Should Tonganoxie Create a Library District? One of the best community amenities in the City of Tonganoxie is our Public Library, newly constructed in 2020. The construction debt service is being paid annually from a portion of the voter approved 2017 sales tax initiative. The Operations and Employee benefits costs are funded by property taxes, which the City collects and then just serves as a pass through to the Library. The property taxes are assessed only to City of Tonganoxie residents, which reside in the City’s Tax District. This is different from the Basehor and Linwood libraries, which are part of a library “district”, which extends beyond the City limits. The map to the top right highlights the difference in geographic footprint of a “city” vs. “district” library; you can imagine the difference (significant increase) in assessed value of those areas, and how that relates to the ability to generate property taxes. Increased assessed values mean you need less mill levy to collect similar revenue; less mill levy is less taxes.
Tonganoxie “City” Library
Basehor Library “District”
Linwood Library “District”
The map to the lower right highlights what a Tonganoxie library district could look like if Township Tax Districts were added, just like the Basehor and Linwood libraries have already done. These Townships already pay a library mill, but it goes to an organization called Northeast Kansas Library System (NEKLS). NEKLS serves a very important role, however there is disproportionate amount of revenue collected in these area Townships versus what NEKLS gives in grants and services to our local library. This disparity, along with the success of the other Districts, has the City Council evaluating the possible change for our library. While this would likely mean a slight increase to Township taxpayers (but with all revenues staying local), it could be a significant tax decrease for City taxpayers. Ultimately, for Tonganoxie, designated as a City of the second class in Kansas, this type of change would need to be a voter referendum, and include both City and Township voters. The City Council, along with the Tonganoxie Library Board, will continue to evaluate this option.
Possible Tonganoxie “District”?
The Tonganoxie Fire Department (TFD) is thrilled to announce that an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been awarded to TFD in the amount of $193,843.81, which will be combined with a local match of $9,692.19 for the purchase of new Air-Pak equipment. Air-Pak refers to several distinct pieces of equipment, most commonly a firefighter’s self-contained breathing apparatus. Firefighters today face challenges like never before, that’s why it is critical to have equipment that evolves with the changing landscape of the job. This significant award will help the City avoid issuing debt to make such a large purchase. This grant, combined with previous grants, marks over $255,000 in grants in the last few years, all while TFD was able to earn an Fire ISO Rating of 2 for the community. For this specific grant, TFD would like to acknowledge and thank the Tonganoxie Police Department, who were kind enough to donate a credit they had with grant writers at Lexipol, which TFD was able to use for assitance in writing and submitting the AFG grant; teamwork at it’s best. Tonganoxie City Fire Department wins $193,000 grant
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