Shawnee County owed taxpayers better transparency before property tax rate vote

The Capital-Journal
·2 min read

Shawnee County property owners are likely about to get a tax refund.

The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Stacey Saldanha-Olson reports the Board of Tax Appeals of the State of Kansas found the Shawnee County Commission had violated state law when setting the property tax rate last year and the county has been ordered to return the extra collected funds to county taxpayers.

This is because a 2021 Kansas law requires local governments to follow a list of actions if their property tax rate exceeds the previous year, including holding a public hearing where citizens can comment and publicly voting to exceed the rate among other things.

When Shawnee County Commissioner Aaron Mays left the commission room after a property tax rate hearing last year, some in the audience thought the meeting was over.
When Shawnee County Commissioner Aaron Mays left the commission room after a property tax rate hearing last year, some in the audience thought the meeting was over.

The Board of Tax Appeals found Shawnee County to have violated Kansas law by ending the hearing and one commissioner leaving the room — leading many to believe the meeting was over — only for the commission to reopen the meeting and vote.

"Video of the meeting shows that numerous members of the public, including members of the press, and Commissioner (Aaron) Mays left the room," the document states. "Shortly, thereafter Commissioner Mays returned to the room. At approximately 8:25 p.m., Commissioner Riphahn made a motion to reopen the meeting."

Saldanha-Olson reports the county argued a vote was properly taken after the revenue-neutral rate hearing and the county commissioners complied with the statutory procedure to exceed the rate.

Does this seem like a lot of semantics? Possibly. But semantics matter and nearly $6 million is at stake here. That could impact the county’s plans to fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure. It also could mean needed funds going back into taxpayer pockets as the prices of goods rise.

Did Shawnee County commissioners try to trick participants of a public hearing about the mill levy? We don't know.

We do know commissioners should go to great lengths to ensure community members are engaged in their meetings. If they end a hearing (and not the meeting, they claimed), they should have bent over backward to tell participants they would be conducting further business.

If audience members, including the media, leave the premises, common sense should have told Commissioners Aaron Mays, Bill Riphahn and Kevin Cook that many thought the meeting was over.

They should have attempted to inform attendees it was, in fact, a recess and not a closure. At a minimum, they should have held the vote for a later meeting.

The Board of Tax Appeals of the State of Kansas made the right call. Commissioners owed residents better transparency.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Shawnee County owed residents transparency on property tax rate vote