Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

 

Date:

4/28/2008

To:

David Corliss, City Manager

From:

Casey Liebst, Budget Manager

Michael Tubbs, Management Analyst

CC:

Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

RE:

Assessed Valuation, Mill Levy, and Local Sales Tax Comparison Information for the 2008 Budget Year

 

Per your request, information related to the assessed valuation, mill levy, and local sales tax for the ten largest cities in Kansas is provided below.  It is important to remember that the municipal services provided by each municipality vary.  For example, libraries and transit in Johnson County are funded by the County, not the city.  Therefore, cities do not levy property tax to support these functions. 

 

Assessed Valuation and Mill Levy

The table below shows how the City of Lawrence compares to the nine other largest cities in the state in terms of assessed valuation for the 2007 and 2008 budget years.

 

City


Population (2005 est.)

2006 total estimated
assessed value

2006 assessed valuation per capita

2007 total estimated
assessed value

2007
assessed valuation per capita

Wichita

     347,996

 $2,838,612,382

 $    8,157

 $3,211,938,914

 $    9,230

Overland Park

     168,000

 $2,708,926,593

 $   16,125

 $2,858,903,882

 $   17,017

Olathe

     116,910

 $1,233,812,291

 $   10,554

 $1,350,381,302

 $   11,551

Unified Government

     144,210

 $1,048,420,602

 $    7,270

 $1,254,330,729

 $    8,698

Topeka

     122,008

 $1,025,163,449

 $    8,402

 $1,040,553,093

 $    8,529

Lenexa

       43,765

 $   982,460,511

 $   22,449

 $1,005,163,545

 $   22,967

Lawrence

       88,664

 $   824,213,461

 $    9,296

 $   853,590,988

 $    9,627

Shawnee

       56,915

 $   709,272,936

 $   12,462

 $   740,069,197

 $   13,003

Manhattan

       49,462

 $   367,438,289

 $    7,429

 $   417,648,011

 $    8,444

Salina

       45,956

 $   374,610,096

 $    8,151

 $   392,728,487

 $    8,546

 

 

 

 

 

 

average

     118,389

 $1,211,293,061

 $   11,029

 $1,312,530,815

 $   11,761

median

     102,787

 $1,003,811,980

 $    8,849

 $1,022,858,319

 $    9,429

Source:  County Clerk’s offices

 

The table highlights the following:

  • Based on 2005 population estimates, Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the state.

 

  • Lawrence ranks seventh in terms of total assessed valuation for the 2008 budget year just as it did for the 2007 budget year.  The city with the greatest total assessed value is Wichita, the city with the largest population. 

 

  • When comparing assessed valuation per capita, Lawrence ranks fifth.  We are two percent (2%) above the median but still more than eighteen percent (18%) below the average assessed valuation per capita.  The four cities with higher assessed valuations per capita are all in Johnson County. 

 

The table below compares Lawrence with the nine other largest cities in the state in terms of percentage of tax base made up residential versus non-residential real property for 2007 and 2008.  Non-residential real property includes property classified as agricultural, not for profit, commercial, and other.  This breakdown does not include the assessed valuation of state assessed utilities or personal property in these communities.  Lawrence falls below the median in terms of non-residential property as a percentage of our tax base. 

 

Municipality

2007 Residential/ Non Residential

2008 Residential/ Non-Residential

Shawnee

73.37%

/26.63%

74.16%

/25.84%

Manhattan

73.11%

/26.89%

69.13%

/30.87%

Olathe

71.03%

/28.97%

69.65%

/30.35%

Lawrence

68.59%

/31.41%

68.99%

/31.01%

Salina

63.67%

/36.33%

63.20%

/36.8%

Wichita

60.79%

/39.21%

58.74%

/41.26%

Overland Park

59.29%

/40.71%

58.69%

/41.31%

Topeka

58.49%

/41.52%

67.60%

/32.4%

Lenexa

47.58%

/52.42%

48.01%

/51.99%

Unified Government

45.81%

/54.19%

45.73%

/54.27%

 

 

 

 

 

average

62.17%

/37.82%

62.17%

/37.83%

median

62.23%

/37.77%

62.23%

/37.77%

 

The table below shows the City mill levies for the ten largest cities for the 2007 and 2008 budget years.  While the city mill levy in the 2007 budget for the City of Lawrence ranked sixth among the top ten largest cities, the city mill levy in the 2008 budget for Lawrence ranks fifth.  At 26.787 mills, it is 0.155 mills above the median but 0.45 mills below the average.

 

City

2007 Total City mill levy

2008 Total City Mill Levy

Unified Government

41.742

40.685

Topeka

30.747

32.457

Wichita

31.898

31.979

Manhattan

33.088

31.683

Lawrence

26.363

26.787

Lenexa

26.468

26.477

Olathe

24.843

25.03

Shawnee

24.621

24.652

Salina

23.999

23.789

Overland Park

8.889

8.832

 

 

 

average

27.266

27.237

median

26.416

26.632

 

 

Local Sales and Use Tax

Municipalities across the state levy sales tax for a number of purposes.  For most communities, sales tax is levied for general purposes.  Some municipalities also levy sale taxes for special purposes.  For instance, the City of Lawrence passed a general purpose .50% sales tax in 1971 and a .50% sales tax intended for public safety in 1990.  A number of cities have also established special taxing districts.    

 

The chart below shows a breakdown of the city and county sale tax rates by purpose as well as the total combined sales tax rates in the ten largest cities in the state.  Included in the combined sales tax rate is the 5.3% sales tax levied by the State.  Cities do not receive any of this revenue.  Cities do receive a portion of the sales taxes levied by the County in which they are located based on a population ratio.

 

The combined sales tax rate in the City of Lawrence is among the lowest of the largest cities in the state.  Of the cities in this comparison, only the cities of Salina and Wichita have a lower sales tax rate.  Much of Manhattan has the same sales tax rate as Lawrence. 

 

City

City Sales Taxes

County Sales Taxes

Combined Sales Tax Rate

Wichita

none

0.50% property tax relief

6.300%

 

 

0.50% road and bridge projects

 

Wichita River Walk Redevo.  Dist.

1.00% for River Walk improvements

none

6.300%

Overland Park

1.00% general purpose

0.50% general purpose

7.525%

 

0.125% streets

0.25% public safety

 

 

 

0.25% school sales tax

 

 

 

0.10% storm water

 

Overland Park Transport.  Dist

1.00% improvements at location

same as above

8.525%

Overland Park Transport.  Dist

.5% improvements at location

same as above

8.025%

Unified Government

1.25% speedway debt

1.00% speedway debt

7.550%

Kansas City Rack Track

1.25% speedway debt

same as above

7.550%

Kansas City Transportation District

0.6% improvements at location

same as above

8.150%

Kansas City Transportation District

0.6% improvements at location

same as above

8.150%

Kansas City Transportation District

0.10% improvements at location

same as above

7.650%

Olathe

1.00% general purpose

0.50% general purpose

7.525%

 

0.125% streets

0.25% public safety

 

 

 

0.25%economic development