Kansas property tax is a local tax. County appraisers value property, cities, counties and school districts set budgets, and the county treasurer bills and collects. The state sets the assessment percentages and a statewide school levy, and the Department of Revenue runs the refund programs.
This guide uses the Kansas Department of Revenue and Property Valuation Division guides, the department’s refund pages and forms, and the Kansas statutes, read on 2 November 2026. The refund income limits below are for 2025 claims, filed by April 15, 2026; the Department posts new limits each year.
Kansas property is valued annually as of January 1, and most property is valued at fair market value. The county appraiser sets the value. The Department of Revenue’s homeowner guide says the appraiser "estimates only the value of your property" and that the amount of tax depends on the budgets city and county governments set in August.
The taxable share of that value is the assessment percentage in K.S.A. 79-1439:
The statute lists other subclasses too (for example agricultural land, which is valued on a different basis and is not covered here). Because the ratio for commercial property is more than double the ratio for a home, equal market values produce very different assessed values.
A mill is one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value. Your total levy is set locally and varies by county, city and school district, so no single Kansas rate applies. Ask your county clerk for the levy that applies to your address; this page does not state a statewide average because we did not find one in a Department source.
One part is the same everywhere: the statewide school mill levy is 20 mills. Under K.S.A. 79-201x, as the Property Valuation Division’s June 2024 memo states, "for the 2024 tax year, and all taxable years thereafter" the first $75,000 of appraised value of residential property is exempt from that school levy. The memo says the exemption is limited to the 20-mill school district levy, so it does not reduce your local mills. The Department’s older homeowner guide (revised 2016) still describes a $20,000 exemption; that figure is out of date.
| Appraised value | Assessed value, home (11.5%) | Assessed value, commercial (25%) | Home bill at 100 mills | Home bill at 140 mills | Commercial bill at 100 mills | Commercial bill at 140 mills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $17,250 | $37,500 | $1,552.50 | $2,242.50 | $3,750.00 | $5,250.00 |
| $300,000 | $34,500 | $75,000 | $3,277.50 | $4,657.50 | $7,500.00 | $10,500.00 |
| $500,000 | $57,500 | $125,000 | $5,577.50 | $7,877.50 | $12,500.00 | $17,500.00 |
Our illustration, not a bill: the 100 and 140 mills are assumed round numbers, not any county’s levy. We took the 20-mill statewide school levy to be part of the total mills, as the Department’s own worked example does, and removed it on the first $75,000 of a home’s appraised value (a credit of $172.50 at most: $75,000 x 11.5% x 20 mills). The commercial columns apply the same assumed mills to 25% of value with no school-levy exemption, because the exemption is for residential property.
To find your own bill, take the appraised value on your notice, multiply by the assessment percentage, multiply by your total mills and divide by 1,000. For a home, subtract the credit for the school levy exemption.
Counties mail valuation notices from mid-February through early April. To appeal the value, contact the county appraiser’s office within 30 days from the date the notice was mailed. The statute (K.S.A. 79-1448) makes the informal meeting a condition for appealing to a county hearing officer or panel, and the Department’s guide treats it as the first step in every county.
Deadlines depend on whether your county has a hearing officer or panel. The steps below follow the Department’s guide for counties without one, where a dissatisfied taxpayer files directly with BOTA (K.S.A. 79-1611). In a county that has appointed a hearing officer or panel, K.S.A. 79-1606 requires the appeal to be filed in writing with the county clerk within 18 days of the date the appraiser’s final determination was mailed, and K.S.A. 79-1609 then allows 30 days from the panel’s order to appeal to BOTA. Ask your county appraiser which applies, and follow the deadline printed on your notice.
Since tax year 2017 there is an alternative to BOTA: file a third-party fee simple appraisal with the county appraiser within 60 days from the mailing date of the informal meeting result. The county appraiser then has 15 days to review it and mail a supplemental notice, and you can appeal that to BOTA within 30 days.
