The City of Wichita property tax mill levy rose for 2019.
In 1994 the City of Wichita mill levy rate — the rate at which real and personal property is taxed — was 31.290. In 2019 it was 32.721, based on the Sedgwick County Clerk. That’s an increase of 1.431 mills, or 4.57 percent, since 1994. (These are for taxes levied by the City of Wichita only, and do not include any overlapping jurisdictions.)
Wichita mill levy rates. This table holds only the taxes levied by the City of Wichita and not any overlapping jurisdictions. Click for larger version.
The rate for 2019 was up by 0.17 percent from 2018 and follows three years of virtually no change.
Wichita mill levy rates. Click for larger version.
The Wichita City Council does not set the mill levy rate. Instead, the rate is set by the county based on the city’s budgeted spending and the assessed value of taxable property subject to Wichita taxation.
While the city council doesn’t have direct control over the assessed value of property in its jurisdiction, it does have control over the amount it decides to spend. 1 As can be seen in the chart of changes in the mill levy, the city usually decides to spend more than the mill levy is likely to generate in taxes. Therefore, the mill levy usually rises. 2
Change in Wichita mill levy rates, year-to-year and cumulative. Click for larger version.
It is more common for the mill levy to rise rather than to fall. In those years, the council does not take responsibility for the increase, insisting that the rate has not gone up, or that the rate is stable, or that an increase isn’t the council’s fault.
An increase of 4.57 percent over more than two decades may not seem like much of an increase. But this is an increase in a rate of taxation, not tax revenue. As such, it is not appropriate to adjust for inflation.
Inflation, however, does play a role in tax revenue. As property values rise, property tax bills also rise, even if the mill levy rate is unchanged. In Wichita, the taxes on a hypothetical home worth $100,000
The total amount of property tax levied is the mill levy rate multiplied by the assessed value of taxable property. This amount usually rises each year, due to these factors:
Appreciation in the value of existing property
An increase in the amount of property
Spending decisions made by the Wichita City Council
Application of tax revenue has shifted
Wichita mill levy, percent dedicated to debt service. Click for larger version.
The allocation of city property tax revenue has shifted over the years. According to the 2010 City Manager’s Policy Message, page CM-2, “One mill of property tax revenue will be shifted from the Debt Service Fund to the General Fund. In 2011 and 2012, one mill of property tax will be shifted to the General Fund to provide supplemental financing. The shift will last two years, and in 2013, one mill will be shifted back to the Debt Service Fund. The additional millage will provide a combined $5 million for economic development opportunities.”
In 2018 the city budget held this regarding the debt service fund: “In both 2013 and 2014, 0.5 mills were shifted back to the Debt Service Fund.”
Taxes a homeowner pays
Following, a chart showing the taxes paid to the City of Wichita for a hypothetical home. This includes changes in the value of the home (based on U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, All-Transactions House Price Index for Wichita, KS (MSA) [ATNHPIUS48620Q]) and inflation (based on Consumer Price Index Series II: CUUR0000SA0, U.S. city average, All items, Base Period 1982-84=100, Bureau of Labor Statistics). Click for larger versions.
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Notes
Although the city often grants property tax abatements at its discretion, thereby effectively removing that property from the tax rolls. ↩
Mill Levy Facts, City of Wichita 2020 — 2021 Proposed Budget. “First, the City (the taxing district) arrives at a total amount for expenditures in the taxing funds. In Wichita these funds are the General Fund and the Debt Service Fund. After expenditure totals are known, all other revenue sources (non-property taxes and fees) are subtracted. The remainder is the amount to be raised from ad valorem (property) taxes. … The tax levy rate is calculated by dividing the total revenue to be obtained from property taxes by the total assessed value for the taxing district.” ↩
When the City of Wichita fulfills records requests, it should make those records available to everyone.
When governmental agencies like the City of Wichita fulfill records requests, they could also publish the records on their websites. When records are supplied electronically to requestors, this is an additional simple (and low cost) step that would leverage the city’s effort and increase its value.
Some federal agencies do this. For example at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, there is a page titled FOIA Library. An example entry on this page is titled “Executive Orders on Travel Records.” The explanation for this is “Contains all records released in response to requests and/or litigation pertaining to Executive Orders on Travel.” On that page are downloadable documents that were created in response to records requests.
This does not need to be a complicated endeavor. Off-the-shelf solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive are easy to use and inexpensive. Google and other search engines will automatically index the documents.
Posting fulfilled records requests is an easy way for the City of Wichita to start increasing transparency of its operations. Let’s get started, Mayor Whipple.
