Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the main property tax bill passed by the Kansas Legislature, meaning no substantial property tax reform was passed this session. Lawmakers have gone home for the year, so they can’t come back and override the veto. 

The legislation would have capped how much property tax local governments can spend. Cities and counties would have been required to keep spending increases below 3% or inflation. If they spend too much, residents could have signed a petition to block the budget. 

Rep. Adam Smith, a Republican who represents six counties in northwest Kansas, is the chair of the House Tax Committee. He said local governments set their budget and then adjust the tax rate so they can fund services. 

That’s why supporters of the bill like the proposal. They say this gives Kansans a chance to stop runaway increases. They also say that as families are having to cut back on spending, so too should local governments. 

“For the last several years, the Legislature has promised to solve the property tax issue for Kansans. This has always been a false promise,” Kelly said following the veto. “It is time for the Legislature to partner with our city and county officials to develop a strategy to reduce the property tax burden on their constituents.” 

Kelly previously vetoed similar legislation, but lawmakers reworked the bill in the final days of session to try and gain her support. Some Republicans say the bill is so watered down it doesn’t provide real property tax relief. 

Republicans and Democrats alike are disappointed with property tax legislation this session. Both parties have lawmakers wishing more was done and are vowing to come back next year and try again. 

That’s a recurring theme. This is yet another session where lawmakers campaigned on relief, promised reform in the days before session and leave without anything substantial. Larger cuts were stalled this year by disagreements between the House and Senate. 

The two major proposals were a bill that caps how much local governments could collect in property taxes, which Kelly vetoed twice. Another constitutional amendment would cap how much home values could rise in one year.

These two proposals were sold as a one-two punch to keep property taxes low. Local governments would keep spending small, and home valuations couldn’t skyrocket and act as a backdoor way to collect more taxes, lawmakers said. 

But the cap on home assessments failed multiple times. House lawmakers made it clear they don’t support the cap because it wouldn’t actually cut taxes, and municipalities would end up raising taxes elsewhere to make up for lost revenue. 

“Essentially, it’s the same thing we keep voting down,” said Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Sedgwick County Democrat, during floor debate.  

That was a theme of the legislative session. Republicans continued to push bills that had previously failed. That legislation would fail or be vetoed, and they would try again with similar legislation that faced the same fate.  

Senate President Ty Masterson, a Butler County Republican, blamed Democrats and Smith for stopping property tax relief. 

“Families are getting taxed out of their homes by skyrocketing valuations,” Masterson said in a statement. “Kansans have had enough, and they deserve better than this kind of obstruction and delay.” 

Smith responded with a statement of his own, saying he told Senate leadership this proposal was well short of the votes needed to pass.

He said capping taxes in one area means taxes will rise elsewhere. Smith added that capping taxes also isn’t a cut. 

“The Senate’s proposal … has been touted as real property tax relief, but no one can answer the question ‘how much?’” he said in a statement, “because manipulating valuation only gives the false pretense of lower taxes.”

Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Republican who represents eight counties in eastern Kansas, is the chair of the Senate Tax Committee. She pushed for the valuation cap, saying assessments in her county jumped 91%. She was asked why lawmakers didn’t consider other property tax ideas when they kept passing legislation that had failed previously. 

“What other options were before us?” she asked, before saying there was another proposal to put production taxes on wind and solar energy. Kansas would use money from that tax to offset property tax expenses. 

Tyson said on the Senate floor that Oklahoma has a cap on home values. She said it’s working and constituents support the proposal. 

Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins, a Sedgwick County Republican, said House lawmakers looked at multiple options. He said lawmakers previously cut the state’s portion of property tax. This year it was the local government spending cap. 

The overwhelming majority of property taxes are levied on the local level, so there is only so much the state can do. 

Democrats seized on perceived Republican failures. 

House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Johnson County Democrat, said Republicans chose petty political games instead of finding the right property tax fix. 

“Failing to secure enough votes to deliver meaningful relief to Kansans, two years in a row, is a clear failure of Republican leadership,” he said.  

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Johnson County Democrat, said Republicans never came to Democrats to try and work out a compromise plan. Republicans have a supermajority, which means Democrats have little say in what bills are debated. 

Sykes said Kelly proposed tax relief that Republicans ignored. But Kelly’s proposal, like Republican ideas, also included previously failed proposals. 

Kelly wanted state lawmakers to set aside $60 million to pay local counties that keep property taxes low. But that proposal failed on the House floor. 

Lawmakers are again promising to come back next year to fix the issue.