KCK schools could ask residents to pitch in more property tax dollars next year. Why?
People who live within Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools’ boundaries might soon end up paying more in residential property taxes to their local district.
School board members this week approved a letter of intent saying they plan to collect more in property tax revenues during the 2026-2027 budget year.
The move allows the board time to consider how much — or whether — it will increase the district’s property tax rate. And board documents indicate it might increase that rate by 10 mills, or $10 per every $1,000 of assessed property value.
Home values are continuing to rise in Wyandotte County and elsewhere, increasing the amount of money that local taxing entities, such as school districts, can collect from their tax bases.
And although that means more money for public services at a time when costs are increasing, that also means many residents in Wyandotte County, which has the lowest median income in the metro, are struggling to keep up with their property tax bills.
All four of Wyandotte County’s school districts adopted budgets last year that asked residents to pay about $10 million more in property taxes during the 2025-26 budget year than the year before.
KCKPS taxpayers were projected to contribute $5 million more in 2026 property taxes to support their local school system than they did in 2025, according to the district’s budget.
Of the nearly $80 million in property tax revenues that KCKPS residents will contribute to the school system this year, about $58 million of that will go directly to the school district and the remainder goes to the state, the district has said.
Potential tax rate increase
Although the board won’t formally decide how much more people could have to pay in property taxes until late August, board documents indicated that officials now have the option to increase the district’s levy rate by 10 mills.
Last year, board members adopted a mill rate of 52.778. The letter of intent they approved this week indicated they were considering a rate of 62 for the coming budget year.
This means that someone with a home valued at $200,000, who likely paid about $1,213 to their local school district in residential property taxes, could be looking at paying closer to $1,426 come next year.
If KCKPS decided to keep everyone’s bills the same as they are now, the district would miss out on up to $7.74 million in additional revenue that it would be able to collect, according to board documents.
If the district reduced its mill rate by one, it’d collect $4 million less in local property taxes than it did last year.
Missing out on that revenue could prompt the district to make notable cuts, given district expenses are continuing to rise, as reduced enrollment is affecting per-pupil funding and as the district has seen a decrease in federal funding, according to the district.
