Revenue neutral is when a taxing jurisdiction budgets the exact same amount of property tax revenue, in dollars, for the upcoming budget year as they did for the current year.

For example:  If a taxing entity uses $1 million of property tax revenue in 2022, being revenue neutral means they plan to only use $1 million in 2023 as well.

If a taxing jurisdiction plans to use more property tax revenue in the next budget year compared to the current year, even $1 more, they would exceed revenue neutral and need to hold a public hearing.

Each taxing entity is required to host a public hearing if they plan to utilize more property than the previous year. Click to see the list of public hearings for the current budget period.
The revenue neutral rate is the mill levy rate to generate the exact the same amount of property tax revenue as the year before, using the current tax year’s total assessed valuation.
In March 2021, The Kansas Legislature passed K.S.A. 79-2988, which requires Kansas County Clerks to send taxpayers notification of the revenue neutral rate (RNR) compared to the proposed rate for each taxing subdivisions. Due to new law in place to promote transparency, we want to help property owners understand the notification. The notification, sent in August, is to explain each jurisdiction’s intent (or non-intent) to exceed revenue neutral (use more property revenues than the year before).
The mailed notice is not a bill; it is for information purposes only. No action is needed at this time. If you would like to attend a meeting to learn more, please refer to the list of public hearings.

Property values are simply a reflection of property sales in the local real estate market and/or improvements or changes made to an individual property. When property values increase, that does not necessarily mean more property taxes will be assessed. In essence, the valuation of property determines each owner’s slice of the pie, but not the size of the pie.

Property taxes are determined by taxing entities such as local cities and counties, school districts, libraries, police, and fire departments when they determine yearly budgets.

Some of the property taxes estimated on the front are due to the maximum RNR rate which is set.  However, not all entities are budgeting up to the RNR rate and might budget lower.  Please watch the newspapers or call the entities to see when their budget hearing will be held to get more information on their budgets.

Revenue Neutral Complaint Form & Instructions