Senate advances bill to exempt small classes of personal property from taxation; addition of aircraft draws failed amendment and debate

Senators in the committee of the whole discussed and moved forward Senate Bill 10 on Jan. 28, 2025, a bill originating from county appraisers that would exempt various small categories of personal property from local personal property taxation.

Senator Barbara Tyson (Senator from Linn), who explained the bill, said the Kansas County Appraisers Association recommended removing certain items from personal property tax rolls because "it often costs more to collect the taxes than what we actually collect on these items." Tyson listed categories covered in the committee-amended bill, including all-terrain vehicles, recreational off-highway vehicles, certain off-road motorcycles, golf carts, electric-assisted bicycles and scooters, electric personal mobility devices and wheelchairs, small trailers (valued at $15,000 or less), and watercraft and trailers. The committee additionally amended the bill to include aircraft.

Floor debate focused on the committee's aircraft addition and on the bill's fiscal impact. Senator Francisco (Douglas) offered an amendment (SB 10 S-0831) to strike aircraft from the committee bill, arguing that exempting individual aircraft sets an awkward tone when the body is also considering property-tax relief more broadly. Tyson and supporters of the aircraft exemption said many aircraft are already registered or tagged out of state or are classified under business exemptions, so the committee believed adding aircraft would not be a large new state cost.

Fiscal figures discussed on the floor distinguished between the bill's direct state cost and additional state-aid impact. The transcript records an original fiscal note of approximately $205,748, and an additional potential state aid impact of about $2,743,309. Tyson summarized the committee's estimate that the total fiscal effect would be a bit under $3,200,000; she later said the aircraft addition accounted for approximately $230,000 of the total.

Senator Francisco's amendment to remove aircraft (SB 10 S-0831) failed on a roll-call vote. The clerk tallied 11 senators voting in favor of the amendment and 25 voting no; the motion therefore failed and the aircraft exemption remained in the committee-amended bill. The Senate then adopted the committee report and reported SB 10 as amended favorably for passage.

Why it matters: SB 10 reduces the administrative burden and tax cost on owners of a defined list of small or specialty personal property. The committee amendment to include aircraft — while representing a relatively modest fiscal estimate in committee calculations — prompted debate over equity and the message sent while the chamber also considers larger property-tax relief measures.

Ending: The Senate adopted the committee report and reported SB 10 as amended favorably for passage; the transcript excerpt does not include a final enrolled-bill passage vote on the floor during this session.