How Much Can Property Taxes Increase in Kansas? 2026 Complete Guide
Updated July 2026
Quick Answer
Kansas has no cap on property tax increases. Your home is reappraised at market value every year with no limit on how much the appraised value can rise, and residential property is assessed at 11.5% of that appraised value. There is no hard percentage limit on levies either. Since 2021, when SB 13 repealed the old tax lid, the only statewide check is the revenue neutral rate process: a city, county, or school district that wants to collect more property tax revenue than last year must mail you a notice, hold a public hearing, and take a recorded roll-call vote. That is a transparency requirement, not a cap. A proposed 3% valuation cap passed the Kansas Senate in 2026 but failed in the House, so nothing has changed.
Most homeowners never challenge their assessment, usually because nobody tells them they can or shows them how. That gap is the whole reason AppealDesk exists: see what your county has your home on record at, free, and if the number looks wrong we build the case for $49.
Is There a Cap on Property Tax Increases in Kansas?
No. Kansas caps neither side of the property tax equation. On the valuation side, the county appraiser re-values your home every year at market value, and there is no limit on how much that value can jump from one year to the next. If comparable homes in your neighborhood sold 15% higher, your appraised value can rise 15% in a single notice. States like California and Florida cap annual assessment growth for homeowners; Kansas does not.
On the rate side, Kansas used to have a "tax lid" that tied levy growth to inflation, but the legislature repealed it in 2021 with Senate Bill 13. What replaced it is not a cap at all. It is a procedural requirement called the revenue neutral rate, explained below. So if you read an older article saying Kansas limits levy increases to CPI without a vote, that information is out of date. No CPI limit exists today.
The practical takeaway: nothing in Kansas law stops your tax bill from rising as fast as your appraised value does. The two levers you actually have are showing up when local governments hold their revenue neutral rate hearings, and appealing the appraised value itself when it is wrong.
What Is Kansas's Property Tax Rate in 2026? The 11.5% Assessment Ratio and Mill Levies
Kansas does not have a single property tax rate. Your bill is built in three steps. First, the county appraiser sets your home's appraised market value. Second, the Kansas Constitution assesses residential property at 11.5% of that appraised value. Third, every taxing subdivision that covers your address, meaning the county, city, school district, and any special districts, applies its mill levy to that assessed value. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.
Run the arithmetic on a $300,000 home. The assessed value is $300,000 times 11.5%, which is $34,500. If the combined mill levy across all your taxing subdivisions is 130 mills, the gross bill is $34,500 divided by 1,000, times 130, or about $4,485. Mill levies vary widely by county and city, so check your own tax statement or county clerk for the combined rate that applies to you.
One meaningful piece of relief passed in the 2024 special session. SB 1, signed June 20, 2024, raised the residential exemption from the statewide 20-mill school finance levy from about $42,000 to $75,000 of appraised value, starting with tax year 2024. That exemption applies only to the 20 statewide school mills, not to your city, county, or local school district levies, but it trims roughly $76 a year off the typical bill compared to the old exemption: the extra $33,000 of exempt appraised value, assessed at 11.5%, is $3,795 of assessed value, times 20 mills.
The Revenue Neutral Rate: Kansas's Check on Levy Increases
The revenue neutral rate, or RNR, is the mill levy that would raise exactly the same property tax dollars as last year, given this year's (usually higher) valuations. When valuations rise, the revenue neutral rate falls. If a taxing subdivision simply keeps its old mill levy while valuations climb, it collects more money, and under SB 13 that counts as exceeding the revenue neutral rate.
To exceed it legally, the governing body must mail written notice to taxpayers, hold a public hearing where residents can speak, and then pass the higher levy by a recorded roll-call vote. Every member's vote goes on the record. That is the entire mechanism. There is no percentage ceiling, no voter-approval requirement, and no automatic rollback. It is a political speed bump, not a legal wall.
The speed bump does have some effect. In the first year after SB 13 took effect, more than half of Kansas taxing authorities chose not to exceed their revenue neutral rate rather than face the notice and hearing process. But any board willing to take the vote can raise your taxes as much as it chooses.
Is There a Tax Levy Cap in Wichita?
No. Wichita and Sedgwick County operate under the same statewide rules as everywhere else in Kansas: no assessment cap, no levy cap, and the revenue neutral rate process as the only check. Each August and September, the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County, the school districts, and the other taxing subdivisions that cover your parcel each decide whether to stay at their revenue neutral rate or hold the required hearing and roll-call vote to exceed it. The notice you receive in the mail lists every subdivision proposing to exceed its RNR, along with the hearing dates. Those hearings are open to the public, and showing up is the only direct input Wichita homeowners get on the rate side of their bill.
Caps and rate limits only control how fast your bill can grow. Nothing in them checks whether the number underneath is right. Assessors in Kansas set values with mass-appraisal models that price thousands of homes at once, and nobody reviews yours unless you challenge it.
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Do Property Taxes Go Up Every Year in Kansas?
They can, and in a rising market they usually do. Kansas reappraises every property every year, so there is no multi-year cycle where your value sits still between revaluations. Each spring the county appraiser looks at recent sales and adjusts your appraised value to match the market. When home prices climb, appraised values climb with them, and unless your local governments cut their mill levies enough to fully offset the valuation growth, your bill goes up.
The revenue neutral rate process was designed to make that offset the default: if every subdivision stayed at its RNR, rising values alone would not raise total collections. In practice, many subdivisions vote to exceed the RNR at least partially, so most Kansas homeowners in appreciating areas see some increase most years. The size of the increase depends on two things you should check separately: how much your appraised value moved, and what each taxing subdivision decided at its hearing.
How Much Will Property Taxes Go Up in 2026?