For the Wichita metropolitan area in December 2019, the labor force is up, the number of unemployed persons is down, the unemployment rate is down, and the number of people working is up when compared to the same month one year ago. Seasonal data shows small increases in labor force and jobs from November.
Data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor, shows a slowly improving employment situation for the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area. (Of note, this data was gathered before the announcements of layoffs at Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita.)
Click charts and tables for larger versions.
Total nonfarm employment rose from 303,600 last December to 305,300 this November. That’s an increase of 1,700 jobs (0.6 percent). (This data is not seasonally adjusted, so month-to-month comparisons are not valid.) For the same period, employment in the nation grew by 1.4 percent. The unemployment rate in December 2019 was 3.2 percent, down from 3.4 percent one year ago.
Considering seasonally adjusted data from the household survey, the labor force rose by 288 persons (0.1 percent) in December 2019 from November 2019, the number of unemployed persons rose by 40 (0.4 percent), and the unemployment rate was 3.4 percent, unchanged from November. The number of employed persons not working on farms rose to 301,452 in December from 301,204 the prior month, an increase of 248 persons (0.2 percent).
The following chart of the monthly change in labor force and employment shows the rising trend in employment and labor force over the last eight months.
The following chart of changes from the same month one year ago shows a decline in the rate of growth of both employment and labor force considering the entire year, but with growth returning the past four or five months.
The following chart of changes in employment from the same month of the previous year shows some months when the Wichita MSA performed better than the nation. Over the past 12 months, the average monthly job growth for the nation was 1.58 percent, and for the Wichita MSA, 1.27 percent.
The following two charts show changes in jobs for Wichita and the nation over longer time periods. The change is calculated from the same month one year ago. For times when the Wichita line was above the nation, Wichita was growing faster than the nation. This was often the case during the decades starting in 1990 and 2000. Since 2010, however, Wichita has rarely outperformed the nation and sometimes has been far below the nation.
The profit-sharing agreement for Naftzger Park event management contains ambiguity that could lead to disputes.
Today the Wichita City Council approved an agreement with Wave Old Town LLC for event management in Naftzger Park in downtown Wichita. The agreement was approved unanimously.
While there was controversy over the awarding of the contract (Wichita Eagle reporting is here), others have noticed that the contract is imprecise in a way that could lead to problems.
The city and Wave will share profits and losses based on a schedule in the management agreement contained in the agenda packet for today’s meeting, Item V-2. The issue is when the profit-sharing is calculated.
Profit-sharing agreement for City of Wichita and Wave. Click for larger.
Based on the way the profit-sharing is calculated, different profit-sharing results could be obtained from the same event history. The management services agreement the city council passed today does not speak to this issue. Neither does the request for proposal for event management.
The issue is when the profit-sharing calculation is performed and using which data, as follows:
Profit-sharing could be calculated independently for each event, using data for just the current event. This is illustrated in example 1.
Profit-sharing could be calculated once at the end of the year (or another period) using the sum of events during the period. This is shown in example 2.
Profit-sharing could be calculated independently for each event, using cumulative data for the year (or another period). Example 3 illustrates.
As the following examples show, the differences between these three methods of calculation could be substantial. These three examples assume two events, one with an event profit of $49,999, and the second with an event loss of $49,999. Notice that depending on how and when the same calculation is performed, Wave’s share of profits could be $0, or $25,000, or $49,999. The city could either lose $25,000 or $0.
While these examples are contrived and use extreme values, they illustrate that the agreement the council passed is ambiguous. There could be disputes that could be avoided with careful attention to detail by the city when constructing contracts.
Data from the annual report for the 2018-2019 school year for USD 259, the Wichita, Kansas public school district.
The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for USD 259, the Wichita public school district, provides a look at trends over the years. The document, along with those from previous years, is available here. Here are some highlights from the CAFR for the year ending June 30, 2019, known as fiscal year 2019. The CAFR was released in December 2019.
(Click charts for larger versions.)
The following chart shows data from the CAFR along with my calculations. I took two data series, “total revenue” and “sum of state and local revenue,” then divided by FTE enrollment and adjusted for inflation. (The inflation adjustments cast past dollar values in terms of current-dollar equivalents, meaning past values are usually reduced.) I plot the sum of state and local revenue because in 2015 there was a change in the way some taxes were allocated. Plotting the sum of the two removes the effect of the change.
While USD 259 — and schools generally — complain about funding cuts, the following chart shows funding nearly always increases, and over time, by quite a bit.
The following chart shows spending categorized by “instruction” and “instructional support” per student in inflation-adjusted dollars. Capital spending is not included in this chart.
In 2006, USD 259 spent $571 per student (inflation-adjusted) on administration. For 2019 the figure is $904. Could the Wichita public school district cut administration spending to 2006 levels, on a per-student, inflation-adjusted basis?
The Wichita school district has been able to reduce its student/teacher ratios substantially over the last ten to fifteen years. (Student/teacher ratio is not the same statistic as class size.) There have been ups and downs along the way, but for all three school levels, the ratios are lower than they were years ago, and by substantial margins. This means that Wichita schools have been able to increase the employment of teachers at a faster rate than enrollment has risen.
On enrollment, the superintendent’s letter says this:
Budget reduction measures, stagnant population growth and changes to Kindergarten funding at the state level have all contributed to a decreasing enrollment trend which began in FY’16. Enrollment losses have primarily been at the elementary level. Those losses have been somewhat offset by increases in secondary enrollment, virtual and alternative programs. The elementary enrollment decline continued into FY’20, with a decrease of almost 800 elementary students. Once again, secondary enrollment offset some of this loss, increasing more than 350 students. The declines in past few years can partially be attributed to cost-cutting measures under the block grant, including denial of out-of-district students, the consolidation of alternative high school programs, and the combination of a longer school day and shorter school year, which many parents viewed as negatively impacting their students. Further, now that the State fully funds all-day Kindergarten, parents who used to enroll students in the District to obtain all-day Kindergarten services can now receive those same services in the surrounding area districts. Additional FY’19 funding allowed the District to return to the longer school year, but that action did not bring back elementary students to the District for FY’ZO. The District has instituted several promotion and program initiatives to attract students to the District, but it remains unclear if this will be continuing trend in the years to come.
In the previous year’s report, there was this commentary on enrollment:
The District’s enrollment trend over the last ten years has reflected an average increase of over 100 students a year. However, budget reduction measures and changes to Kindergarten funding at the state level are beginning to impact this trend. In FY’17, official enrollment decreased by 572 students, or one percent. Official enrollment in FY’18 increased by 80 students, but gains in virtual and alternative programs were offset by a significant decrease in elementary age students. The elementary enrollment decline continued into FY’19, with a loss of over 500 elementary students. Offsetting some of this loss, Secondary enrollment increased by 240 students. The declines in past few years can partially be attributed to cost-cutting measures under the block grant, including denial of out-of-district students, the consolidation of alternative high school programs, and the combination of a longer school day and shorter school year, which many parents viewed as negatively impacting their students. Further, now that the State fully funds all-day Kindergarten, parent who used to enroll students in the District to obtain all-day Kindergarten services can now receive those same services in the surrounding area districts. Additional FY’19 funding allowed the District to return to the longer school year, but it remains unclear if this action will bring back elementary students to the District.’
Kansas assessment results are now reported in four levels. Level 1 indicates that a student shows a limited ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness. Level 2 indicates that a student shows a basic ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness. Level 3 indicates that a student shows an effective ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness. Level 4 indicates that a student shows an excellent ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
For Wichita, the trend is that an increasing proportion of students are at performance level 1 until this year when the percent at performance level 1 fell to 46.1 percent from 47.0 percent.
Following, a chart of the portion of Wichita public school students testing at performance level 1, the lowest level.
Following, for performance level 2 or better, indicating, “a student shows a basic ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.” The percent at performance level 2 or better rose from 34.4 percent last year to 35.9 percent this year.
Following, for performance level 3 or better, indicating, “a student shows an effective ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.” The percent at this level fell to 13.7 percent from 14.3 percent the previous year.
Following, for performance level 4, indicating, “a student shows an excellent ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.” The percent at this level rose to 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent the previous year.
Kansas law requires publication of certain notices in newspapers, but cities like Wichita could also make them available in other ways that are easier to use.
Legal publications in the Wichita Eagle, occupying nearly the entire page.As Wichita’s new mayor takes office, there are a few things the city could do to increase the availability and distribution of government information. An easy project to accomplish would be placing legal notices on the city’s web page.
Kansas law requires that many legal notices must be printed in a newspaper. That law needs to be changed. Newspapers resist this reform, as it might mean a loss of revenue for them. (That’s right. Newspapers don’t print these notices as a public service.)
Although the law requires publishing notices in a newspaper, it doesn’t prohibit publishing them in electronic form. If governmental agencies would make their legal publications available in ways other than the newspaper, citizens would be better served.
The City of Wichita does some posting of legal notices on its website. Under the City Clerk section, there is a page titled “Legal Notices” that holds notices of bidding opportunities. This is good, but the notices that are important to most people are not on the city’s website.
