The Senate and House narrowly passed a bill giving 10% of registered voters in a taxing area the ability to stop some property tax increases, a move one senator called “tyranny of the minority.”
The Kansas House has advanced property tax relief legislation, but its components must clear several more hurdles, including passage in the Senate, a vote of the people and another round of lawmaking, before its effects are realized.
The Kansas House and Senate went tit-for-tat last week, rebuffing each other’s property tax relief proposals, which have been billed this legislative session as making good on old promises to alleviate Kansans’ residential property tax burdens.
Kansas legislators’ lineup of property tax relief legislation could chip away at state and local revenue, but some see the proposals as course correction, making up for years of rising property taxes.
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
The Douglas County appraiser’s office will soon mail out change of value notices, and owners of most residential and commercial properties will see valuation increases of 1% to 8%.
The Kansas House voted Wednesday to alter significant provisions of a bipartisan property tax reform bill granting the public a direct voice in decisions by local government to raise property taxes more than 3% annually.
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Some personal property — such as off-road vehicles, motorized bicycles and scooters, and watercraft — will cease to be taxed by the state of Kansas starting in the new year.
Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday voted to expand a property tax rebate program with a goal of offering further assistance to seniors with low incomes and veterans who are disabled.
The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider a maximum mill levy for the 2025-26 budget that would increase property taxes.
An upcoming seminar given by Chris Courtwright, retired chief economist for the Kansas Legislature, will illuminate the inner workings of property taxes for Douglas County residents.
