City maintains mill levy rate, will see income bump
ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
It is budget time for the local governing entities, and Tuesday evening, the Liberal City Commission had its own version of those discussions at its most recent meeting.
“The City's 2026 Notice of Budget Hearing was published in the High Plains Daily Leader and Times Sept. 4, and it contained a proposed total budget amount of $66,090,580, a mill levy dollar amount of $8,131,454, which equates to an estimated mill levy of 50.367 mills, based on the July 1 estimated valuation,” City of Liberal Chief Financial Officer Brian Mannel said. “For the past three years, the City of Liberal has kept mill dollars flat – $6,932,519 in 2023, $$6,932,801 in 2024, and $6,932,800 in 2025. These efforts have kept expenses in check for everyday residents but have depleted cash significantly in our general fund. In 2023, the City of Liberal started the year with $4.4 million and ended with $2.8 million. In 2024, the City of Liberal started the current year with $2.8 million and ended with $2 million. We’re currently sitting on a balance of less than $1 million in the general fund for 2025, with an estimation of $4.1 million in receipts scheduled to come in. When considering payroll and expenses through the fourth quarter, we may roll less than $1 million in 2026. If not addressed in the 2026 fiscal year, reductions in staff and/or services would need to happen, which is why we have opted to keep the mills the same but take increased valuations. We also need to improve the health of the general fund for bond ratings. With that being said, we are only about 5 percent short from our year-to-date budget revenue goals, so the issue is low cash rollover and the inflationary environment compared to the past few years. On Nov. 1, the final assessed valuation will be determined, for which the number of mills necessary to fund our dollar request is subject to change; however, the levied dollars will not change. The City of Liberal will exceed the Revenue Neutral Rate for 2026.”
