Small towns often get a bad rap because they don’t appear to be the “bargain” that some people assume them to be.
The tradeoff to doing without big museums and parks, airports, athletic stadiums and entertainment venues — big ticket items that rely heavily on public tax dollars — should be a more affordable lifestyle, goes the thinking.
And for the most part, it is.
Here housing, especially, is a fraction of the cost in Kansas City or Lawrence.
And we can stretch a dollar further when it comes to everyday services and staples. Day to day, southeast Kansas is a penny pincher’s paradise.
Life here is often easier. You’re never stuck in traffic. Never.
Crime is next to non-existent.
And there’s plenty of opportunities to make a difference whether it’s serving on local boards and committees or being a star on the Bowlus stage.
THE FLIP SIDE of living in a sparsely populated region is that there are fewer people to keep the wheels turning.
Because it’s budget time for cities and counties, we’re once again reminded of their funding streams and how few wells there are to tap.
In Humboldt, for example, budgets are balanced on the incoming revenue of property and sales taxes and utilities.
Iola is in much the same boat although its production of electricity pads its budget by about $10 million a year.
Sales and property taxes primarily go to fund road and street repairs, help with schools and libraries, provide fire and police protection, and keep utilities such as water and sewer in good working order.
The higher the valuation of a city or county’s property, the lower the mill levy (tax rate) should be, which is why high-end places like Kansas City have relatively low property taxes. Johnson County, for example, is appraised at $11 billion. So every mill it levies raises $11 million. The property tax levy there is 26 mills.
Allen County, on the other hand, is appraised at $146.5 million, with a mill bringing in $146,500. The county tax levy is 62 mills.
Added to that, are the individual levies by cities — Iola, 47.845 mills; Humboldt, 93.742 mills.
When it comes to funding decisions, aging infrastructure — water plants, sewer systems, ambulances, fire trucks and roads — is every town’s unavoidable nightmare.
At $600,000 a year, Iola has about five years left on its debt for the “new” water plant constructed in 2005. That’s money city leaders can’t wait to free up.
