A trio of presenters testifying before the Kansas Special Committee on Taxation had a common theme: property tax reform has reached a tipping point in the state; as one put it colorfully, “we have been bent over” by property tax increases.
Kansas has taxpayer advocates for income and sales taxes, but not property taxes, so committee members briefly discussed the need for such a position.
Ellis County business owner and realtor Ellen Riedel got members’ attention early in her presentation:
“I honestly am stunned that Kansas taxpayers aren’t standing in the street with pitchforks, not that I’m advocating for violence. But the level of frustration and desperation I’m hearing is overwhelming.”
She told legislators that the efforts of she and her husband to rehabilitate an abandoned building in her community had an unintended consequence when they received their tax bill:
“In 2022, we bought what was arguably the biggest eyesore in town. It was the old bowling alley and sits right off the interstate. It had been abandoned for over 20 years. ?There was no wiring, no plumbing, the roof was caving in. Everything that could be stripped and sold had been, but we saw potential, and my husband turned it into a beautiful venue. And what was our reward? A massive tax increase. In 2022, it went from $3,510.52 to $20,810.28. That is a $492% increase….A 492% increase.
“We took a risk and turned a non-functioning eyesore into something that buys things, sells things, creates jobs, and more importantly, it benefits the other businesses in our town and small towns around it, like the restaurants, hotels, service stations, and boutiques, creating more sales tax revenue for the state of Kansas. Did we get a pat on the back or thank you? Nope, we got bent over, and I know that’s not ladylike, but you need to know that this is happening.
“Thankfully, Senator Tyson, outside our district, told us about Senate Bill 13 that had passed. And this bill clearly states that general maintenance cannot increase the valuation of a property. This law was created for properties just like this one. Excitedly, I brought this information to our unelected county appraiser. The assessment dropped slightly, but it’s not nearly enough to make this business sustainable. Now, the county appraiser blames the mill levy, and it’s just a vicious circle. If everything is supposed to remain revenue neutral, then why are property taxes still skyrocketing out of control?”
“Here’s something to consider: commercial and residential property should be distinguishable. Both generate property tax income, but commercial also generates sales tax and employment tax revenue. So maybe commercial property should get even a smaller tax cap on increased limits?”
At one point in her presentation, Riedel began listing the property tax increases in the counties represented by members of the committee she was addressing, with a reference to the “No “ votes cast by several committee members earlier this year on property tax reform legislation. She referred to a list provided a month earlier in a presentation to the same committee by Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute, owners of The Sentinel. After an uncomfortable moment for several committee members, Chair Sen. Caryn Tyson requested Reidel return to her presentation on the need for reform and refrain from referring to members’ votes.
Reidel went on to suggest a stunning number of Kansans have seen double-digit increases in property taxes since 2021:
“What is interesting about this information is if you go all the way down to the 25% there’s a number, 83.7% of Kansas voters had an increase of 25% or more in valuations between 2021 and 2024. That’s 84% of Kansas voters had an increase of 25% or more, which I find incredible. So if you go all the way down (to 10%), you’ll notice that 99.8% of Kansas voters had an increase of tax valuations of 10% or more. Remember, 84% of them had 25% or more.”
Riedel offered other policy suggestions:
“Enforce laws that are already on the books, like Senate Bill 13. Counties need to be held accountable when they ignore the law, when they’re breaking the law. You need to “collar” them. Protect community revitalization rather than punishing people for improving their properties; encourage it. Cap property valuations at 3% or less. Use other states like Oklahoma as precedents. I own property there. It works. ?Implement a senior freeze at age 65 for qualifying seniors. Our seniors have worked their whole lives to pay off their mortgages and now have to pay the government to live there. In some instances, they’re having to pay more than they ever did in their mortgage payments. ?And we’re pushing them out of their homes, and we should be ashamed of that. We should also implement 100% exemption for qualifying veterans.”
Oklahoma property tax limit
She was followed by Oklahoma attorney Wayne Allison, who briefed panelists on what Riedel had alluded to in her remarks: his state’s cap on property taxes:
“I was not here in 1996 when Oklahoma put their first cap on valuations. I was here for the 2012 amendment. The first cap was a 5% increase. The second was a 3% maximum on agricultural property and if you had the homestead exemption. I did talk to a number of folks; lobbyists who were around here and various folks who remembered it. And they said the main argument was, ‘we’re out of control. This is runaway.’
“It was basically a mandate. It (the first cap) passed with 74%. Public employees were against it. Farm Bureau was for it, and the world didn’t blow up. The gloom-and-doom that everyone said, is gonna happen, didn’t happen. The initial 5% cap was passed 74%. In 2012 taking it to 3% on ag (agriculture)and Homestead, passed with 68%.”
Allison also restated what Reidel had been chided for in her presentation, pointing out property tax increases in counties represented by members of the committee, but the attorney pointed out the committee as a whole, not individual members, and made no reference to their vote on reform legislation:
“This committee averages a 30.8% increase over that 2021 to 2024 period. The average across the state is 35.1%. ?So, this committee’s doing a little better, anyway, than the overall population.”
Sedgwick County Commissioner Jeff Blubaugh offered testimony on both sides of the property tax equation, as a county official and as a private landowner:
“As a county commissioner in Sedgwick County, I appealed 31 properties as more of a case study to walk through the process, and I read a lot of the testimony. Of those 31 properties, there was not one dollar of change. Now, since then, I have taken these 31 properties to the municipal court, and I got my feedback. There was no change there. As far as BOTA (Board of Tax Appeals), I have a case from three years ago that BOTA has still not heard. This is on a property that I owned in another county. It was our family ranch, and we had done a handful of proms and venue things; more of a donation back to the community. Our taxes went from $1,500 to $15,000 a year because they had changed it from a residential to a commercial property.
“Now, I’m in year three (awaiting a BOTA hearing), but I just want to give an example here. I paid $45,000 in taxes ($15,000 a year for three years) on a building that I built on my property that I only spent $50,000 to build, and I still have not been able to be heard by BOTA. Now, the way I look at it, if I would not have had the money to pay those taxes, I would be one year away from being foreclosed on in a tax sale. The inconsistencies are just all over the place. I’m just looking for some kind of standard valuation system.”
Ellen Riedel suggested a happy ending for all as she concluded her presentation:
“You have the power to positively change the lives of 99% of your voters in Kansas. I mean, life changing. I know what 29% has done to our pocketbook. I promise you the voters in your counties are gonna be slapping you high-fives and patting you on the back, and you are going to be heroes. I know that you can change. You can change our lives by implementing tax reform.”
