By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

In 2015,  the city of Hays won’t have a mill levy increase.  As 2015 budget talks begin to conclude, the city of Hays’ mill levy will be set at 25 mills for the fifth consecutive year. Compared to similar cities in Kansas, it is one of the lowest mill levies outside of Johnson County. Below is a list of similar cities and their mill levy rates:

-Garden City-31.13

-Emporia-41.58

-Great Bend-45.80

-El Dorado-47.24

-Liberal-47.85

-McPherson-51.02

-Dodge City-52.06

-Arkansas City-68.61

In 2006, the city commission decided to take several measure to ensure low property taxes such as transferring money from the Commission Capital Reserve in order to reduce it. This year, a $270,276 tansfer was require. According to Assistant City Manager Paul Briseno, over the past seven years, over $1.5 million has been transferred in order to reduce the levy. The commission has also decided to use excess funds in order to pay for large projects so that no new debt is incurred. Over $8 million in excess cash has been utilized in order to prevent the occurrence of any new debt.

The city has also capped employee health insurance at $9,500 per employee which prevents an annual increase of 15-20% in property taxes each year. According to Briseno, the city has spent approximately $10 million through these endeavors in order to reduce property taxes, which is equivalent to eight mills each year.

In the city of Hays, one mill is equivalent to $205,056 and the city has a proposed valuation increase of 2.7% in 2015.