Some of these notices appear in city council meeting agenda packets, where they may be buried in 500 pages of other material.
Posting all city legal notices on the city’s website would be easy to do. It would be quite inexpensive, as the copy is already in electronic form. The notices would become searchable through Google and other methods. Interested parties could capture and store this material for their own use. Once people get used to this method of publication, it will make it easier to get state law changed.
Posting legal notices on its website is an easy way for the City of Wichita to start increasing transparency of its operations. Let’s get started, Mayor Whipple.
A presidential nominating caucus or primary would allow Trump skeptics in Kansas to have their say. It could provide a safety valve, a way to release the pressure that builds up from being told they are traitors to not only their party but to the country as well.
In September, leaders of the Kansas Republican Party decided to deny giving rank-and-file party members a voice in choosing its presidential nominee for 2020. In a release, the state party said : “The Kansas Republican Party will not organize a Caucus for the 2020 election because President Trump is an elected incumbent from the Republican Party.”
The release gave a reason: “Every time an elected incumbent Republican has run for re-election, except in 1912, the Kansas Republican Party state convention adopted a resolution instructing all delegates to vote for the elected incumbent. This has been the same standard for the Kansas Republican Party dating back to President Lincoln’s reelection.”
Recent correspondence with party leaders confirms this remains the current thinking of leadership. But it is not democratic. Kansas Republicans should have either a caucus or a primary election. To have neither, simply because the incumbent president is a Republican, deprives members of the Kansas GOP of a chance to make a decision.
All Kansas Republicans need to be involved in making a decision about the party’s next nominee. As we learn more negative information about the Trump Administration, I can’t help but think that Kansas Republicans will want to have a say in choosing our next nominee. Any day there could be some revelation that is so strongly negative and powerful that even the most committed Trump supporters may decide they can no longer support him.
I am a “Never Trump” Republican. Nonetheless, I remain a member of the party. While the numbers of Trump skeptics are not large, I think most of us feel we have no voice in the party. Any dissent is met with vile insults, as you can see on my Facebook and that of a handful of other Kansas Trump skeptics. I have been told that I am no Republican, that I ought to join the other party, and that I am mentally ill. Some of this comes from Republican officeholders and leaders.
A presidential nominating caucus or primary would allow Trump skeptics in Kansas to have their say. It could provide a safety valve, a way to release the pressure that builds up from being told they are traitors to not only their party but to the country as well.
I can hear the critics: “No one has a chance to beat Trump.” That’s hardly the point. Now, with Kansas and other states declining to hold nominating contests, this becomes self-fulfilling.
Some expressed concern over the cost of a caucus or primary election. I wasn’t aware that we should be so concerned about the cost of democracy and its elections. On this issue, I repeat the observation of the National Review editors: “The president says he has nothing to do with these decisions, but also that holding primaries he is sure to win would be a waste of money. The susceptibility of this argument to abuse by a ruler ought to preclude its being made.” (emphasis added)
By the way, should the situation change and Kansas Republicans decided they can lo longer support Trump as their nominee, who will decide the nominee? The answer is the same small group of party leaders that decided to do without a caucus or primary. That’s undemocratic.
What conservative voices say
After several states (including Kansas) decided to cancel or not schedule primary elections or caucuses, two noted conservative publications criticized these decisions. From the editors of National Review:
The president says he has nothing to do with these decisions, but also that holding primaries he is sure to win would be a waste of money. The susceptibility of this argument to abuse by a ruler ought to preclude its being made.
The vast majority of Republicans approve of what Trump has done on taxes, judges, regulation, and most other issues, though they also support electoral competition. Trump would be likely to win the primaries handily, demonstrating his strength among Republicans while the Democrats tussle. His allies should want to see that, rather than make it seem as though he is too weak to face competition. But regardless of how it works out for him, Republican primary voters are capable of making the decision among Trump and the others — who so far include William Weld and Joe Walsh as well as Sanford. They deserve to be able to do so. 1
In its op-ed, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal concluded with this:
When Mr. Trump won the GOP nomination in 2016, he disrupted a long tradition of Republican leadership and policy. He rejected GOP positions on trade and entitlement reform. In chief respects he abandoned the party’s hawkish stance on foreign policy. On guns and health care he has taken multiple positions, sometimes in the same week.
