Kansas Governor Laura Kelly urging lawmakers to be ‘honest’ about property tax relief ahead of 2026 election

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is sending a strong message to lawmakers, who she believes are making unrealistic promises to voters about property tax relief.

As the election season approaches, all 125 members of the Kansas House of Representatives are up for re-election. Property taxes continue to be a major issue for home and business owners in the state, and it’s an issue that many Kansas lawmakers focus their campaign on. This year, Kelly is warning lawmakers against this.

“Legislators are out there promising the moon to people when it comes to property taxes,” Kelly said. “The fact of the matter is that the state has very little control over property taxes.”

Currently, the state levies 20 mills of property tax to help support Kansas schools. All other property tax in the state is being imposed and collected by local governments. Kelly is hoping that lawmakers make that clear to voters while they run their campaigns.

“I hope on this campaign trail that candidates are honest about what they can really do, which is work with their local elected officials to come up with a resolution,” Kelly said.

Lawmakers attempted to pass legislation during the 2026 legislative session. The Kansas Senate favored a plan that would’ve placed a 3% cap on annual property value increases. The House of Representatives proposed a “rolling averages” plan, which would calculate a home’s taxable value based on the average of its market value over a set number of years.

Ultimately, neither of those plans went through. However, lawmakers did manage to pass HB 2043, a protest petition bill. It allows voters to push back on property tax increases if they go above 3%.

It now sits on Kelly’s desk waiting for her decision. She can either sign the bill or veto it. Kelly did not comment on where she stands on the bill today.