By Emma Loura/Manhattan Mercury
The USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden school board on Wednesday set public hearings for its 2024-25 budget before board members can approve it.
There will be two hearings prior to the Sept. 4 school board meeting, with the hearing about the decision to exceed the revenue-neutral rate set for 6:20 p.m. and the hearing about the budget scheduled for 6:25 p.m.
Kansas law requires school boards to hold public hearings before formally exceeding the revenue-neutral rate — which is rate at which an entity generates the same revenue from property taxes as the previous year using the total assessed valuation from the current tax year — and adopting a budget. The hearings allow board members to take and answer questions regarding the proposed mill levy rate and budget.
The board’s recommended mill levy for fiscal year 2025 is 59.909 mills, which is a decrease from 60.095 mills in 2024. However, since valuations have gone up, the revenue the 2025 mill levy will generate if approved will exceed last year’s revenue and result in higher property taxes.
A mill represents $1 in taxes for every $1,000 in assessed taxable property value. The 60.095 mill levy in 2024 means the owner of a $100,000 home would have paid $461.09 in county taxes. With the 59.909 mill levy in 2025, that same homeowner would pay $481.90 this year on property now valued at $105,000, a $20 difference based on the average valuation increase of an existing single-family home.
The school board on July 17 approved surpassing the revenue-neutral rate and submitted the notice of it to the Riley County Clerk the following day.
