Even when mill levies are steady, property taxes are going up.

Property tax increases can be a pretty sneaky thing. Even when local officials say they aren’t raising taxes, the bills continue to go up.

There are, of course, two parts to the property tax equation: the mill levy approved by local units of government and the property valuation on which that mill levy will be paid. In recent years, good news on one front too often has been canceled out by bad news on the other.

Small increases or even no increase in a city or county mill levy sounds like good news until its applied to what has been an increasing valuation on local property. Then comes the bad news. The same house you lived in last year has a higher value now and so produces a higher tax bill.

The overall property valuation that will be used to figure the 2003 budget actually rose only moderately, compared to some years. The 5.5 percent increase in valuation is the smallest since a 3.3 percent increase in 1992. The average increase in valuation over the past three years has been 8.7 percent. That means that even if local governments hold the line on the mill levy for 2003, Douglas County residents will pay 5.5 percent more in property taxes.

Theoretically, as valuation rises, it should require a smaller mill levy to raise the money needed to support the city, county and school budgets, but it doesn’t usually work that way. Douglas County commissioners are at least headed in the right direction. They are reviewing a recommended budget that calls for an 0.8 percent cut in the property tax rate. That’s a lot less than the 5.5 percent increase in valuation, but it’s something.

City commissioners, on the other hand, are looking at a budget that would require an increase of about 0.3 percent in the mill levy. The 0.8-mill increase would add only 80 cents of tax for every $1,000 of property valuation, but the impact is increased by the rise in property valuation. The owner of a $150,000 home would see a property tax increase of $120 for the year. The only problem is that the house that was valued at $150,000 last year is worth more like $159,000 this year. When the 0.8 mill increase is applied to the larger valuation, the increase is $127 for the year.

That $7 isn’t a lot of money, but it illustrates how even a small mill-levy increase can be multiplied when coupled with increases in property valuation that have become an annual event in Lawrence. People who are selling property in the city may benefit from those valuation increases, but those who continue to live in the same houses simply see their tax bills go up.

There are a couple of points this situation should make clear. One is the importance of local officials doing their best to keep property tax increases to a minimum. Even when the mill levy remains steady, people will pay more taxes, and officials need to be sensitive to that, especially in light of tax increases that have been required to fund the state budget.

The second point is the need to mitigate the effect of property tax increases on residential property. Without more business development in Lawrence and Douglas County, the local property tax burden will fall progressively harder on residential taxpayers. Local officials and local residents must be mindful of that property tax balance.

In addition to their own budget concerns, city and county officials also are trying to take up the slack for services cut by the state because of serious revenue shortfalls. It’s a difficult year, but officials should do whatever they can to try to avoid adding to the burden borne by taxpayers.