Last year, the Kansas Association of Realtors lobbied against an assessment limit—a constitutional amendment to cap assessed value increases. However, many individual realtors tell the Sentinel they support it and don’t understand why their association lobbied against it.
The House and Senate each passed an amendment to limit valuation increases, but the methodology varied, and they couldn’t reach an agreement by the end of the session.
Opponent testimony from the Kansas Association of Realtors last year cited several objections, one of which was that the legislation wouldn’t reduce property taxes, just slow the increase. While true, public opinion polling shows 75% of Kansans want a limit on assessed value increases, and only 13% are opposed.
“Assessed value hikes have created an enormous affordability issue for many homeowners,” says Kansas Policy Institute CEO Dave Trabert. KPI owns the Sentinel.
Several realtors echo concerns about affordability and say they support an assessment limit.
Individual realtors support an assessment limit
Realtor Tammy Riedel, based in the Hays area, said taxes are pricing the elderly out of their homes.
“A majority of the people in these small towns are elderly,” she said. “You know, are we going to chase our elderly out of their homes because they can’t afford to pay their taxes? Are we going to drive farmers out of business because they can’t afford to pay their land taxes? Are we going to drive our main street businesses to close because they can’t put a cap on the taxes?”
Realtor Dallas Karlin, also from Northwest Kansas, said he’s starting to see prices drop in response to the high property taxes.
“I do think what’s pretty much imminent at this point are pretty substantial price reductions,” Karlin said. “I wouldn’t be afraid of using the word collapse. Really, I’m totally being honest. I look at a lot of data, and I’m seeing it in Colorado. I’m also licensed out of Colorado, and it’s already a pretty noticeable issue out there.”
Affordability is also a big issue in the Kansas City area, according to Realtor Carolyn Caiharr, who largely works in Wyandotte County.
“The realtors that I’m familiar with and lenders alike have seen a growing concern in not only first-time home buyers basically being priced out of the market, not only due to market values increasing, but in turn, property taxes increasing a lot of times,” she said. “You have young buyers who get pre-approved for a certain amount, and they budget accordingly, and then within just a couple of years, because their property taxes have skyrocketed, all of a sudden, they cannot afford the home that they were pre-approved for and could afford just a couple of years prior.”
Fellow KC-area Realtor Maria Holiday also supports an assessment limit.
“I am seeing more and more clients who are deciding that expensive rent is better than maintenance responsibility and never-ending tax increases,” she said. “Two clients emailed me [recently] saying they had given up on buying a home. “Both were pre-approved and could afford the payment, but the taxes and the uncertainty of knowing cities, as well as the county and state, can always raise them made them gun-shy.”
Realtor Leah Lawrence, from Wichita, said one major issue is that valuations increase each time someone makes an improvement to their property.
“You know, if a homeowner or a building owner decides to spend money to improve the appearance and quality of a building, then I don’t feel like they should be penalized by a dramatic increase in property tax,” Lawrence said.
She said the current system structure is a disincentive for home and business owners to make improvements.
Realtor Ellen Riedel, who is in the Hays area, said nearly all realtors she knows favor a cap, but the Kansas Association of Realtors, through its Vice President of Governmental Affairs, Mark Tomb, came out against the amendment.
Riedel said she was not asked for her opinion before the decision to oppose it, and none of the realtors we spoke with had been asked whether their professional association should oppose or support the cap.
“I know that the Kansas Association of Realtors has never reached out to the realtors to see what the viewpoint of the actual agents are,” Riedel said.
Tomb’s testimony also cites equality as an objection, saying an assessment limit “would provide long-term homeowners with a deep discount, while a first-time home buyer such as a young couple will essentially pay for that relief in the form of higher taxes.”
That concern was addressed later in the session, and it’s likely that eliminating it would be included in new legislation.
The Sentinel contacted Tomb via email and asked several questions:
- Were all members surveyed to determine whether to support or oppose the 3% assessment limit?
- Did the KAR board vote to oppose the assessment limit?
- The 2025 legislation would have limited appraised values, but we understand the 2026 proposals will only limit the increase in assessed values. If that happens, would KAR still oppose it? And if so, why?
As of publication, Tomb has not responded.
Homeowners socked with big property tax increases
Surrounding states, including Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, are significantly lower, with only Nebraska—ranked 4th highest in the nation—higher than the Sunflower State.
Oklahoma has had an assessment limit in place since 1996 and has much lower property taxes, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. They say a home valued at $300,000 in rural Kansas pays over $6,000 in property taxes, while the same home is only charged about $2,800 in rural Oklahoma.
Residential assessed value increased more than 30% between 2021 and 2024, and the average exceeded 40% in multiple counties. Some local officials reduced mill rates to mitigate the property tax increases, but many others didn’t.
EDITOR’S NOTE: (After publication of this story Tomb contacted The Sentinel with a response to this article. That story can be found here.”
