TONGANOXIE NEWSLETTER
Fall 2023
City of Tonganoxie, Kansas
The mill levy is a tax rate that is applied to the assessed value of a property. When it comes to your property taxes, the assessed value of your property is derived from the appraised value; to keep it simple here, residential property is assessed at 11.5% and commercial at 25%. To find out the assessed value of your home, you would take the County’s appraised value and multiply it by 11.5%; a commercial property would do the same except multiply by 25%. Where tax rates come into play is how the mill levy is applied to that assessed vale. Taxing entities, like the City, the County, the School District, the Library, the Recreation Commission and the State develop mill levy rates to calculate the amount of tax revenue needed to operate. The chart below illustrates how each taxing entity changed their specific levy from 2023 to 2024 budgets. The City collects the City and Library mills, which collectively were reduced by 4 mills. This represents the largest City mill levy reduction in well over 20 years. The School District and Recreation Commission also made reductions, while the County and State either held the same or made a minor reduction. The City Council made tremendous efforts to and placed a high priority on providing property tax relief to City taxpayers, while balancing the on going utility infrastructure needs, road maintenance, equipment needs and maintaining a qualified and strong employee base. FY 2024 City Budget Decreases the Tax Rate
2024 Mill Levy rates for a City of Tonganoxie Resident
How $1 of Property Tax is Distributed in the City of Tonganoxie Tax District
www.tonganoxie.org
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced changes to drinking water regulations that require water suppliers to identify all materials used in the construction of the water system. The goal of these changes is to identify and remove all lead pipes in the drinking water system. Lead and copper enter drinking water primarily through the corrosion of plumbing materials that contain lead and copper. Exposure to lead can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells, and kidneys, particularly for young children and pregnant women, as well as other negative health conditions. Water suppliers must identify all construction materials used on both the supplier's & the customer's side of the water meter, which means that the City will possibly need your help! The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is requiring the water suppliers to submit this information before October 16, 2024. City staff have been working to create the City’s water system service line inventory utilizing already available sources of information like permits, water sampling data, inspection & maintenance records, and senior utility personnel. Some properties within the City will still require individual surveying in order to complete the inventory of the entire water system. Starting in early 2024 City staff will develop and implement a plan to complete surveys of the remaining properties with the cooperation of property owners/occupants. More information about the survey approach and which properties will need to be surveyed will be shared soon. More information about the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule and the KDHE Public Water Supply Monitoring & Compliance programs is available at: https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/547/Lead-Copper-Rule City efforts underway to inventory lead water service lines
Beginning in January 2024, Public Works staff will reach out to homeowners to help identify components on the homeowners side of the water distribution illustrates where those components may be. KDHE mandates that the City submits an inventory of all lead components by October 2024. system that may contain lead. The graphic to the left
Public Safety Updates Both Tonganoxie Fire and Police Departments have placed a priority on community outreach and engagement. Getting back to basics and learning to connect with the communities you serve is a recipe for success. Both agencies actively seek opportunities to engage with each citizen, from the youngest to oldest, as well as cohesion from other local entities as we all strive towards common goals. We value a commitment to equity, improved accountability through authentic community engagement, increased and enforced training and policy, widened views of public safety services and a focus on health and wellness.
Officers enjoyed “Fun Food Friday” with students at Genesis Christian Academy
Tonganoxie High School Seniors Tyler Pankey, Jordyn Vorbeck and Brendan Briley are interning with TFD
Snow cone with a Cop in July was a great success!
Lt. Joe Byrne and TFD staff had safety talks with TES students during Fire Prevention week
Business Park Development Projects Update Hill’s Pet Nutrition has officially opened the 365,000-square-foot smart facility, which sits on more than 80 acres, will increase production capacity for canned pet food of Hill’s Science Diet and Prescription Diet brands. The division of Colgate-Palmolive celebrated the grand opening in October, with the Governor and company executives speaking about the over 100 advanced manufacturing jobs created and that the plant has been awarded LEED Gold certification, representing the first Colgate-Palmolive plant to achieve that standard. The project represents a capital investment of over $460M in our community.
Also, in late September, a groundbreaking was held on the site where DSM has begun construction of their 70,000 square foot manufacturing plant. DSM, a global company with headquarters in the Netherlands and several locations across the United States, is building a next-generation nutritional premix plant. The facility is expected to bring an additional 30 more jobs to the Business Park, and be operational by early 2025.
2024 Budget Initiatives and Upcoming projects to be Aware of In September, following a 4 month process, the City Council adopted a budget for 2024 that included numerous community requests, operational and equipment needs presented by various City departments, infrastructure improvements, and property tax relief. The community agencies requesting and receiving funding include the Tonganoxie Arts Council, Tonganoxie Community Historical Society, Tonganoxie Business Association, Tonganoxie Farmers Market and funding to support Community events. Operational and equipment needs included two Chevrolet Tahoes to replace aging TPD fleet vehicles, stipend pay for an added certification for a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) on TPD staff, TFD adding part time personnel to bring staffing up to 3 firefighters to be in better compliance with National Fire Protection Association standards, and replacing a 22 year old Front Loader in Public Works. Numerous infrastructure projects upcoming, and include a replacement of the 4th Street bridge and increasing the capacity of the Wastewater Treatment facility.
4th Street Bridge replacement in 2024 The existing 4th Street bridge was constructed in 1976, and based on a detailed evaluation completed in 2021, carries approximately 800+ vehicles per day. Following the replacement of the Ann St bridge, the 4th St bridge is the next priority replacement in the City’s CMIP. Several factors lead into the full replacement of the structure, and include age, delamination, previous patching efforts, and chloride testing results. We are also excited to provide improved pedestrian access, and the new design will include an attached pedestrian crossing that ties into the existing sidewalk system. This $1.6M project is currently under design, and is expected to go out for bid in the Summer 2024 and construction beginning in 2024.
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