• Kansas Republicans campaigned on property tax relief but struggled to deliver on their promises.
• A modest property tax cut of 1.5 mills was passed, but many lawmakers found it insufficient.
• Disagreements between House and Senate Republicans hindered more significant property tax relief efforts.

As they left Topeka for the year, Kansas lawmakers expressed disappointment that they didn’t do more to accomplish a top campaign promise: property tax relief.

Republicans especially and at least some Democrats made property tax relief a focal point of their 2024 election campaigns, and the GOP credited the message with helping secure victories and expand their supermajorities. Despite the campaign promises, lawmakers delivered little relief in 2025.

“We came here with a mandate to do something about property tax,” said Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, on the last day of session. “Not that we haven’t, here in the Senate. We’ve done our job. I really think we’ve done a very good job in trying to push that. 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.”

Thompson suggested that members of the House “didn’t hear the message.”

“We’re going to have to go home, we’re going to have to explain to people what we didn’t get done and why,” Thompson said. “It’s going to be a hard sell. But I’m hopeful that in 2026 we can push the ball forward.”

Republicans were unified on message, but not on plans

While Republican leadership entered the 2025 session with a unified message of property tax relief, it quickly became apparent that House and Senate leadership were not unified on how to accomplish it.

“Well, we really haven’t worked on it yet,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said in January when asked by The Capital-Journal whether Republicans were united on how to cut property taxes. “I can guarantee you we will have property tax relief this year, and we will have some type of a response to the increase in property values.”

“We’re unified on the end goal,” added Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, as leadership spoke with reporters following the governor’s State of the State address.

He added, “We’re still working through the details of what that looks like.”

What were the biggest ideas for property tax relief in 2025?

The most significant idea — and the most controversial — was a Republican proposal to amend the Kansas Constitution to cap the growth in appraisals.

Senate Republicans have been pushing the idea for at least a few years, which supporters argue would address the rising property valuations that result in property tax increases. In 2025, the Senate’s Republican supermajority passed a 3% cap and a 4% cap.

But it faced stiff opposition from House Republicans, including from Hawkins, who said it has “a lot of problems” and “unintended consequences.” House Republicans rejected the cap and instead proposed an averaging system, which Senate Republicans rejected.

More: After promising property tax cuts, Kansas Republicans pass flat income tax plan

The idea that appeared from the start to be the most likely to have bipartisan support was reducing the state mill levy. The two main proposals to accomplish that were a House GOP plan to reduce the levy used to fund schools by 1.5 mills and a Senate GOP plan to eliminate 1.5 mills used to fund state buildings.

The Senate version was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Another idea proposed later in the session was a House Republican plan to send state money to local governments as an incentive to not raise taxes, similar to a program that House Republicans pushed to eliminate last year. The new plan also incorporated a protest petition to block local tax increases and an elimination of the current revenue neutral process.

Despite negotiations during veto session, Senate Republicans were not intrigued enough by the idea to put it to a vote before leaving town.

Meanwhile, Democrats had no proposals for significant property tax relief at the start of session. Later, Senate Democrats proposed a committee to study the issue.

How much will mill levy cut save homeowners?

Lawmakers did deliver some property tax relief with Senate Bill 35, starting in 2026. That new law, which had bipartisan support and was signed by Kelly, eliminates 1.5 mills of the 21.5 total state portion of the property tax levy.

Statewide, that equates to a $81 million tax cut in fiscal year 2027. But for individual homeowners, the relief is limited.

For owners of a $100,000 home, eliminating 1.5 mills equates to an annual savings of about $17. For a $250,000 home, the savings are about $43. For a $400,000 home, the savings are $69.

What politicians say about property tax relief

“We took action in Topeka this year to eliminate the state portion of the property tax,” Hawkins said in an after-session Facebook post. “You’ll continue paying property taxes for county and city governments, schools, libraries, etc., but you’ll no longer see ‘State of Kansas’ on your bill!

“I encourage everyone to reach out to their local officials and hold them accountable for their portion of your property taxes!”

But Scott Schwab, the Republican secretary of state who is running for governor in 2026, was critical of legislative leadership.

More: Kansas budget faces $731 million hole in four years. Will lawmakers cut spending?

“A year ago, following a special session to address taxation, legislative leaders vowed to focus on providing Kansans with real property tax relief,” Schwab said in a statement via his campaign. “There were campaign slogans and roadshows around the state to build support for cuts. Voters did their part, letting candidates and legislators know in no uncertain terms that property taxes were too high, valuations were rising faster than paychecks, and Kansans who had worked all their lives to have a home to call their own were being forced out.”

The resulting tax relief was “paltry,” Schwab said.

“This year, our main focus was supposed to be on reducing and/or reforming property taxes,” Rep. Brett Fairchild, R-St. John, said in an April 4 post on Facebook. “However, we were unable to pass a major property tax bill.”

The cut of 1.5 mills, he said, “isn’t a significant tax cut and isn’t a huge deal.”

“Most people in our state won’t notice the tax cut, since most local governments will likely increase property taxes by more than this state property tax cut,” Fairchild said. “However, it’s better than doing nothing at all, and I’m glad we were at least able to pass one bill through the legislature to reduce property taxes.”

Sen. Ethan Corson, D-Fairway, said that lawmakers did not pass “any meaningful property tax relief,” and he’s been hearing from constituents about it.

“The Legislature, they campaigned on that they were going to reduce our property taxes,” Corson said. “They said it at the beginning of session that they were going to reduce our property taxes. And we still don’t yet have any significant property tax relief that we can bring to our constituents.

“I continue to disagree with the continued focus on the income tax piece of our tax equation when what we both promised to our constituents — and what our constituents have shared with us that they would like to see — is robust, meaningful property tax relief.”

Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker and chair of the Senate tax committee, described the cut of 1.5 mills as “actual property tax relief.”

“They’re going to say it’s minimal, but you know what? It’s a step in the right direction,” Tyson said.

She was also critical of Democrats for not having significant ideas of their own.

“What was their idea this year? Oh, let’s propose a committee that studies property taxes,” Tyson said.

Sen. Virgil Peck, R-Havana and vice chair of the Senate tax committee, said he was proud of the Legislature’s work on tax cuts, especially a plan to gradually move to a flat income tax as well as the elimination of the 1.5 mills.

“I would like to see us do more — a lot more — as it relates to property taxes,” Peck said. “We’re limited at the state level. Most property taxes are assessed at the local (level). … I think we could do better when it comes to property tax reductions.”

Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita, shared a similar sentiment.

“I’m very disappointed we did not do more for our constituents back home on property tax, and I hope that we seriously are able to do something next session,” she said.

Tyson said tax policy changes often take years to make it through the legislative process.

“We are not going to stop fighting for our constituents and to fix a broken property tax (system) while we continue to stop growing the beast that we keep feeding, and that is government,” Tyson said. “Income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes — Kansas has some of the highest in the nation, and we need to do what we can to reduce that.”