Johnson County faces ‘puzzling,’ ‘catastrophic’ threats of plunging revenues

Month after month, officials around Johnson County are watching the sales tax numbers come in, hoping they’ll improve.

It doesn’t make sense. The economy is humming, the tax base is growing and the unemployment rate is historically low. But in the most affluent county in Kansas, retail sales tax revenues — among the key sources of funding that cities use to function — is flatlining or even shrinking.

“It makes you go, OK, well what is going on here? And we don’t have an answer for it,” said Merriam City Administrator Chris Engel.

(Read more: KC Star Local News)