WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) —Kansas lawmakers are looking to tackle rising property taxes with House Bill 2745. The bill, before the House Taxation Committee, would limit yearly increases, but not all local leaders are in favor of it.
Adam Smith, who proposed the bill and is chair of the committee, broke it down into three main points:
- It puts a 3% cap on yearly assessed property value increases, which is the amount a county can tax.
- If a county determines it needs over a 3% increase, it would have to put it up for a public vote.
- A $60 million state relief fund would be set up from the general fund to act as a reward for counties that stay at or below the 3% increase.
“We’re trying to manage the property tax increases at a relatively small and reasonable level,” Smith said. “If there is a large increase that’s proposed, we want to allow the public the opportunity to do that.”
He says they settled on 3% as a ‘reasonable’ way to keep up with inflation…