By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Hays is gaining some ground in its housing market, but demand is still far outpacing supply, Grow Hays Executive Director Doug Williams said Tuesday.
Williams gave his end-of-the-year report at the Grow Hays quarterly luncheon at the Bob and Pat Schmidt Community Center.
He said a housing shortage and the high cost of building new units are increasing home and rental prices. However, Hays' median home price is still lower than some comparable communities.
"Our housing problems persist, and our supply and demand are pretty out of whack," Williams said. "We have a lot of work to do in that area. We are making strides, but the challenge is accelerating."
In 2025, housing permits were issued for 14 single-family homes, 48 multi-family units and four duplexes.
"In housing, we have a ton of stuff going on but not enough," Williams said.
The 48 multi-family units are in the new apartment complex being built by Michael Graham on West 10th Street.
The developer continues to finish the Ellis Estates apartments, which are geared toward retired residents. The shells for 42 units are in place, and the developer is finishing those as he can.
Graham has also planned for 56 units at the former Lincoln School property. This will include seven fourplexes plus renovation of the former school building into apartments.
A four-plex is also being built on West Eleventh Street.
The last six homes in the third phase of the Heart of America Tallgrass Addition are under construction. Those homes should be completed within the next three to six months.
Another 101 homes are planned for phase four of the Tallgrass Addition between the existing addition and the interstate.
Work on the infrastructure for those homes should begin after the first of the year. It will take a year to finish that work and at least another year to build out the lots.
Williams said the builders currently working on Tallgrass Addition each have a list of 25 to 30 people wanting homes, but there aren't enough lots.
Williams said the housing market both needs more subcontractors to finish projects and more lots on which to build.
Infrastructure is in at the Grove addition on Canterbury, and construction is beginning on the first five homes.
He said at least two of the first homes have been sold, and he thought the others would be sold before completion.
Williams said he has heard some complaints about the number of Airbnbs in the community. He said those units are occupied by some of the transient workers in the community working on the many development projects, both residential and commercial.
"That won't go forever," he said. "At that point in time, when the market shrinks for those kinds of tenants, some of that is going to revert back to a more traditional rental situation."
The area has about 9,000 units and about 60 to 80 Airbnbs, Williams said.
"I have a hard time thinking that's making a huge impact on our rental market, in terms of people not finding a place to live," he said.
Property taxes
Williams said he has heard a lot of chatter about high property taxes forcing people out of Hays.
"Some of that may be true," he said. "The increase in property taxes, increase in homeowners insurance, increase in health insurance, increase in car insurance and increase in food costs all have an impact on fixed-income individuals."
However, he said property taxes are not as high as some comparable communities in Kansas and Nebraska.
Williams said he saw no reckless spending among the local taxing entities. He shared the graphic below that breaks down where your local property taxes go.
Williams said 60 to 70% of the school district's, county's and city's costs are people. That is teachers, sheriff's deputies, police officers and firemen, he said.
These government entities are not hiring people for less or paying less in health care costs.
"When people say our taxes are too high, I ask, 'Compared to what?'" he said. "Compared to what they used to be, yeah, so is everything else."
Williams shared charts comparing Hays' median home value, median income and property taxes to other comparable cities in Kansas and Nebraska.
"We are not the highest, and we're not the lowest, but we compare pretty favorably," Williams said.
The school bond accounted for a significant increase in property taxes, but that was a result of deferred spending for the last 50 years, he said.
In some smaller rural communities, where the population is shrinking, property taxes are twice as high as in Hays because there are fewer people to spread the costs among, Williams said.
Local officials are easier to blame for increased costs because they are visible in the community. The CEO of your health insurance company or your auto insurance company is not, Williams said.
"I think the other side of the story needs to be told and looked at," Williams said. "I think we need to look at solutions instead of gripes."
People can suggest we build more affordable housing, but the economics are not allowing that to happen, he said.
Williams said on the Morning Blend show on Friday state subsidies for low-income housing are drying up.
"I think the evidence shows we are not overtaxed here, and the cost of living compared to other places and home prices shows that we are not way out of line with these other communities," he said.