Story updated at 8:27 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, 2025:
When Douglas County started working on its budget for 2026, county staff wanted to hold the property tax rate at the same level as it was for 2025.
But on Wednesday, county commissioners decided it could go a little bit lower.
The County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to set the maximum property tax rate, or mill levy, for the 2026 budget at 40.669 ...
Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday agreed to join a plan to help bring an affordable housing project to East Lawrence by offering a 15-year tax rebate.
On Wednesday, county commissioners authorized staff to execute a cooperative agreement with the City of Lawrence, Douglas County and the Lawrence school district to administer an affordable housing project, 9 Del Lofts II at 716 E. Ninth St. This will ...
Douglas County commissioners are potentially planning to reserve $1 million for mental health crisis care in 2026, while delaying some funding decisions for Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center amid financial concerns.
During budget deliberations on Tuesday, county commissioners wanted to address the rising costs for services at the Treatment & Recovery Center, but were hesitant to fund several ...
Douglas County plans to exceed the revenue neutral rate for 2026, with a maximum property tax rate anticipated to be set on Wednesday.
The revenue neutral rate is the property tax rate – or mill levy – required to raise the same amount of property tax revenue as the prior year, using the current year assessed valuation amount. According to a memo to county commissioners, that rate would be 38.958 mills. One ...
Former school board president Kelly Jones criticized the Trump administration’s freeze on nearly $7 billion in federal education funding, warning it will severely impact support for vulnerable students and already under-resourced public schools.
On Monday, Jones shared her frustrations after the Trump administration chose to withhold nearly $7 billion in education funding for students learning English, ...
Douglas County commissioners plan to potentially cut at least one-third of their funding to a University of Kansas center for startup companies, arguing that some businesses have stayed many years and aren’t paying taxes.
At deliberations for the 2026 budget on Monday, county commissioners expressed a desire in cutting funding to KU's Innovation Park, which houses laboratories and office space for startups, ...
