What do “mills” actually mean?
• One mill is equivalent to $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
• Assessed property values are 11.5% of appraised, or market, values for residential properties. (So, a home appraised at $300,000 has an assessed value of $34,500.)
• So, divide your home’s assessed value by $1,000 and multiply that by a taxing jurisdiction’s mill rate to figure out how much in annual property taxes you will owe for that jurisdiction’s share of your annual tax bill.

How will this impact my tax bill?

For 2024, Prairie Village’s property tax rate is budgeted to remain the same at 18.309 mills.

The city council in 2022 approved a decrease in its property tax rate: A one-mill reduction from 19.322 in 2022 to 18.322 in 2023 (the actual rate in 2023 was 18.309, and Finance Director Jason Hannaman told the city council slight fluctuation is common).

Enter rising property values into the equation, though, and homeowners are likely to pay more in 2024 on their annual property tax bill.

That’s because a city’s property tax rate, also called a mill levy rate, tells owners how much they pay in taxes based on their home’s assessed value.

The average home value in Prairie Village in 2023 is $496,424 — up 16% from the average home value in 2022.

Here’s how to calculate your actual tax bill based on the newly adopted 2024 budget.

• Multiply your home value by the resident assessment rate in Johnson County of .115.
• Take that number, divide it by 1,000 and multiply the outcome by the city’s 18.309 property tax rate.
• This means the average Prairie Village homeowner will pay $1,045 in taxes to the city in 2024, compared to $897 in 2023.

Reminder: The city is not the only entity homeowners pay taxes to with their annual tax bill. Prairie Villagers, like all Johnson Countians, pay taxes to other jurisdictions, including school districts and the county itself.

Prairie Village’s “all in” spending budget is $31 million

The adopted, “all in” budget is funded through property and sales taxes, grants, user fees and other sources, according to city documents.

Of the $3.8 million increase from 2023 to 2024, $1.2 million is going to higher city staff wages — the result of a 2022 salary study that called for paying city staff more.

There are several other expenditure increases, some of which are anticipated increases and others of which are unexpected or higher-than-expected increases.

For example, one anticipated expense increase is an additional $15,000 for ballistic helmets and shields for the police department, according to city documents.

An example of an unexpected or higher-than-expected expense is the price increases from vendors on tree maintenance and repairs, resulting in about a $38,000 increase.

Read the entire 2024 budget online here.

City council supports budget, one resident questions spending

Several councilmembers on Monday expressed support for the 2024 budget, particularly the investment in city staff.

Councilmember Chad Herring said it is no accident that “Prairie Village is a superlative community,” nodding to city staff and the work that goes into crafting annual budgets.

Resident John Anderson, however, questioned whether the city council scrutinized the budget enough before a draft made its way before them for approval.

Anderson said highlighting a one-mill reduction for the 2023 budget while appraised values rise paints a false “hunky-dory” picture for residents. Anderson said there must be opportunities to make budget cuts.

Councilmember Terrence Gallagher asked city staff what budget cuts would mean for city services. City Administrator Wes Jordan said that would mean the city council would need “to make some hard choices about what service do you want to cut.”

Jordan added that the majority of city spending is for essential services in the 2024 budget.

Gallagher said that while the city does look at the budget very closely, “there is enough of us here hearing it, (so) we’re going to maybe look at it a little bit tighter and how we can try to make some cuts” next year.

The city council adopted the budget and approved exceeding the revenue neutral rate in two separate 11 to 0 votes. Councilmember Inga Selders was absent.

Go deeper: Overland Park’s 2024 budget goes up 15% as property tax rate stays flat