And — how to put it delicately? — Mr. Trump has introduced a new standard of presidential behavior, by turns abrasive, funny and appalling. These and related matters are far from settled in Republican circles, and it seems unwise to prevent the rank-and-file from debating them. If Mr. Trump is as popular with Republicans as the polls say, he has nothing to fear from letting voters show it in primaries. 2
At this time last year, the former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party wrote:
… unprecedented action on the part of the RNC to consolidate the Trump re-election campaign with the traditionally primary-neutral party efforts into a single organization called “Trump Victory.” Everything from fundraising, to data, to electing convention delegates will now be organized in tandem between the party and the campaign. This is the definition of what Trump himself might once have called rigging the system. …
The attempt to rig the system is, all on its own, an admission of Trump’s weakness. 3
The arguments advanced by this party official and two stalwarts of conservative thought aren’t welcomed by some Kansas Republicans, especially the (nearly) 150 that are in leadership positions and voted to abstain from holding a caucus. After I shared these articles on Facebook, the reaction was almost universally negative. The consensus was that I should leave the Republican Party and find somewhere else to call home so I can vote in a caucus or primary. That doesn’t seem conducive to winning elections, and Kansas Republicans need to be concerned with winning, having lost the governorship, one congressional district, and barely winning another.
Emblematic of the Trumpification of the Kansas Republican Party is this: I asked one person “And are you trying to attract people to the Republican Party, or drive them away?” The response was, “I would just as soon the Republican party would avoid attracting people such as yourself.”
Of note: Kansas Democrats plan to hold a presidential primary using ranked-choice voting. As Kansas Democrats apply new methods to vote and choose candidates, Kansas Republicans regress to the smoke-filled room.
Further, to give everyone an equal chance to have a voice, Kansas Republicans should abandon the caucus and hold a primary election. Participating in the caucus is difficult. Many people are not able to attend and cast their vote. No matter the cost to the party, Kansas should seek broad participation in its presidential nominating process. That means asking the people to make a selection, and it means a primary election instead of a caucus.
Polling
While Gallup reports Trump’s job approval rating among Republicans at 88 percent, there are signs of skepticism. A poll this week by Quinnipiac University found that 49 percent of Republicans support witness testimony. 4 This poll also found that many people are paying attention to impeachment. 5
Click for larger.
A poll by Ipsos/FiveThirtyEight last week found that the share of Republicans who support witnesses in the Senate trial has fallen to 41 percent. 6 The number has fallen, but it is still 41 percent.
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll taken at near the same time found that 35 percent of Republicans wanted witnesses called. 7
These figures are not majorities, and they are nationwide, not just Kansas Republicans. But they do not represent fringe minorities. Republicans need to keep these voters.
January 28, 2020 – 75% Of Voters Say Allow Witnesses In Senate Impeachment Trial, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 53% Say President Trump Not Telling Truth About Ukraine. Available at https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3654. ↩
“How much attention have you been paying to news about impeachment: a lot, some, only a little, or none at all?” A lot 57%, Some 29%, Only a little 11%, None at all 2%. ↩
Employment and the labor force rose in Kansas in December 2019 compared to the prior month. Kansas continues to perform well in year-over-year growth when compared to the nation.
Using seasonally adjusted data, from November 2019 to December 2019, nonfarm employment in Kansas rose by 3,400 (0.2 percent). Over the year, the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs for December 2019 rose by 20,100 (1.4 percent) over last December. This is using seasonally adjusted data. The non-adjusted figure is higher at 21,500 (1.5 percent).
Over the year (December 2018 to December 2019), the Kansas labor force is up by 9,915 (0.7 percent) using seasonally adjusted data, with an increase of 0.2 percent over the last month. Non-seasonal data shows an increase of 9,486 (0.6 percent) in the labor force over the year.
The number of unemployed persons rose from November 2019 to December 2019 by 280 (0.6 percent). The unemployment rate was 3.2 percent in December, down 0.1 percentage points from one year ago, and up 0.1 percentage points November.
Comparing Kansas to the nation: Using seasonal data, Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 1.41 percent over the past 12 months, while national jobs grew by 1.40 percent. Non-seasonal data shows Kansas nonfarm jobs rising by 1.50 percent over the past 12 months, while national jobs grew by 1.41 percent.
Click charts and tables for larger versions.
In the following chart of showing job changes from the same month one year ago, Kansas is always below the national rate except for September and December, when Kansas was nearly the same as the national rate. The recent trend shows Kansas doing well compared to the nation, just slightly below the national rate.
In the following chart showing job changes from the previous month, Kansas has outperformed the nation in some months and is doing well in recent months.
State of Kansas, 1884; compiled from the official records of the General Land Office and other sources under supervision of G.P. Strum, Principal Draughtsman, photo lith & print by Julius Bien & Co. N.Y. 1884. Click for larger.
