photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners met on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 during budget deliberations.

Updated at 4:13 p.m., Tuesday, July 15, 2026

Douglas County commissioners are finalizing their budget decisions for 2027, and following deliberations on Tuesday, are looking at a reduction to the property tax rate.

Following budget deliberations, county staff have calculated a $199.6 million budget with a property tax rate – or mill levy – of 40.285 mills, based on what county commissioners decided to fund in 2027. That mill levy represents a reduction of 0.384 mills from the 2027 proposed budget staff presented earlier this month.

However, those figures may differ on Wednesday, as county staff plans to verify all budget calculations before meeting with commissioners again Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. to wrap up budget deliberations.

County commissioners achieved the mill levy reduction by moving some ongoing expenses to the county’s behavioral health tax fund to reduce pressure on the general fund. In addition, commissioners decided to lower the property tax delinquency rate from 2% to 1.5%, assuming a higher rate of tax collections.

With the mill levy at 40.285 mills, a homeowner with a $600,000 home would pay $2,779 in property taxes to the county. A $300,000 home would have a bill of $1,389, and a $200,000 home would incur $926 in taxes.

However, the tax a property owner pays is determined by both the mill levy and the property’s assessed value, so even if tax rates stay steady or are lowered, rising property values might still cause tax bills to go up for many residents. The total assessed property valuation increased 4.9% in 2026, compared to a 5.7% increase the previous year.

Going into the budget process, Commissioner Shannon Reid said she had the intent of maintaining a flat mill levy, but was happy there was a mill levy reduction while maintaining services and other goals.

“It was not a goal of mine to lower the mill levy,” Reid said. “If we happen to lower it after coming to consensus … great. That’s a win, even if it’s slight.”

County commissioners plan to reach consensus on where they want to set the mill levy ahead of their business meeting Wednesday evening. Because during that meeting, they will vote on whether to exceed the revenue neutral rate — the property tax rate that would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year — for both the county budget and the Consolidated Fire District No. 1 budget.

County commissioners have said they want to increase the mill levy for CFD No. 1 in order to fund 10 additional staff members for the rural fire district. The current mill levy is set at 6 mills. While the cost of the staff expansion was originally anticipated to increase the mill levy by 4.10 mills, county staff told commissioners on Monday that it was actually more of a 3.830-mill increase. This number may also change following county staff calculations.

This would increase the property tax rate to 9.830 mills. Any property tax increase for CFD No. 1 would not be countywide. The increase would only apply to properties located in the fire district, which was formed in 2020 with the consolidation of township fire departments in Wakarusa, Kanwaka, Eudora, Clinton and Lecompton townships.

Commissioner Karen Willey said with the significant increase to the CFD No. 1’s mill levy, she wanted to see what funding could be trimmed countywide in the county’s budget. Willey added that she wanted to see if commissioners could continue the trend in lowering the mill levy, a goal they have achieved over the past several years.

The county’s revenue neutral rate is 38.605 mills for the 2027 budget, and CFD No. 1’s rate is 5.652 mills. There will be public hearings ahead of both votes on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s action by county commissioners does not approve the final budget for 2027, though. County commissioners will consider adopting the 2027 budget after a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

An additional hearing is scheduled at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 22 for the county’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated county staff’s calculated budget. It is $199.6 million.