Manhattan residents will see property tax hike in 2024

MANHATTAN (KSNT) – The City of Manhattan announced a property tax increase at Tuesday night’s budget hearing.

Deputy City Manager Jason Hilgers told 27 News this property tax increase stems from a 9.5% increase in Manhattan’s average property valuation.

“That growth is really coming off the heels of COVID, the little bit of boom we had from property sales,” Hilgers said. “It was very difficult to find a home, and houses were being bought above asking price.” 

With property valuation at what Hilgers described as a ‘significant’ rate, the city has lowered the mill levy for 2024. However, he said property taxes must increase so the city can cover rising costs of operations in general.

“Commission has really brought the overall tax increase right around the 2.9 to three percent range,” Hilgers said. “The valuation increased if we kept the mill levy the same. They’ve been decreasing the mill levy to get that percentage down to about three percent.” 

Even with a lower mill levy, many Manhattan residents aren’t thrilled about the tax increase. Taylor McFall has lived in his Manhattan home since 2017. Since the home is in an older neighborhood, he says value increase have been manageable over the years. He said this increase just adds to his growing list of expenses.

“It just impacts how often we go out to eat,” McFall said. “It impacts how much we spend on nonessentials. Our grocery bill’s gone up quite a bit, our utility bill is more expensive.” 

With how high the valuation increase is, Hilgers told 27 News there has been much more input than normal this year. He said the City Commission is doing its best to be attentive to the community during this time.

Manhattan City Commission plans to hold one more public hearing on the budget and property tax increase on Sept. 19. After that, they will proceed with finalizing it.

For more information, click here.