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Officials cite tax-exempt properties and delinquent taxes as budget pressures for Seward County
Summary
Seward County officials highlighted a statewide Kansas Association of Counties (KAC) study showing extensive tax-exempt properties and said delinquent tax collections dating back decades are being addressed as part of county delinquent-tax recovery efforts.
County leaders used the town-hall to describe fiscal pressures from tax-exempt properties and long-uncollected delinquent taxes.
Officials referenced a Kansas Association of Counties study that enumerated exempt properties across counties and said Seward County's appraiser further broke the numbers down to show local impact. County speakers said exempt properties — including some church and nonprofit holdings and other exemptions granted by cities or other local bodies — shift some service costs to counties because exempt properties still receive services such as roads, fire and emergency response.
Officials said they have been implementing a delinquent-tax recovery program, running regular tax sales and encouraging residents to contact the treasurer’s office for questions about specific properties. County staff noted some delinquent personal-property and oil-and-gas tax accounts date back to the 1990s and early 2000s; staff said they are starting efforts to address collections from those years.
A resident at the meeting noted the scale of exemptions and delinquent tax lists published in the newspaper; county staff said they will make KAC study results and the appraiser’s breakdown available online to help the public understand the fiscal context.
Ending: Officials said understanding exemptions and delinquent collections should help residents see what drives county budget pressures and that staff will continue public education about tax sales and recovery work.
