Kansas Republicans’ home assessed value cap may — or may not — reduce property taxes

Republican Sen. Caryn Tyson appears on the Senate floor on April 10, 2025. She is chair of the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee for the 2026 session, and she led hearings on a property tax relief bill. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — A group of GOP senators want to amend the Kansas Constitution to establish an annual cap on a home’s taxable assessed value, but opinions are split on whether it will provide real relief.

The proposal, called the Cap Assessed Valuation Protection amendment, confines a county appraiser’s annual home value assessments to a 3% increase or less compared to the previous year’s assessed value.

However, the proposal does not change a local taxing entity’s ability to impose mill levy increases or decreases.

Proponents said during committee hearings Tuesday and Wednesday the resolution will produce lower residential property taxes. Opponents said the resolution, as written, is likely to shift the tax burden to other property types, such as agricultural land, and create an illusion of residential property tax relief.

“As it stands today, there is a lot of finger-pointing, and I will say nobody’s wrong and everybody’s wrong at the same time,” said Maddie Bouton, deputy administrator for the city of Basehor.

Some people could see a lower property tax amount with a cap in place compared to previous years. But because local governments still retain the authority to set tax rates, lower property taxes are not a given.

Bouton said property tax is a local issue and that the state should hand it back to local governments.

Under the proposed amendment, property owners would be taxed based on the assessed value, as determined by law, or the capped assessed value — whichever is less. The proposal is a cap on increases. It does not apply if values decrease or increase below 3%, and certain conditions apply, including if new construction or home improvements occur on the property.

Republican Sen. Caryn Tyson, a software engineer from Parker and chair of the Senate tax committee, was an advocate for the proposal, challenging opponents to explain how it would not benefit taxpayers. She said the proposal has been years in the making. It is co-sponsored by 15 Republican senators. If approved by a two-thirds majority in both chambers and by a majority of voters in a special election on Aug. 4, 2026, the cap would go into effect in January 2027.

Legislators have repeatedly described property tax relief as a major policy deliverable for their constituents. The Legislature during the 2025 session nixed a combined 1.5 mills that funded the Kansas educational building and state institutional building funds. Tyson promised more tax relief efforts as the 2026 session progresses.

Establishing a constitutional amendment capping final taxable assessed value increases would be among the most substantial in a string of tax legislation in recent years.

Sean Miller, a lobbyist for the Kansas Building Industry Association, testified Wednesday the resolution does not actually reduce taxes.

Taxable assessed valuation is one of many variables, he said, and without a corresponding cap on taxing entities’ budgets or mill levies, the resolution only shifts around those variables.

He called it a “confusing, if not artificial, cap.”

The resolution also incentivizes staying in one’s home, preventing downsizing and the natural churn of movement from housing types as people’s life circumstances change, which is a necessary part of the real estate market, Miller said.

There were differing opinions on how the agriculture community viewed the bill. Eric Estes of the Kansas Deere Dealers Association argued a 3% cap would be good for farm and agriculture operators, which he backed up by presenting 20 years’ worth of projections, applying Oklahoma’s 3% cap. The data from the Kansas Policy Institute, which was not verified by the committee or Kansas Reflector, showed farm and agriculture operators could have saved $1 billion in taxes over 10 years.

Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said its members continue to oppose a valuation cap. The topic has been on association agendas at roundtables, meetings and conventions since the fall of 2024.

Teagarden and association members worry establishing a cap will shift the tax burden to agricultural property owners, resulting in them paying more for land, home improvements, commercial property and vehicles.

“We support property tax relief and stand ready to provide solutions that actually provide that property tax relief,” he said.

Many of the same associations, organizations and figures testified Tuesday and Wednesday as in January 2024. Lobbyists for the Kansas Farm Bureau and the Kansas Association of School Boards returned to express opposition. Lanell Griffith, a Topeka resident and chair of the Shawnee County Republican Party, and Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, voiced their support.

Mark Tomb, vice president of governmental affairs for the Kansas Realtors Association, also opposed the resolution, worrying a cap could pressure local governments into raising their budgets. He favored voter-driven constraints on local entities and levies.

Republican Sen. Tim Shallenburger, a longtime politician from Baxter Springs, pushed back.

Legislators represent the people, he said.

“The people who aren’t here are grandma,” he said, referencing an earlier mention of an elderly widow paying more in property taxes than she could afford.

He said the cap may mean real estate agents lose commissions, or tax burdens could shift to agricultural land.

“But we’re here for the people, and the homeowners we go and see when we knock on doors (say), ‘Can you do something about the property taxes?’ ”