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Atchison County appraiser reports 2026 valuation shifts, warns HB 2231 will cut personal-property assessments
Summary
County Appraiser Holly Hackathornne presented the 2026 certification of values on June 9, reporting a roughly $7.39 million increase in assessed real-property value and an estimated $1.49 million decline in assessed personal property tied largely to House Bill 2231 and a grain-elevator ruling; the county remains in compliance after appeals.
County Appraiser Holly Hackathornne presented Atchison County's 2026 certification of values on June 9, summarizing how recent sales, program entries and legislative changes affect next year's tax base. She reported a year-over-year increase in assessed real-property value of 7,390,332 and described the county's new-construction and neighborhood-revitalization (NRP) entries that feed into that total.
Hackathornne told commissioners that several NRP projects completed their required filings by Dec. 31, 2025 and will be entered into the 2026 tax year; she also noted some earlier approvals granted extensions by a prior appraiser and explained that certain applications (for example, crawl-space sealant) will not yield increased assessment because they do not create measurable improvement value.
The appraiser said recent legislation, House Bill 2231 (effective Jan. 1, 2026), exempts several categories of personal property'including watercraft, small personal trailers under 15,000 pounds, golf carts and many off-highway recreational vehicles'and that exemption will reduce assessed personal-property totals. She reported a net assessed-value decrease of approximately 1,492,492 due to depreciation, the HB 2231 exemptions and the removal of certain commercial machinery and equipment following a district-court ruling concerning grain elevators.
Hackathornne also described the county's 2026 ratio study work: she appealed four sales she judged invalid (family transfers or otherwise not open-market transactions). After removing those sales, the county's median ratio improved to 92.94 with a confidence interval of 90.46 to 95.33, and the coefficient of dispersion (COOD) was 11.25. Those measures keep the county within the state's 90'to'110 compliance guidance, she said; she explained that if the county were out of range the state would perform quality-control checks rather than immediately revoke licensure.
Commissioners thanked the appraiser for the overview and suggested the office produce public-facing material to explain the changes and their implications for taxpayers. Hackathornne said she produces an annual newsletter to help constituents understand valuation drivers and that staff will continue field reviews, re-inspections and analysis for the 2027 valuation year.
No formal vote was required on the certification at the meeting; the appraiser's presentation will inform budget and public-outreach work ahead of next year's tax cycle.
