Assessed valuation changes for 2025, released this morning, reiterate the need for a constitutional amendment to limit the increases.
The average increase for existing residential property (not counting new construction) of 5.9% is more than double the inflation rate, and that’s not the worst of the story. Homeowners in a dozen counties had double-digit increases – Barton, Cheyenne, Coffey, Jewell, Kingman, Lane, Linn, Marshall, Ness, Rush, Smith, and Wallace. All but one (Linn) has been losing population, so it’s hard to imagine that the valuation hikes are driven by demand.
Since 2021, the average increase for existing homes is now 40%. Residents of Linn County have the worst experience, with a 91% increase. Other outrageously unaffordable increases include Cheyenne County (83%), Brown County (71%), Wyandotte County (66%), Anderson County (63%), and Osborne County (60%).
You might think that these unaffordable increases would make it easy to pass a constitutional amendment to limit the annual increase in taxable assessed valuations to 3%. After all, 75% of voters say they want the limit, with only 13% opposed.
But it’s an election year, and some powerful lobbying groups, including most cities, counties, and school districts, are opposed.
It’s also noteworthy that two House Republicans, Rep. Allen Reavis and Rep. Lon Pishny, formed a bipartisan Local Government Caucus this year with about 40 members to help fellow legislators understand “the unspoken impact state laws and regulations have on city and county governments,” according to the Kansas Reflector.
Legislators certainly need to understand how their work impacts others, but let’s be realistic. Pishny and Reavis said much of the tension between local government bodies and the Legislature is about attempts to regulate property tax increases. Local officials want the revenue-neutral transparency law to go away, they generally oppose substantive property tax relief, and they’d like the Legislature to send some more state taxpayer money their way. And based on the current status of HB 2745, the Local Government Caucus is delivering.
Here’s hoping a supermajority bipartisan Taxpayer Caucus shows up on the floor of the House and Senate to get an assessment limit on the ballot.
