By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
Promises to voters ring hollow as emphasis remains on reducing income taxes
TOPEKA — The Kansas Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly patted themselves on the back last June after placing into state law a compromise bill slashing income taxes an estimated $1.2 billion over three years.
Senate Bill 1 had broad support with a mere six opponents among 159 legislators voting on the package negotiated by the Democratic governor, Republican Senate President Ty Masterson of Andover and GOP House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita. The focus of that bill was income taxes, but it did raise to $75,000 the exemption on the value of a residence when calculating a taxpayer’s obligation to the state’s property tax levy for public schools.
While 2024 was viewed as the year of the income tax, promises were made by Republicans and Democrats to address property tax reform during the 2025 legislative session. The end of the annual session last week offered evidence the performance of lawmakers on property tax relief was again underwhelming.
“When it came time to lead, both the governor and leadership came up short,” said Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican candidate for governor, said Monday.
He said state lawmakers this session delivered a paltry $25.88 property tax break for the owner of a $150,000 home. That’s not enough to fill the gas tank in many vehicles, cover the cost of a couple sacks of groceries or pay someone to mow a lawn.
Schwab encouraged “every property owner” to respond by challenging their property tax valuation with the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals.
“Kansans expected leadership that would address runaway property tax increases, arrest out-of-control valuations and restore confidence that they can afford the homes they live in — not rent them from the government,” he said.
The Senate did endorse an amendment to the Kansas Constitution imposing a 3% cap on residential property tax valuation increases. That won’t be appearing on statewide ballots, however, because the amendment was never taken up in the House.
“We came here with a mandate,” said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican. “I’m just disappointed that we end up at the end of this session with no real relief for those homeowners who are facing selling their home or paying their property tax. That’s where we are.”
Lenexa Sen. Dinah Sykes, who serves as Democratic leader of the Senate, drew the same conclusion with a partisan twist. She said progress on property tax reform was minimal, but reminded Kansans that Republicans held supermajorities in the House and Senate. Those two-thirds majorities meant the GOP could pass just about any bill it desired and had numbers to override the governor’s vetoes and place constitutional amendments on the ballot.
“Kansans deserve better than what they got from their Legislature in 2025,” Sykes said. “Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues refused to join us in that effort. Republicans promised Kansans they would deliver property tax relief, but they failed to make good on that promise.”
‘Put Kansans first’
Kansas voters were assured by sloganeering candidates during last year’s August primary and November general elections that nothing would stand in the way of meaningful property tax reform in 2025. Voters made it clear they thought property taxes were too high, valuations were rising faster than paychecks and, incredibly, some people on fixed incomes who worked all their lives to have a home of their own were being forced out.
As the legislative session began in January, another layer of political vows emerged about cutting property taxes.
“You expect us to put Kansans first, control the overreach of government and keep our promises — and that is exactly what we intend to do,” Masterson said. “That must begin with property tax relief and reform.”
When the dust settled in April, the Legislature barely scratched the surface on rolling back state property taxes. The governor signed Senate Bill 35, which used general state tax dollars to replace a 1.5-mill state property tax dedicated to government building projects. It was unanimously approved in the Senate and overwhelmingly endorsed in the House 96-26.
The Legislature passed a bill renewing the state’s 20-mill property tax, valued at about $875 million annually, to provide financial support to K-12 public schools. The Legislature could have earmarked state income or sales tax dollars to public schools and trimmed state property tax dedicated to that purpose.
Instead, the Republican-controlled House and Senate placed emphasis on income tax reform by voting to override Kelly’s veto of Senate Bill 269. This so-called income-tax-trigger bill was designed to methodically drop individual and corporate income tax rates to 4%.
“I have proposed and supported tax cuts when they are implemented responsibly and benefit the people of Kansas, especially those who need it most,” Kelly said. “This bill ignores Kansas families at a time of rising costs and inflation in favor of hundreds of millions of dollars in giveaways to corporations and the wealthy.”
The override vote on SB 269 was 87-37 in the House and 30-10 in the Senate. Instead of responding to Kansans’ demands for gradual reduction of property taxes, the Legislature in 2025 ended up dedicating future state revenue surpluses to gradually reducing income taxes.
The Senate did endorse a constitutional amendment that would have set a 3% cap on property taxes starting in 2027, but House GOP leaders said the necessary two-thirds majority to place Senate Concurrent Resolution 1603 before Kansas voters didn’t exist in the House.
Critics of the amendment had argued the limitation would cripple the ability of cities and counties to operate, because municipal government relied heavily on property and sales taxes. The state’s revenue stream includes income, sales and property taxes.
‘Very disappointed’
In January, the conservative Kansas Policy Institute highlighted for legislators an opinion poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the Wichita think tank. It showed 64% of participants were in favor of limits on annual increases in the appraised value of property rather than the current practice of annually resetting appraisals to fair market value.
The poll showed majority support for restraint of property taxes existed in urban and rural regions of the state, said Dave Trabert, a lobbyist with Kansas Policy Institute.
He said 70% of conservatives in the poll were supportive of steps to hold down property taxes, while 67% of moderates and 52% of liberals were on board. Eighteen percent were opposed and the same percentage was uncertain.
“Many homeowners have experienced double-digit property tax increases because local officials took advantage of valuation spikes,” Trabert said.
Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat often distant from KPI’s perspective on public policy issues, said it was folly to ignore will of the people.
“Our constituents are asking for property tax relief,” said Sawyer, who contended the income tax trigger law would prove to be an obstacle to property tax reform. “We go to a rachet so all of our money above inflation in the future goes to cutting the income tax.”
Some of the Senate’s most right-wing members were convinced the Legislature did a belly flop on property taxes in 2025.
Sen. Virgil Peck, a Republican from Havana, said it wasn’t enough the Legislature worked on income tax policy and ditched the 1.5-mill property tax for building construction.
“I think we could do better when it comes to property tax reductions,” Peck said.
Finally, Wichita GOP Sen. Renee Erickson, said the Legislature’s approach to property tax issues didn’t answer the public’s call for relief.
“I’m very disappointed we did not do more for our constituents on property tax and I hope that we seriously are able to do something next session,” she said.