Lee’s Summit families may have to pay more in property taxes as the school district weighs how to fix its budget shortfall without cutting programs or staff members.
In 2023, as Jackson County’s property assessments skyrocketed, the Lee’s Summit school board voluntarily rolled back their operating levy by 65 cents — aiming to give taxpayers some relief and prevent the district from collecting an unexpected windfall.
Now, as district leaders contend with a $7-10 million reduction in revenue this school year, Lee’s Summit may have to reverse course. Otherwise, the district said it could need to cut between 175 to 225 staff positions and/or school programs for the next academic year.
Less-than-expected state funding from Missouri, plus recent Jackson County property tax credits, are the two main factors straining the district’s finances, according to Lee’s Summit leaders.
Chad Hertzog, the Lee Summit School District’s assistant superintendent of business services, said the 2023 decision to reduce its tax rate was the right thing to do. But now, he said, circumstances have changed.
“Tax credits are now in place. State funding is less, so we have to adjust that voluntary rollback now because it's no longer sustainable for us to tax below what the voters approved,” Hertzog said.
The school board will decide at its Sept. 29 meeting whether to bring in more tax dollars by setting the district's operating levy at or near the voter-approved ceiling. The board can choose to tax at, or any rate below, $4.7032 per $100 of assessed valuation.
Superintendent David Buck said at a September town hall meeting that he didn’t envy board members, and pleaded for the community to support them regardless of their decision.
“I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer. There's probably preferred answers. That probably changes by every single person in this room,” Buck said. “So that's why they’ve got to make this tough decision.”
Lee’s Summit isn’t the only district grappling with budget concerns and tough decisions right now. Districts across the Kansas City metro and country are considering closing school buildings, cutting staff and eliminating programs as they navigate funding and enrollment declines.
Nationwide trend of shrinking school budgets
A recent RAND Corporation survey of school district leaders found 54% of respondents ranked budget shortfalls in their top three concerns — an increase from 33% who said it was a top concern last year. Declining enrollment was cited as a major issue by more than a third of respondents.
Schools have already been dealing with the consequences of COVID-19 relief funding drying up.
But Benjamin Master, a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, said district leaders are now worried about inflation.
“Everything is getting more expensive for schools, and in many cases their funding hasn't kept up with that,” Master said. “So they may be getting the same per student funding they were in the past from (the) state and local community, but things just cost more.”
Master said multiple factors are contributing to school enrollment declines, including demographic changes, decreasing birthrates and more families sending their children to private schools or homeschool options.
Less state and local funding than expected
Under Missouri law, the state budget passed by the legislature each year should fund K-12 schools according to a funding formula. That formula uses a “state adequacy target,” or the estimated cost to educate each student, to help determine how much each school receives.
However, Missouri lawmakers this spring passed a budget that fell $190 million short of fully funding that formula. This was also the first year since 2017 that the General Assembly did not increase funding for public education.
The state board of education voted on Tuesday to keep its budget request for school funding flat for the next year. Board members declined to pursue the additional $300 million needed to fully support the funding formula.
Missouri already lags behind other states for the percentage of state funding it gives to schools, leaving them to rely more heavily on local sources, like property taxes.
Instead of the adequacy target of $7,145, Missouri schools will only receive about $6,900 per student. State education leaders blamed declining revenue from taxes on lottery, cigarettes and sports.
Buck said in a May legislative update that the Lee’s Summit district is set to lose nearly $5 million in state funding if that adequacy target drops even further next year.
Lee’s Summit is also receiving less revenue from Jackson County property taxes because of senior tax caps and tax credits for residential property owners.
Lee’s Summit joined nearly a dozen other districts raising alarms about interim County Executive Phil LeVota’s plan for property tax credits and a cap on 2025 commercial property assessment increases.
LeVota told KCUR that he sympathizes with how the tax credit plan will impact districts’ budgets and that Jackson County will be in a similar position as it considers whether to increase its own tax levy.
LeVota said tax credits were the best option to give relief to taxpayers without asking for that money back from districts, city and county budgets.
“I just thought and still believe that's the most fiscally responsible way to do it. It doesn't take away the hurt, doesn't take away the pain,” LeVota said. “I'm feeling it in my budget tremendously.”
Hertzog said many of these decisions were made after the district’s budget was set, and they’ve already made changes to reduce expenses, supply costs and contracted services.
“While we can make some temporary adjustments in supplies and reduce some of our costs there, big picture, those are never going to be enough to offset a seven to $10 million deficit on the revenue side,” Hertzog said.
If the Lee’s Summit school board raises the tax rate back to the voter-approved ceiling, someone with a home valued at $300,000 would pay an additional $372 per year. However, Hertzog said many taxpayers may not see their bills change because they're impacted by other tax credits.
If the board doesn’t act, the district said it would start a community engagement process in October to guide decision-making on potential staffing cuts.
Stephenie Bertz, president of the Lee's Summit National Education Association, said reducing student services isn’t a good idea. She said her building is already coping with fewer supplies than usual because of cuts.
“Even though it may have an impact on our taxpayers, I think our citizens of Lee Summit value our schools and are willing to pay money to put towards our schools,” Bertz said.
Other Kansas City-area schools navigate financial challenges
Master said school districts are still recovering from pandemic-era academic and attendance declines. So while districts need to make cuts to balance their budgets, they need to weigh how those decisions may impact student learning.
“The other concerns haven't gone away, and there's just a lot of tension in district offices around the fact that they're being forced to cut while still having these other burning issues,” Master said.
Olathe Public Schools is considering a plan to close five elementary schools and one middle school at the end of the school year. The Shawnee Mission School District also proposed closing an elementary school by 2031, before pausing the decision following pushback from families.
Olathe will hold a listening session on Sept. 22 ahead of its school board’s final decisions.
The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools board narrowly voted last month to “exceed revenue neutral,” allowing the district to collect more local property taxes than the previous year. The Independence School District is also seeking more in taxes from its residents by increasing its operating tax levy as it faces declining assessment values.
Master said the RAND survey didn’t look at how district leaders navigated communicating these decisions. But he said that school closures are a particularly fraught decision to make.
Some families in Olathe and Shawnee Mission have deep ties to their schools, and organized efforts to keep their schools' doors open.
At town halls in Lee’s Summit, as well as on social media, some families and residents have left feedback questioning whether the district is being a good steward of taxpayer dollars.
“We have people in our community who are in financial crisis! We cannot ask people to pay more!!!,” an attendee said at a Sept. 1 town hall.
Another Sept 8. attendee said, “Start thinking about the students and the parents and not about yourselves. Many of those families have tightened their belts → do the same at the district.”
Hertzog said those are valid concerns, but maintained that the district didn’t get into its financial situation by misspending — rather, they were granted less money to spend in the first place. But Hertzog said it's also important for the district to listen to opposing opinions.
Ahead of the school board’s decision, Hertzog said they’ve worked to inform families with monthly sessions discussing the budget, two informational town hall meetings, and a website dedicated to the voluntary rollback.
Hertzog said attendees have learned a lot from the process — and that's a win.
“We all want to make Lee Summit a better place to raise a family, to live and to send your children to school, and so we need to continue to do the things like this to help just empower people to learn more and become more involved in their schools,” Hertzog said.
Tiffany Larsen is the mother of a kindergartner and recent homeowner in the Lee’s Summit area. She attended the Sept. 8 town hall to learn more about the district’s upcoming decision and show their support.
She said the district is taking the right approach for making these tough calls.
“Having open discussions, town hall meetings, inviting community members in so that they can be as transparent as they can,” Larsen said. “I already feel like that is a big step to help community members trust their decisions.”
