(KNZA)--The Brown County Commission has begun the 2018 budget process.

Department heads and organizations receiving funding from the county met with the Commission Monday to go over their 2018 budget requests.

They included requests for the same amount of funding as this year along with funding increases.

As Commissioners begin working on a budget for next year, they face a new state law limiting their ability to increase property tax revenues.

Under a law passed in 2015 and amended in 2016, cities and counties in Kansas must ask for voter approval if the total amount of property tax they raise increases by more than the five-year average of the consumer price index.

The law does allow for some exceptions, such as revenue needed to improve public safety.