Property Tax Relief & Street Sales Tax Initiative

City of Dodge City Sales Tax Initiative

F.A.Q. | Updated 1.5.2022

Q: What does the property tax and sales tax mean?

A: The sales tax rate would increase by 0.5%- or one-half of one cent that can only be used to provide property tax relief, paying costs of street improvements and associated utilities of the City of Dodge City. The increase would begin no earlier than April 1, 2023. 

Q: What does associated utilities mean?

A: Associated utilities refers to water and sewer lines located within the street to be reconstructed and repaired.  These water and sewer lines are over 100 years old. 

Q: What will the new sales tax rate be?

A: A portion of the city sales tax will change by an increment of 0.5%.  This will change the total community sales tax from 8.5% to 9%. 

Q: How will the new sales tax impact my wallet?

A: The average household will experience a decrease of 30% due to the elimination of State sales tax of food, even with the increase in the city’s portion.

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Average Household Budget in America 2022 - Elite Personal Finance  and  Kansas is eliminating its food tax. Here's how the new law will affect your grocery bill (msn.com) )

Q: How much revenue will the new sales tax create?

A: The new sales tax increment will generate approximately $3.5 million per year in new revenue for property tax relief and community needs such as "neighborhood streets" while providing property tax relief and creating an environment for quality job growth.

Q: How does the public know that future spending commitments will be met?

A: The ballot language legally limits the use of funds to what is specified in the question. That keeps the dollars from being used for other things. Additionally, the City will maintain a web page where the public can view all revenues and expenses utilized by the Street Sales Tax and its projects.

Q: Why isn't the current property tax enough? 

A: The current property tax isn't enough to address our 147 centerline miles of streets while at the same time keeping our local property tax rate low. For comparison, the current property tax collections for the City generates $4.4 million for General Fund Operations. 

Our City Engineer estimates the cost of one City block is as follows: 

• $165,000 (New Asphalt Street)
• $185,000 (New Concrete Street)
• $40,000 (Mill and Overlay)
• $6,000 (Pavement Preservation)

 One mile of street is equal to about twelve (12) city blocks. 

Q: How will I see the proposed sales tax at work in the community?

A: The City should start to collect the additional sales tax increment in April 2023. This means that the City can begin applying the funds to meet the committed community street infrastructure needs as early as late 2023. 

Q: What will the proposed sales tax be used for, and does it emphasize our community's basic needs?

A: The ballot question limits the use of the increased sales tax to the items mentioned previously. We continue to hear our residents ask for street improvements more than anything else. This is why the city is committing to spend a significant portion of the new revenue on residential streets alone, increasing street funding from a few hundred thousand dollars to $2 Million annually.  Also, the current City Commission is committed to lowering the mill levy 4 additional mills in 2024 if the sales tax passes (on average one mill equals $170,000).

Q: How will the proposed sales tax spending items be determined?

A: Spending items are truly a culmination of a great deal of public input over the years. We know that addressing neighborhood streets is a top priority for our community. Finally, we know that our residents and business owners do not wish to see their property taxes increase in the future. Our approach can accomplish all of these things.

Q: What difference will the sales tax make for our community?

A: Dodge City is a thriving community and serves as the market trade area for a portion of Southwest Kansas. Community input shows that most people wish for Dodge City to grow and improve services and quality of life offerings in the future. The sales tax will help ensure Dodge City's regional viability to retain and grow our resident base, businesses, and visitors in the future.

Q: What prevents the County or State from adding their own sales tax increase?

A: Legally, either entity could eventually add to the sales tax. However, the public would need to vote on any proposed county-wide sales tax. The State will begin reduction of the State’s portion of Sales Tax on Food from the current 6.5% in 2022 to be phased out to 0% in 2025.

Q: How will the City decide what streets will be funded?

A: We rely on input from the public works department and the engineering department visually inspects streets. In addition, we use traffic volumes, and a tool called a Pavement Condition Index to grade asphalt street conditions to prioritize street projects. Finally, we have historically been limited by funding to our primary streets. With additional funding, we can have a greater impact on our neighborhood streets. 

Q: How much does it cost to fully fund maintenance for all of Dodge City's streets?

A:  While not a perfect science, our engineers estimate this cost to be approximately $2 - $2.5 million per year over the long term. This cost includes annual maintenance of all asphalt, concrete and brick streets; structural street upgrades (i.e., surface, signals, curbing, drainage, etc.) to existing streets, and reconstruction of streets determined to be beyond their useful design life. This does not include all costs associated with the modernization of streets or our bridges, which must be adequately maintained.

Q: What is "property tax relief"?

A: Property tax relief shifts the burden of payment of services to the purchaser of goods rather than the homeowner. Relief is a commitment that the City's property tax rate will remain be reduced or remain stable over the next 10+ years. This does not mean that it might not change slightly, but property owners can have an expectation that the City will not rely on significant property tax changes to fund street improvements. The sales tax helps us do this by providing a direct funding source for streets that would otherwise be funded by property tax. 

Q: Will the new sales tax help fund the downtown streetscape project?

A: The tax investment in the downtown redevelopment project is intended to be self-supported by using the increased building value and related taxation of new development projects to fund costs that the general budget would otherwise fund. STAR Bond funding and other grant opportunities currently account for 75% of the estimated project costs. As a result, it is not our intention to initially use the proposed new sales tax to fund downtown improvements.

With that in mind, we do realize that the downtown scope and needs could change in time. One benefit of the proposed sales tax is that it could be used to cover a funding gap for the desired improvements and address a future need not known today. 

In the end, it simply gives us complete flexibility and a reliable backstop if we should need it.

City of Dodge City Mill Levy from 2013 - 2021

Datos del impuesto sobre las Aumento del Impuesto Sobre Las Ventas:

El 8 de noviembre de 2022, los votantes de Dodge City aprobaron la propuesta para aumentar el impuesto a las ventas de 1/2 centavo. El aumento se implementará el 1 de abril de 2023. 

Visión general:

Este es un impuesto especial que será dedicado para reducir el impuesto de las propiedades, pagar los costos de la reparación y reconstrucción de las calles y las líneas de agua y drenaje/alcantarillado ubicadas dentro de las calles de la Ciudad de Dodge City. 

 Servicios públicos asociados se refiere a las líneas de agua y alcantarillado ubicadas dentro de la calle a reconstruir y reparar. 

Fechas Importantes: 

Hazle clic aquí para ver las preguntas más frecuentes

https://www.dodgecity.org/DocumentCenter/View/11153/Street-Sales-Tax-FAQ---Spanish-01172023

Hazle clic aquí para ver la Presentación

https://www.dodgecity.org/DocumentCenter/View/11154/2023-Street-Sales-Tax-Presentation---Spanish-01172023

https://www.dodgecity.org/DocumentCenter/View/11055/SP-Street-Sales-Tax-Flyer-in-Spanish-2022-10-12

Para obtener más información, comuníquese con la Administración de la Ciudad al (620) 225-8100 o por correo electrónico a collinc@dodgecity.org