Fairway residents could pay nearly $350 more on average in property taxes in 2027 if the city’s proposed budget is ultimately approved as is. The Fairway City Council is considering a 4-mill increase to its mill levy, or property tax, rate as part of ongoing discussions over the 2027 budget.

Proposed Budget and Tax Increase

This would take the mill rate from 19.929 mills in 2026 to 23.929 in 2027. It would be the first mill levy rate increase in Fairway since 2016. The proposal for a 4-mill increase comes as the city grapples with the impact inflation is having on its capital improvement plan fund for items like street and facility maintenance or vehicle and equipment purchases, officials said.

While the city council discussed the prospective increase at Monday’s meeting, no final action was taken. The city council approved in a 6-1 vote a resolution signaling its intent to exceed the state-defined revenue neutral rate and set its maximum mill levy rate at 23.929 mills.

Impact on Residents and City Services

Councilmember Kelly-Ann Buszek cast the lone dissenting vote, and Councilmember Emily Snyder was absent. Councilmember Lee Story said he knows a mill levy rate increase is unpopular, but the alternative is to kick it “down the road, which would be easier to do.”

“Frankly, the longer we wait, the more expensive things are to fix, and yet, they will still require fixing,” Story said. Fairway homeowners can use a formula to calculate how much they might pay to the city in property taxes if the proposed mill rate increase is approved.

Using this formula, the average homeowner in Fairway would pay $2,074 to the city in property taxes under the proposed mill levy rate increase. If the city kept the mill levy rate flat at 19.929 mills in 2027, the average homeowner would pay $1,728 to the city in property taxes next year. That is a $346 increase for the average Fairway homeowner.

Original reporting: Johnson County Post (Overland Park) — read the source article.