Residents told The Highlands City Council in July they would support a budget levying $60,000 in property taxes. They were true to their word.
In a special election Thursday, Sept. 14, voters in the small city built around a golf course voted 135-1 for the budget ballot, according to unofficial results. Four provisional ballots will be considered by a Reno County board of canvassers Tuesday.
The city mill levy could be about 14.5 mills under the $60,000 budget scenario, residents attending a July town hall meeting were told. Residents indicated they found a $60,000 budget more palatable than a $90,000 or $120,000 budget for the city established in mid-2017.
The state’s tax lid on local governments triggered the need for The Highlands City Council to secure voter approval. If the ballot had failed, the city would have had no budget for 2019.
“Basically, we wouldn’t have been a city,” said Mayor Mo Penny, if the ballot had failed.
(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)