Wyandotte County poised to raise property taxes in 2027 after voting to collect more revenue
In a contentious and nearly four-hour-long meeting, Unified Government of Wyandotte County Commissioners voted 6-3 Monday night to exceed revenue neutral in the 2027 budget.
The vote means Wyandotte County will collect more property tax revenues in 2027 than it did in 2026.
The vote followed an hour of explanation from a county official, two hours of public comment, and further deliberation from commissioners at the Monday public hearing.
Scott Harding, a Bonner Springs resident, is one of the people who was at the meeting Monday.
Harding had spent the last several days working across KCK to help people who had their homes damaged by Wednesday storms.
He was back to it Tuesday. He brought a bobcat to a home on the corner of 55th St. and Georgia Ave to help clear fallen trees.
"We've been dragging generators and helping all over the place," Harding said.
Watching Wyandotte County neighbors already struggling to pay the bills now have to deal with storm damage expenses only adds to his frustration over county property taxes.
"That's really a bad thing for our taxpayers," Harding said. "They cannot afford another hundred dollars, you know, and this storm has just devastated them."
Monday night, Harding was one of several who called for commissioners not to vote to exceed revenue neutral.
Revenue neutral is when a taxing jurisdiction, in this case Wyandotte County, budgets the exact same amount of property tax revenue for the upcoming year as they did for the current year.
Harding spoke out Monday night in a passionate and loud speech during his three minutes of public comment.
"You're here for the citizens; you're supposed to do what we want," Harding said during his public comment.
Unified Government Mayor/CEO Christal Watson spoke several times, asking Harding to be respectful and not use derogatory language.
As Harding's three minutes of public comment ended, Mayor Watson had to tell him several times his time was up before he left the podium.
Harding's frustration led others in the room to speak up, as well.
Mayor Watson attempted to calm the crowd, saying, "I am really asking you all to please be respectful."
Eventually, the mayor had one woman removed after she yelled about affordability.
"This is not your moment to talk," Watson said. "Okay, can she be removed, please?"
Several security personnel got up and went off screen.
After nearly four hours, the commissioners voted 6 to 3 to exceed revenue neutral.
Commissioners Chuck Stites, Phil Lopez and Melissa Bynum were the three votes of dissent.
Commissioners Andrew Kump, Andrew Davis, William Burns, Christian Ramirez, Evelyn Hill and Carlos Pacheco
During public comment, Pacheco explained the county needs to keep up with inflation.
"In order to provide a service-neutral budget, it’s going to cost more every single year forever," Pacheco said. "That is a tough reality for us to think about, but it is the truth."
Lopez said the county has a spending problem.
"We absolutely have a spending problem," Lopez said. "We just think we can cover everything. The revenue neutral worked. It did. Sorry if some of my colleagues don’t see that."
The next Unified Government of Wyandotte County Commission meeting is September 3.
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