We just received the 2019 Johnson County Disaster Preparedness Survey draft report from our partner ETC Institute.  This year we had over 1000 people complete the survey!  We are currently working with ETC on the final report and hope to have the full report out for public consumption before the end of the year.  For now, we will be releasing small snippets of info on social media.  Follow us on Facebook: Johnson County Emergency Management and Twitter: @joco_emergency.

The Johnson County Treasury and Financial Management department has begun mailing 204,736 real estate and 18,942 personal property tax statements to Johnson County taxpayers. The first half real estate and personal property taxes are due on or before Thursday, December 20, 2018, and the second half taxes are due on or before Friday, May 10, 2019. The real estate tax statement contains a comparison section between this year’s and last year’s tax breakdown. If the taxes are paid by the mortgage company, the statement will say “THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL” at the bottom. For those taxpayers that pay their statements directly, there will be a return payment stub at the bottom of the statement

Please note that the 'SCH CAPITAL OUTLAY' taxes levied by your local school district are showing in 2018 as a separate taxing authority record on your tax statement.  On prior tax statements, these funds were included in the 'UNIFIED' taxing authority associated with your school district.  This is for display purposes only.

Taxpayers have several convenient options to pay their taxes:

• Online - Through our website, taxbill.jocogov.org, tax payments may be submitted electronically using our eCheck option for only $1 per transaction, or by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, and Discover) for a 2.4% service fee per transaction.
• By Mail – Taxpayers can mail a check along with the payment stub to PO Box 2902, Shawnee Mission, KS 66201.
• In Person - Taxpayers can make a payment at our office location, 111 S. Cherry Street, Suite 1500 in Olathe. Forms of payment accepted at our office include cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, or Discover card (payment by credit/debit card includes an additional 2.4% service fee).

There are many other services on our website that may be helpful this tax season. Taxpayers may view an electronic version of their tax statement and print off tax receipts once their payment has been processed. They may also find important Tax Forms and get many questions answered through our Frequent Questions page.

More than 100 local government and public safety employees may feel more prepared to handle a disaster today. Multiple jurisdictions and organizations took part in a full-day annual Johnson County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) exercise on Wednesday. After being given a scenario of civil unrest in Johnson County that continued to unfold throughout the day, about 120 people worked together, either in the EOC or off site, and practiced their Emergency Support Functions, or ESFs. 

The annual exercise is the county’s opportunity to test, in partnership with cities, its processes and procedures that would be in place should a disaster or crisis strike.

Examples of functions representatives practice included public safety, mass casualty, logistics, planning, procurement and communications. This is the county’s 4th annual full scale exercise. Each year offers a new opportunity for participants to learn and practice all of their skills in a controlled setting.
Photo courtesy: Trent Pittman

The Public Building Commission authorized the sale of bonds to fund construction of the new Johnson County Courthouse and the county’s first ever medical examiner facility. The sale of the Series 2018A bonds, totaling $148.6 million, with a true interest rate of 2.39 percent.

Most of the Series 2018A bonds will finance the construction of the new courthouse in downtown Olathe. The bonds will also be used to build the new medical examiner facility. That project will be constructed south of the Criminalistics Laboratory of the Sheriff’s Office on the Johnson County Government campus at 119th Street and Ridgeview Road. More information is available in this news release.