Editor’s note: The following is an article I first wrote on Aug. 17, 2024. Since we are embarking on a school bond election, this story is worth a revisit. The figures in this story were for that date when the story was written. Little has changed except that the average county tax rate is now 1.632 percent compared to 1.782 percent. A home valued at $200,000 in Sumner County is currently at $3,264 compared to $3,560 according to smartasset.com. 

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Late August ushers in many things: school, football, and longer nights.

But it also ushers in the annual tradition of raising hell about taxes.

Sumner County property owners received their 2024 Revenue Neutral Rate notice in the mail this week. The consensus: Few people are happy.

But that’s an American tradition. After all the Boston Tea Party was one big tax revolt.

Perhaps, suffice it to say, if misery loves company, Sumner County taxpayers are in good company. Everyone is mad. 

And, think about it this way. We are dealing with the same tax formula, dealing with the same suppliers, and pretty much have the same needs and expenses.

In other words, we are all playing the same game – like we were playing a game of Scrabble.

The game

When your favorite tax entity board is making a budget this month for 2025, they are handed revenue projections based on the anticipated tax money collected. This projections is based on valuations determined by the Sumner County Assessor’s office. The job of the township board, the city council, the rec board, the school board and the county commissioners are to use those revenue projections, and address the expenses.

It isn’t any different than getting a group of Scrabble letters and trying to get the maximum amount of points on the board with the tiles you have.

This December, Sumner County property owners will receive a tax bill a dollar figure that combines their appraised home value and the mill levy presented by the various taxing entities.

There is some good news. The Sumner County Assessor’s office announced the county’s combined assessed valuation is higher than in 2023. The county’s assessed valuation for 2024 is $237.2 million compared to $227.1 million in 2023. That’s good news for taxing entities because they have more revenue for setting up a budget.

However, that doesn’t mean the taxing entity will be lowering taxes.

For example, Wellington City Manager Jeff Porter has already told the council that to make ends meet in 2025, we are looking at a 3-mill increase. There are several reasons for this. The city bought a $1.18 million fire truck. The sales tax for the former Sumner Regional Medical Center is coming to an end. The fire and police departments are requesting additional help.

The mill levy is the tax rate applied to the assessed value. It is determined by dividing the dollars needed for local services by the assessed property value in the service area. An additional amount is then added for public schools. After the local government budgets are published and hearings are completed, the county clerk computes the final mill levies for each tax unit and certifies the tax roll to the county treasurer for collection.

On average, Kansas residents expect to pay $2,860 on a house with an assessed valuation of $200,000, which is 1.43 percent.

In Sumner County, the property tax rate is slightly higher at 1.78 percent. That means for a $200,000 house, a property owner will pay $3,560 in taxes. That equates to about $700 more a year than what the average Kansan pays for a $200,000 house.

But here is the thing. A $200,000 house in Wellington does not have the same value as in Caldwell, Derby or anywhere else in Kansas.

When a house sells in Wellington or anyplace else, the appraiser bases your valuation on the cost of a neighboring home sold. For example, if your house was valued at $100,000 but your neighbor, Mr. Nosypants, sells his nearly identical house for $150,000, you should expect your valuation to go up to $150,000.

Yes, there are other factors. You may have built a new deck or a new roof. Remember, if you think the assessor’s office overvalued your property, you can always protest with the assessor’s office.

Community comparisons

One of the most common complaints local officials receive is that citizens believe they are taxed more than anywhere else. This is a common complaint on Facebook. But keep in mind that all communities use the same state tax formula and have the same suppliers, services, etc.

Sumner Newscow decided to do some comparison shopping. Are Wellington’s property taxes so much higher than those of, say, Caldwell, Gardner, or Wellington, Colo.?

We used figures based on a tax calculator supplied by the smart asset website (see here). This nifty calculator compares what other people pay across the United States. Based on various factors, we picked 13 communities in Kansas for diverse representation. We also included three other “Wellington” communities in Colorado, Florida, and Texas.

Using this tax calculator, The median home value for a county is compared to the median annual property tax payment.

In Sumner County, for example, the average home costs $94,800. Property owners, on average, pay $1,675 for a 1.78 percent rate.

Let’s say you have a home in Wellington valued at $200,000. At a 1.78 percent Sumner County rate, you will expect to pay $3,560. That goes for a $200,000 home in Caldwell and Belle Plaine, also in Sumner County.

If you own a $200,000 home in Arkansas City, you will expect to pay $3,600 – slightly more than Wellington.

Derby is very enticing if you own a $200,000 home. You pay just $2,620, compared to the $3,560 you would in Wellington.

Now, let’s say you own a home in Wellington, Colo. – a community just north of Fort Collins. You only have to pay $1,080 for a $200,000 home. Colorado has some of the lowest property tax rates in the nation.

If you are in Wellington, Fla., you are paying just $1,960.

However, those figures alone only tell half the story. A $200,000 home in Wellington, Kansas, is a pretty nice home. A $200,000 home in Wellington, Colorado, will likely be a dump. According to Zillow, the average cost of a home sold in Wellington, Kans., is $106,269. The state average is $232,850.

But in Wellington, Colo., it’s $482,810 – more than four times the cost here.

If you buy a house in Gardner in Johnson County, you should expect to pay an average of $337,097. That $200,000 house in Wellington is probably worth $600,000 in Gardner, so you could pay $7,440 in property taxes. That is assuming your above-average home in Wellington is considered average in Gardner.

See its relative.

While Gardner is an example of high-end property in Kansas, the average home price there is still cheaper than in Wellington, Colo. And if you are in Wellington, Fla., in Palm Springs County, with that great weather and beaches on the horizon, expect to pay $682,638 for an average house. Whew.

So, the moral of the story is that while your taxes in Wellington, Kans. may seem high, they really aren’t any different than any place else.

We are all playing from the same Scrabble board.

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