by Morgan Chilson, Kansas Reflector
April 9, 2026
TOPEKA — Promises of property tax relief for Kansans dimmed slightly Thursday evening when the House voted down a resolution that would have put the issue in front of Kansas voters.
The House voted 69-54, failing to achieve the two-thirds majority needed for passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1603, which would have created a constitutional amendment that would have been on the November ballot.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins carried the bill, sharing simplified language to the resolution that came about through conference committee meetings.
“Basically, everything that was done in the committee work this year has been struck out,” Hawkins said. “We wanted to do something very, very simple.”
The result was a proposal that authorized the Legislature to provide for valuation limitations for any classes or subclasses of property.
The constitutional amendment evolved throughout the session. In mid-March, the resolution included freezing or limiting property taxes for “qualifying seniors” and gave the Legislature the ability to modify the constitution to base residential and commercial property valuations on the lesser of two values — current fair market value or an average fair market value over an unspecified amount of time.
Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, opposed the resolution, saying it was the same concept the Legislature voted down throughout the session that would put a cap on property valuations.
“Valuation caps are not good,” he said. “Artificial caps are not the way to go. We voted this down many times.”
Sawyer repeated an analogy he used previously, comparing valuation caps to getting a 10% coupon at the store, and then when you buy your items, the price has gone up 10%. In addition, he also repeated concerns that property caps would cause vehicle taxes to increase.
“The most important thing about a property tax system is that it’s fair,” Sawyer said. “When you put these artificial caps in, you create a tremendous amount of unfairness — unfairness that gets worse and worse over time.”
Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, made a motion after the vote to revive the resolution. The motion failed.
Property tax can still be addressed this session. House Bill 2745, which passed both chambers and was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly, is still alive after a tax conference committee Thursday morning.
The bill outlines the ability for voters to petition against property tax increases if they are above 3% or the Consumer Price Index. If a specified percentage of voters sign the petition, which has changed through different bill versions, the local governmental entity cannot raise property taxes.
In debate on the floor, one senator called it a “tyranny of the minority” because such a small number of residents could stop tax increases that may be necessary to pay for community needs.
Senate and House Republican leadership have taken control of the conference committee and copied a version of HB 2745 into House Bill 2043. They were expected to continue working on that bill Friday.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.
