County officials say unfunded legislative mandates raise property taxes

Things the Legislature requires counties to do, but doesn’t pay for, are driving up property taxes, local officials told a legislative hearing Friday.

The Legislature requires county governments to perform a wide range of duties, from providing courtroom security and offices for probation employees to verifying initiative petition signatures. But if state lawmakers don’t provide funding, the bill for those services can fall on local property taxpayers.

And even when the state allows counties to charge fees for those services, sometimes those fees don’t keep up with expenses. Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner compared permits required to buy a handgun to the pay of people enforcing that requirement.

“That law was enacted in 1991 with a fee of five dollars. You know what it is today? Five dollars. I looked for a deputy sheriff who was hired in 1991 … and the wages of a deputy sheriff have gone up 252%,” Wagner said.

The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee is supposed to report to the Legislature about unfunded and underfunded mandates, and recommend what to do about them.

A report compiled for Sen. Rick Holdcroft, sponsor of the resolution behind Friday’s hearing, looks at local government costs from unfunded or underfunded mandates.