Budget FAQ

It depends. How much you pay depends on both the tax rate (mill levy) and your home’s value. The Harvey County Appraiser’s Office determines your property’s “fair market value” each year based on actual sales of similar homes, the age and condition of your home, and any improvements you’ve made.

You may not see a decrease in your tax bill from the mill levy reduction if the value of your property increased. In Newton, home values increased by an average of 13% for 2025.

Newton residents pay 8.5% in sales tax. 6.5% goes to the State of Kansas. 2% goes to Harvey County, which then redistributes funds back to each city. The revenue the City receives is used to offset the property tax burden (i.e. it goes to the General Fund) and also to fund infrastructure and economic development projects.

Residential property is taxed at 11.5 percent of its value. To calculate how much a homeowner pays to the City in taxes, take 11.5 percent of the home’s valuation, multiply by the mill levy, and divide by 1,000. For a $100,000 home:

$100,000 x .115 = 11,500
11,500 x 72.361 (mill levy) ÷ 1,000 = $832.15 in City taxes

State law requires that the City adopt a balanced budget. Unlike the federal government, local governments cannot run a deficit; the City must have the revenues and reserves necessary to meet the budget.

The mill levy is the tax rate that is applied to the assessed value of a property. A mill is one dollar per $1,000 dollars of assessed value.

The City’s 2024 rate is 72.361 mills. (Newton property owners also pay taxes to USD 373, Harvey County, and the State of Kansas, which each set their own tax rates.)

The 2025 budget includes a 1-mill reduction in the property tax rate. Newton’s assessed valuation rose by 12.7% for next year, a large increase after many years of relatively stagnant growth. With the mill levy reduction, the City will take in revenue equivalent to an 11% increase in valuation.

The $63.3 million budget includes:

• Four new positions at least partially funded by property taxes: an engineer, an IT technician, a Street maintenance worker and a Park maintenance worker.
• New swing sets installed at City parks and additional funding for playground replacement.
• Lighting for flags at Greenwood Cemetery.
• New software and increased IT security.
• About $400,000 for an anticipated increase in employee wages following a classification and salary study to make sure the City remains competitive in the job market.

The City Commission has prioritized economic development in recent years to help grow the tax base in the long term, which has resulted in an uptick in development projects and needed services.

Newton is now starting to see the resulting revenue growth, with a 12.7% increase in assessed valuation this year and 10% increase last year, after many years of relatively stagnant growth. If this trend can continue, it will mean a broader tax base and reduced burden on current property owners.

The City has a number of different pots of money, or funds. The General Fund is the largest operating fund in the City’s budget, with a 2025 budget of $26,316,823.

The General Fund supports a majority of basic City services, including Police, Fire/EMS, Streets and Parks, divided as follows: