BY: ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansas Republicans are poised to turn the campaign trail promise of property tax relief into reality with expanded supermajorities in the Legislature and potentially unprecedented control over the state’s budget process.
However, state tax revenue continues to trend below projections, and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly wants legislators to hit pause before taking action in 2025.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said property tax relief will be “job one” when the Legislature convenes in January.
“For too long, Kansans have struggled with the ever-increasing cost of property taxes,” Hawkins said in a Nov. 27 statement. “Governor Kelly wants legislators to ‘take a breath’ instead of passing necessary legislation to ease the burden of property taxes on Kansans.”
Instead, he said, Kansans need “breathing room from the burden of sky-high property taxes.”
Lawmakers’ ideas for relief are bound by the state’s limited authority over local property taxes. Legislators could further modify the state mill levy or, like Iowa lawmakers in 2023, cap the tax levy rates for cities and counties.
Hawkins’ statement was in response to Kelly’s Nov. 25 comments to reporters at her Topeka residence when she emphasized her preference for a wait-and-see approach to further tax cuts.
In an updated revenue estimate for fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30, the state was projected to take in $400 million less than the year before and $72 million less in tax revenue than initial estimates.
The state likely won’t immediately see the full impacts of the bipartisan legislation adopted during a special session in June, which implemented income and property tax reductions that estimated $1.2 billion in savings for Kansans over three years.
Grace Hoge, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Wednesday that state revenues are still predicted to outweigh expenditures in the coming years.
“Now, we must remain cautious with future tax cut proposals and budgetary discussions to ensure Kansas does not return to the days of budget shortfalls and underfunded services,” she said.
Actual revenue has failed to meet projections lately. After revising estimates on Nov. 15 to lower projections by $72 million for the fiscal year, revenue for November continued to fall below expectations. The state collected about $675.5 million in taxes during the month, nearly 4%, or more than $25 million, below projections.
“It is important to remember that a comparison of just one month is not a reliable basis upon which to identify a trend for the balance of the fiscal year,” the report from the Kansas Legislative Research Department said.
State tax collections beat projections by $17.8 million in October, $15.1 million in September, and $6.6 million in August.
The reports released in the next two months will reflect the holiday shopping season and corporation income tax payment estimates, which are due multiple times per year, including December.