photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

The Douglas County Commission concluded its 2025 budget deliberations on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.

Douglas County commissioners concluded three days of budget hearings Tuesday with a smaller mill levy than originally proposed and the expectation that residents will see some tax relief.

As the Journal-World reported, by the close of Monday’s second day of budget deliberations, commissioners had lowered the initially proposed mill levy, which is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, of 44.208 mills to 41.298, a reduction of 2.91 mills. This resulted in a budget reduction that amounts to $5,937,342.

Commissioners made one final decision at Tuesday’s abbreviated meeting, the last day of 2025 budget deliberations. The Journal-World reported that to reduce the mill levy, commissioners transferred $500,000 in funding for capital improvement projects to the road and bridge fund. Instead, the commission decided to use funding from their one-time fund balance to fund these projects.

As the deliberations on the budget came to an end, Commissioner Patrick Kelly said that not only is the mill levy a decrease from the original proposal, but it will also be a decrease from what people paid to Douglas County last year.

“We hear a lot about how reducing the mill levy doesn’t always mean reducing my taxes,” Kelly said. “In this case, with this mill levy, if we stay with it, that does mean it will reduce your taxes.”

While there may be some relief for Douglas County residents, Kelly also acknowledged effects on the county’s community partners.

“I recognize that’s a loss for some of our partners,” Kelly said. “I recognize that some of the conversations we’ve had over the past couple days are not about financial loss, but about organizational control and things like that, so this can be a really tough time.”

The decisions for the budget came down to two big pieces, the fire department’s expansion projects – the department is wanting to open additional fire stations and other resources to provide effective response coverage with other areas of the city – and addressing staff salaries, Commissioner Karen Willey said.

“I really appreciate that we have dug into some places to make this happen and still be able to turn back the levy and tax dollars,” Willey said.

Commissioner Shannon Reid said she wanted to thank her fellow commissioners for the collaboration in coming to these decisions.

“I’m just really proud of us as a commission for holding lots of truths at once and making hard decisions while ultimately being able to expand services with necessary additions while also being able to legitimately lower the tax burden for property owners in our community,” she said.

Further deliberations will occur after budget hearings for the five-year Capital Improvement Plan and Douglas County Consolidated Fire District No. 1. Those hearings will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The final vote on the budget is scheduled for the County Commission meeting on Aug. 28. To view the proposed budget, visit dgcoks.gov/open-budget.