County property tax rate down to $1.36, budgets OKed by committee

Property values going up over 60% in this year's revaluation has caused an 85-cent property tax decrease for Johnson County. Johnson County Director of Accounts and Budgets Russell Robinson relayed the news to the county budget committee at its June 8 meeting, the last of a series of weekly meetings centered around the 2026-27 budget. The exact property tax rate is $1.3621 per $100 valuation. Out of that levy, 80.74 cents will go to the county general fund, 42.53 cents going to General Purpose School, 8.01 cents going to General Debt Service and 4.93 cents going to General Capital Projects. Board Chair Freddy Phipps said he was amazed there was no tax increase or dipping into reserves. County Mayor Larry Potter said next year, he expects a property tax increase of five or six cents from the $1.36 rate for 2026-27. The committee unanimously approved the new tax rate, which goes to the full commissioners on Thursday, June 17, for a first reading. The second reading is slated for Monday, June 29, with public comment at 6 p.m. and the special meeting at 7 p.m. The 2026-27 budget must be approved by the end of June. After the tax rate, the committee approved the 2026-27 appropriations resolution — County General, Public Library, $1,033,000, Drug Control: $48,673, Highway and Public Works: $2,639,335, School General Purpose: $49,204,411, Central Cafeteria: $1,925,000, Other Special Revenue: $641,925, General Debt Service: $1,683,971, General Capital Projects: $358,232, and Community Development/Industrial Park: $262,556. Those funds, plus others previously approved out of committee the week before, put the 2026-27 county budget at $74,176,426. Robinson said this is down from 2025-26 due to dropping COVID funds and construction projects. This full resolution was unanimously approved. Robinson said he anticipates some add-ons in a few months from the new meat processing facility on Pedro Shoan and the Mosier Building. To start the meeting, without any dissent, the budget committee unanimously approved the Johnson County Schools' budget of $49,204,411, not counting Central Cafeteria, federal projects and the Head Start Fund. Director of Schools Mischelle Simcox presented a balanced budget with a $2,500 pay increase for certified employees (mandated by the governor) to get the base pay to $50,500, a 50-cent increase for non-certified personnel and a $500 bonus for non-certified employees. There is a 4.375% mid-year health insurance increase for all employees, an increase in single-policy insurance payments from $30 to $60 a month for 10 months, an increase in custodial supplies for $25,000 and a $50,000 increase to other contracted services, such as HVAC. The school system added a Career and Technical Education (CTE) secretary, cosmetology teacher, meat processing teacher, a National Defense Corps teacher and a maintenance position due to the planned utilization of the meat processing plant and the Mosier Building. The school system cut two elementary teaching positions, an assistant position and moved an SRO position to the county budget due to enrollment decreases. Those positions were absorbed due to retirements. Simcox said total enrollment is around 1,850 students, with Roan Creek Elementary School suffering the biggest decline. Middle and high school enrollment has also decreased. "I think we're becoming more of a retirement community," Simcox said, adding they've lost some kids to homeschool and virtual, but not as many as some may think.