Page 5 - Fall 2017 Overview

2018 budget drops city property tax rate, adds staff to police, fire
Overland Park’s proposed 2018 budget continues to focus on neighborhood preservation, public safety, public infrastructure, and preservation of current programs and services, all priorities of the Mayor and City Council.
Final approval of the 2018 budget by the City Council is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21.
In the proposed 2018 budget, Overland Park’s property tax mill rate of 13.8 mills would fall to 13.55 mills. Overland Park already has the lowest mill rate of any city in Johnson County and first-class city in Kansas. The city’s mill rate accounts for approximately 12 percent of your total mill levy rate, which includes other non-city governmental agencies, including the state, Johnson County, Johnson County Community College and your school district.
The owner of a $300,000 house would see a decrease of $8.63 for an estimated total city tax of $467; a $500,000 home, a decrease of $14.38 for an estimated total of $779. More than half of your city property tax pays for police, fire and streets. The remainder supports parks and recreation, planning and development services and other city functions.
The proposed 2018 budget would add 11.55 full-time equivalent jobs, including positions in the following areas:
Police Department - A property control technician,
emergency services technician and traffic safety unit technician;
Public Works - A right-of-way inspector, streetlight/traffic signal technician and an engineering technician to support the regional Flood Warning System;
Fire Department - Convert fire personnel and activate a full-time EMS squad to operate out of the city's Westgate facility at 119th St. and Westgate, south of Stoll Park; Parks Services - A parks and forestry manager to support park infrastructure construction and maintenance;
Planning and Development Services - A multi-disciplined building official in building safety; and
Recreation Services - A maintenance worker at Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead.
If approved, Overland Park's full-time equivalent staffing would be 1,077 employees, still below the 2009 pre-recession total of 1,093 employees.
The proposed 2018 overall budget equals $293 million,
an increase of 5.2 percent over the 2017 budget. The $293 million budget includes funding for capital improvement projects, debt service and operating budget. The 2018 General Fund operating budget, which funds daily operations, is $117.6 million, a 3.6 percent increase.
More information is available at opkansas.org/budget.
‘We can help’ you with flood insurance, information
The Federal Emergency Management Agency works with Overland Park to provide discounts on flood insurance premiums.
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program continually faces paying flood loss claims while trying to retain affordable insurance costs. Nationally the NFIP has paid nearly $50 billion in flood
insurance claims since 1978. In Overland Park, nearly seven percent of the total land area is in a flood zone. While much of that land area is in parks, streamway corridors, and open space, there are an estimated 460 buildings within the city that are in a flood zone.
Overland Park participates in
FEMA's Community Rating
System, resulting in up to a 15
percent discount in flood
insurance costs for Overland Park property owners. As part of this program, the city completes annual progress reports about mitigation efforts identified in a Repetitive Loss Area Analysis and the Regional Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Together these plans identify potential stormwater improvement projects and progress
toward protecting properties from flood losses. All of these reports are available by contacting the Engineer of the Day at 913-895-6223 or [email protected].
The city also maintains the following floodplain information for residents:
Whether property is in the floodplain.
Information about expected
flood elevations, floodway limits, historical flood information, and steps property owners can take to protect themselves from future flooding if a property is determined to be in the floodplain.
Elevation certificates on existing buildings. Localized drainage problem areas.
Areas known as designated stream corridors that provide natural floodplain functions.
If you would like to find out more information about possible flooding issues in your neighborhood, floodplain assistance related to flood insurance or would like to schedule a site visit to review flood protection issues, please contact us at 913-895-6223.
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