For reductions on appeal on or after January 1, 2026, the Department’s May 2026 guide says that for the next 5 years the county appraiser must review the property if its value rises more than 5% over the prior year (new construction, a change of use or a change of class excluded), and must either adjust the value based on the appeal information or order an independent appraisal.
Two warnings from the Department: an appeal you start and then abandon cannot be followed by paying under protest or appealing again for the same property and year, and the notice itself states the deadline that applies to you.
Kansas has a second route that works at the bill stage. A protest form is filed with the county treasurer when the taxes are paid. If you pay all or part of the taxes before December 20, the form must be filed no later than December 20. If an escrow or tax service agent paid the taxes before December 20, the protest is due no later than January 31 of the following year. The Department’s May 2026 protest guide says counties mail tax statements from November through December 15, but K.S.A. 79-2001 (as amended in 2025) requires the treasurer to mail them before December 1, so expect your statement earlier than the guide suggests.
You cannot use this route if you already appealed the valuation notice for the same property and tax year, and the reverse also applies. Choose one.
The county treasurer must mail tax statements before December 1 (K.S.A. 79-2001, as amended in 2025; the Department’s older guides still say December 15). All, or at least half, of the tax is due by December 20, and the second half is due by May 10 of the following year. The Department’s refund pages give the same pattern for 2025 taxes: December 20, 2025 and May 10, 2026. For 2026 taxes that means December 20, 2026 for the first half and May 10, 2027 for the second. December 20, 2026 is a Sunday, and K.S.A. 79-2004 extends a due date that falls on a weekend to the next business day of the treasurer’s office, so the first half is due Monday, December 21, 2026. If a mortgage company escrows your taxes, it pays on your behalf.
Kansas does not take these reliefs off the bill. The Department of Revenue pays them as refunds after you file a claim. Claims for a tax year are filed from January 1 through April 15 of the following year. A claimant may receive only one of the three refunds, and the Department’s free WebFile software works out which gives the most. The table shows the limits the Department published for 2025 claims (filed by April 15, 2026); the limits change annually, so check ksrevenue.gov before you file for 2026.
| Program (form) | Refund | 2025 household income limit | Other tests for 2025 claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead refund (K-40H) | A percentage of general property tax paid, based on income; maximum $700 | $43,389 | Home valued at no more than $350,000; age 55 or over for all of 2025, or blind or disabled, or a qualifying dependent child, or a disabled veteran or qualifying surviving spouse |
| Property Tax Relief for Low Income Seniors, SAFESR (K-40PT) | 75% of the property taxes actually and timely paid; no dollar cap | $25,380 | Age 65 or over for all of 2025; home valued at no more than $350,000; no delinquent property tax |
| Property Tax Relief for Seniors and Disabled Veterans (K-40SVR) | The difference between the homestead property tax for a base year and for the current year | $58,041 | Age 65 or over (or a disabled veteran, or a qualifying surviving spouse) for the entire base year; home valued at no more than $350,000 in the base year |
The SAFESR refund has no dollar limit, so it can exceed the Homestead maximum of $700. The Department notes that a 2025 general property tax of $936 or more gives a SAFESR refund over $700. The first half of the tax must be timely and actually paid, and delinquent property tax disqualifies a claimant from SAFESR. For the K-40SVR program the base year is the calendar year before you first can claim, and a base year earlier than 2021 is treated as 2021.
| General property tax paid on the home | SAFESR refund (75%) |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | $750 |
| $2,000 | $1,500 |
| $3,000 | $2,250 |
| $4,000 | $3,000 |
Eligibility also depends on the income limit, age and home value tests above; this table only multiplies by 75%.
The assessment percentages and the statewide school levy are the same across Kansas. Everything else that sets your bill is local: your appraised value, your total mills (city, county, school district and other districts), and how your county schedules informal appeal meetings. Use your county appraiser for the value and the county clerk for the levy, and check the notice you receive for the deadline that applies to you.