There is no statewide number, because Kansas has no cap and no uniform rate. Your 2026 change is the product of your own county's reappraisal and your own subdivisions' levy decisions. That said, the structural picture for 2026 is unchanged from 2025: the legislature adjourned without enacting a valuation cap or major new relief, and Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a separate property tax relief plan in April 2026. So the rules that produced your recent increases are the same rules in force now.
To estimate your own 2026 change, start with the Notice of Value your county mailed around March 1. Multiply the new appraised value by 11.5% to get your assessed value, subtract the $75,000 school-levy exemption's effect (it removes $75,000 of appraised value from the 20 statewide school mills only), and apply last year's combined mill levy as a starting estimate. Then watch the RNR notices in late summer to see which subdivisions intend to exceed their revenue neutral rate.
What Happened to the 2026 Kansas Assessment Cap Amendment?
Kansas came close to joining the cap states in 2026, but did not. A proposed constitutional amendment, often called the Cap Assessed Valuation Protection amendment, would have capped annual increases in assessed valuation at 3% and reset values to their 2022 levels. It passed the Kansas Senate 30 to 10, but failed repeatedly in the House and never reached the ballot. Combined with the April 2026 veto of a separate relief plan, the 2026 session ended with no cap and no major relief law. The 2025 session had ended the same way: plenty of debate over levy limits and assessment limits, nothing enacted.
The 2024 special session's SB 1, with its $75,000 school-levy exemption, remains the most recent substantive relief Kansas homeowners have received. Cap proposals are likely to return in future sessions, but as of mid-2026, Kansas still has no assessment cap, and planning around one would be a mistake.
How fast an assessment can grow
California2% a year
Florida3% homestead
Texas10% homestead
Kansas: No assessment cap. Nothing limits how fast your assessed value can climb, so the bars above are what protection looks like elsewhere.
Kansas does not cap annual assessment growth for homeowners.
A cap limits how fast the number grows. It does not check whether the number was right to begin with.
What you can do about it
Why Is My Property Tax So High? Overassessment and Appeals
In a no-cap state, the appraised value on your Notice of Value is the whole ballgame. Every dollar of overstatement flows straight through the 11.5% ratio and your full mill levy. On a home overvalued by $25,000, that is $2,875 of excess assessed value, and at a combined levy of 130 mills, roughly $374 a year in tax you should not owe, every year the error persists.
Mass appraisal makes errors routine. County appraisers value thousands of parcels with statistical models, and those models miss things: a dated kitchen, a foundation problem, a busy road, comparable sales that do not actually compare. Kansas gives you a clear path to fix it, but the window is short. You have 30 days from the mailing of your annual Notice of Value, which counties typically mail around March 1, to request an informal meeting with the county appraiser, also called an equalization appeal. If the informal result does not satisfy you, you can escalate to the Small Claims Division of the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals, and from there to BOTA's Regular Division.
If you miss the spring window, Kansas offers a second route: paying your taxes under written protest, typically with the December payment. Be aware the two routes are mutually exclusive. You cannot pay under protest for a property and tax year where you already appealed the valuation notice. Pick one path and use it well, with comparable sales and documented condition issues, because in Kansas the appeal is the only mechanism that ever reviews your individual number.
A real AppealDesk order, Johnson County
In July 2026, a homeowner in Johnson County ran the check. The county had their home on record at $775,000, while recorded sales of comparable homes supported about $582,561: an over-assessment of $192,439, worth roughly $2,227 per year if corrected. Their packet laid out the comparable sales, the forms, and the filing steps. Nobody at the county was ever going to run that check for them.
Growth limits only help if the number they grow from is fair. If your assessment jumped after a purchase, new construction, or a revaluation, that new number is the one nobody has reviewed. Checking it is free and takes about a minute.
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How Kansas Compares to Other States
State
Assessment Cap
Levy Check
Kansas
None
Revenue neutral rate hearings (no hard cap)
California
2%
Varies
Florida
3% homestead
Complex
Texas
10% homestead
3.5% + elections
The pattern is clear. Cap states shield existing homeowners from rapid valuation growth and shift the review burden to sales and transfers. Kansas does the opposite: it tracks the market in real time for everyone, every year, and relies on public hearings rather than any hard limit. That makes an accurate appraised value more important in Kansas than in almost any cap state, because there is no ceiling to catch you when the value is wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can my Kansas property taxes increase this year?
There is no legal limit. Your appraised value can rise as much as the market moved, and your taxing subdivisions can exceed their revenue neutral rates by any amount, provided they mail notice, hold a hearing, and pass the increase by a recorded roll-call vote.
How often is my property reassessed in Kansas?
Every year. The county appraiser re-values all property annually at market value and mails a Notice of Value, typically around March 1. Your 30-day appeal window runs from that mailing date.
What is the residential assessment rate in Kansas?
Residential property is assessed at 11.5% of appraised market value under the Kansas Constitution. Mill levies are then applied to that assessed value, and $75,000 of appraised value is exempt from the statewide 20-mill school finance levy as of tax year 2024.
Did Kansas pass a property tax cap in 2026?
No. The proposed constitutional amendment to cap assessed valuation increases at 3% passed the Senate 30 to 10 but failed in the House and never reached voters, and a separate relief plan was vetoed in April 2026. Kansas has no assessment cap as of mid-2026.
What is the best way to control my property tax increases?
Work both levers you actually have. Attend or comment at revenue neutral rate hearings when your subdivisions propose to exceed the RNR, and check your Notice of Value every March. If the appraised value looks high against real comparable sales, file your appeal within the 30-day window, because no cap will ever correct it for you.
This article provides general information about Kansas property tax laws as of July 2026. Tax laws change frequently, and local rules vary. Consult your county assessor or a tax professional for advice specific to your situation.
