Downtown Lawrence property owners hope there is strength in numbers when it comes to fighting rising property tax bills.

About 20 downtown property owners met Tuesday to discuss ways to avoid large property tax increases, like the one last year that caught many small businesses by surprise.

“Last year was a real double whammy because our property valuations went up and the mill levies went up too,” said George Paley, a downtown landlord. “I think for most people it was the largest percentage increase in taxes that they had ever seen.”

Paley, for example, said one of his tenants, who usually pays a portion of the property taxes, went from paying $1,000 in property taxes to $4,000 in property taxes for the tenants’ share of the tax bill.

“That’s a lot of money to suddenly put in your expense column if you’re a small business,” Paley said.

Tuesday’s meeting, organized by Downtown Lawrence Inc., didn’t produce any easy answers. The closest the group came to a solution was vowing to work together to make sure public officials understand the hardships higher taxes were causing downtown businesses, especially mom-and-pop retail shops.

“We’re going to have to work together,” Paley said. “We have to help people understand that our downtown is a fragile thing and we can’t ever take it for granted.”

Increasing property values have been a major factor in the increase in property tax bills. Last year, the Douglas County Appraiser’s Office increased property values in the area by an average of 15 percent. This year, Douglas County Appraiser Marion Johnson said the average downtown increase would be between 2 percent and 4 percent. Property owners should begin receiving their change of value notices Feb. 28.

But several property owners said increasing property values weren’t the main problem.

“I think for the most part the county appraiser has given us the correct values for buildings downtown,” said Pat Talbott with Jayhawk Equities, a Lenexa-based company that owns several downtown buildings. “I think the problem is the mill levies that we’re all paying. I think that is where we have to look for a change.”

Last year, the city commission approved a 9.9 percent increase in the city’s mill levy, while the county approved a 7.3 percent increase. The school district’s mill levy dropped by 4.3 percent. A mill is $1 in property tax for every $1,000 in assessed value.

City commissioners Boog Highberger and David Schauner both attended the meeting and pledged to work harder to keep the city’s mill levy steady during this year’s budgeting process.

0 “It will be as hard or harder than last year, but I think we’ll just have to get serious and make some cuts.”

Highberger said the downtown group also should involve area legislators in their efforts. He said it may be appropriate for the state to pass a law that would cap how fast a property’s taxable value can rise in any given year, which he said would provide more stability to areas like the downtown.