Approximately 181,800 real property owners in Sedgwick County were mailed notices — about 79% of real properties in the county. The Appraiser’s Office only mails notices to property owners that experienced a change in appraised value or classification from 2022. The average increase in 2023 is 10%. 

Why should you care? Well, good news and bad news. Good news first –  Wealth Gains by Income and Racial/Ethnic Group, an NAR report, reveals that middle-income homeowners saw median home appreciation of 68% over the last 10 years, resulting in a wealth increase of $122,100. Celebrate those returns! As for the bad news – you’ve probably felt the negative financial impact as property taxes rise year after year. 

After those valuations go out every March, your tax-collecting government entities start building their budgets for the following year. Budgets are based on the revenue they bring in, and in Sedgwick County’s case, property taxes account for nearly 35% of the total revenue. The following formula is used to determine how much will be collected in taxes:

Appraised Value of Property x Assessment Rate x Mill Levy Rate (Set by Government) =
$$$ Property Tax Dollars Collected

Example on $100k residential appraisal:
$100,000 (appraised value) x 11.5% (residential assessment rate) x 0.029370 (Sedgwick County mill levy rate) = $337.75 of property tax dollars.

Our elected officials love to say, “We haven’t raised the mill levy in 30+ years!” I’m sure they are very proud of themselves when they stick that on a campaign brochure. But they are either woefully uninformed or misleading the public. If they aren’t raising the mill levy, then why are property taxes increasing? This is because when they vote to approve their budgets in August, they are capturing the entire growth in assessed value and increasing property taxes without having to touch the mill levy. Don’t fall for that lip service this summer!

Aside from making yourself the most informed REALTOR® in the room, here’s what you can do to stand up for private property rights: talk to your elected officials about lowering the mill levy to offset rising valuations, encourage them to find strategic ways to balance the budget without increasing the mill levy, and remember who voted to increase their budget and your property taxes when elections come around in 2023.