Postoak Ferguson.

Estimated tax notice in August Johnson County Government wants to provide you with a heads up on information residents can expect to receive in the mail in early August.

Please note this will not be a bill and does not include information on special assessments that may be charged.

As a Johnson County resident, your property is included in a number of taxing subdivisions. Examples include the state, county, city, fire district, library and Park and Recreation District, among others. If a taxing subdivision plans to use more property tax revenue in the next budget year compared to the current year, they would be exceeding the revenue-neutral rate.

Recent changes in state law require the county to mail an estimated tax notice on behalf of a subdivision that plans to exceed the revenue-neutral rate. The notice also serves as notification for a public hearing required to take place by a subdivision that plans to exceed the revenue-neutral rate.

In early August, Johnson County Government will mail all county residents a single estimated tax notice on behalf of their taxing subdivisions. The form will include data on specific property values and taxes as well as dates, times and locations of upcoming public hearings.

Learn more about this topic and see a template of the estimated tax notice at https://www.jocogov.org/department/treasury-taxation-and-vehicles/estimated-tax-notice.

Jody Hanson is director of Public Affairs and Communication at the Johnson County Manager’s Office.