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Kansas and Nebraska special sessions underline property‑tax pressure across the Midwest
Summary
CSG Midwest director Laura Tamaka said property‑tax disputes prompted special sessions in Kansas and Nebraska and called out wider regional tax changes — flat‑tax proposals, child tax credits and grocery tax eliminations were among recent actions.
Laura Tamaka of the Council of State Governments’ Midwest office told attendees that property taxes were a central driver of recent state tax debates and, in two states, prompted special sessions this year.
Tamaka described Kansas’s post‑session special session after Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a property‑tax bill; lawmakers adopted a bipartisan compromise that Tamaka said will reduce state taxes by about $1.2 billion over three years while leaving property‑tax relief for further work in 2025. "Missing from the final compromise is property tax relief, but, all indications are that that will likely be on the agenda in 2025," she said.
Nebraska also convened a special session that Tamaka said produced a bill limiting year‑over‑year spending for city and county governments and included significant income tax cuts intended to curb runaway property tax bills.
Beyond property tax, Tamaka flagged broader regional changes: Iowa’s phase‑in of a flat tax (to 3.9 percent) and a proposed constitutional amendment to make it permanent; North Dakota gubernatorial proposals for a single flat rate; Illinois’s first state child tax credit (up to $300) and elimination of a 1 percent grocery sales tax in that state; and other sales‑tax and credit changes around the region.
Why it matters: Property tax pressures have driven extraordinary legislative action in multiple Midwestern states this year, producing special sessions and large income‑tax and sales‑tax changes that will affect state revenues and local government budgets.
Tamaka directed attendees to CSG’s state slides for detailed revenue and revenue‑impact tables and said many of the property‑tax choices will return to state legislatures in 2025.
