2025 Kansas Legislature should focus on property tax reform, not social issues | Opinion

The 2025 Kansas legislative session begins Jan. 13. It’s expected to resemble the contentious 2024 session, except on steroids.

That’s because Republicans beefed up their veto-proof majorities in both the state House and Senate in November. Additionally, some GOP gadflies in the Legislature are gone, making conservative domination more likely.

Democrat Laura Kelly remains governor, of course, and can push back against extremists if needed. But the iron law of legislation still holds: Cooperation, not confrontation, is the only real path for progress in Kansas in 2025. We urge leaders in both parties to remember that.

There is some reason for optimism. Abortion rights, which are a perennial subject in Topeka, seem less subject to dispute than usual. In 2022, Kansas voters emphatically embraced those rights, making abortion less of a topic on the floor.

We hope that continues to be the case. We’ll get the usual pushes for gun rights and against transgender therapies, of course, but if we’re lucky, lawmakers will focus on pocketbook issues that affect everyone.

Republicans have promised to make tax reform — and particularly property tax reform — a centerpiece of their 2025 efforts. We think there is an opportunity for accommodation on the issue, providing Kansans with relief next year.

Property tax relief

Property taxes are deeply unpopular. They’re based on a guess of value — an educated guess, sure, but a guess nonetheless. Imagine a clerk guessing the value of your shopping cart and then assessing sales taxes on the estimate, and you get some sense of why property taxes are so frustrating.

And property taxes are based on unrealized gains in value. The appraisal on your home may go up, but unless you sell the property, the gain is on paper only. At the same time, tax increases based on greater values must be paid in actual cash. You can see the problem.

What is harder to see is a satisfying fix.

Local governments — cities, counties, library districts, community colleges — rely heavily on property taxes to provide basic services. Abrupt changes in the property tax system (by state lawmakers, no less) would be disruptive and unacceptable.

Kansas does collect a substantial statewide property tax, and reducing that levy could provide some relief. Replacing that loss revenue with general funds would protect schools for now, but might make it harder to fully fund education in future years.

Some Republicans have proposed a constitutional amendment capping property value appraisals. That makes little sense. Caps distort values over time, giving homeowners with similar properties wildly different tax bills. Voters would likely reject such a plan.

We think lawmakers should study property value exemptions on a sliding scale — say, a $100,000 exemption on homes worth $200,000 or less, a $75,000 exemption on values between $200,000 and $500,000, and so on. Such a system would offer some relief, while providing more help for younger, newer homeowners.

What lawmakers should avoid is wholesale revisions to the income tax code, or massive corporate tax cuts, or other changes that would severely dent the state’s budget. Revenues are slowing. Kansas, under any circumstance, must avoid the disasters of the Sam Brownback years, when irresponsible tax cuts crippled the state’s budget.

Gov. Kelly has made this point. We agree.

School funding, vouchers

We believe schools should be fully funded. Kansas has ended years of litigation protecting school funding, and any substantial reductions in that spending could invite new lawsuits. Kansas should also fully fund its special education responsibilities.

Some conservative lawmakers may pursue voucher programs to pay part of the tuition for private school students. Such a plan would devastate rural school districts, which are often a source of community pride and resources for adults. Legislators should reject vouchers.

Medicaid, legal marijuana

We believe Kansas should expand Medicaid, and finally give insurance support to the working poor. It is beyond explanation, other than plain cruelty, for legislators to deny that help.

We believe Kansas should join other states and legalize marijuana for medical and personal use (and tax its sale.)

Sports stadiums

The Legislature may be called upon to renew or expand aid for building one or more sports stadiums in Kansas, for the Royals or Chiefs, or both. While we prefer to see the teams stay in Jackson County, we ask for a fair hearing for those proposals, if they are offered.

Kansans should not be asked to shoulder the entire burden of stadiums for professional sports. If there are ways the state can be involved, on the other hand, we ask that they be fairly considered.

We think the 2025 Kansas legislative session can be productive and nonconfrontational, if the Republican majority seeks reasonable, effective tax reform and Gov. Kelly responds appropriately. We think there are areas of potential agreement in other parts of state government as well.

What Kansans cannot accept is endless arguments over polarizing social issues that have little impact on their lives. Lawmakers and the governor should remember that fact and proceed accordingly.