Panel narrows homestead property-tax relief: exempts Social Security, raises income and appraisal caps

The Kansas Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee on an undisclosed date amended and advanced legislation expanding eligibility for the homestead property tax refund for seniors and disabled veterans.

The committee voted to exclude Social Security payments from the program's household-income calculation by defining income for the benefit as Kansas adjusted gross income (KAGI); it also raised the household income threshold to $80,000 and, after an amendment, set the claimant homestead appraised-value cap at $450,000 with the base year established as 2024. Committee members then placed the bill's provisions into House Bill 22-31 and voted to recommend HB 22-31 favorably as amended.

Committee staff described the bill as a change to the Homestead Property Tax Refund Act and to the property tax freeze for certain seniors and disabled veterans. "Senate bill number 215 relates to the homestead property tax refund act and would exclude social security…