The details for Overland Park’s new city property tax rebate pilot program are starting to firm up.
On Wednesday, the Overland City Council Park Finance, Administration, and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to recommend an agreement with the Community Capital Fund to administer the pilot.
The action also effectively endorsed the pilot program’s eligibility rules and extra priority criteria.
Previously, the city set aside $200,000 for the rebate pilot program as part of its 2025 budget, but at the time, the parameters for it were unclear. The decision to start a pilot of this sort followed several months of sometimes heated discussion — some dating back to 2023.
Multiple other Johnson County taxing jurisdictions, including neighboring cities and the Johnson County government, have also started property tax rebate programs of their own in the last few years.
What are the terms of the property tax rebate?
- To be eligible, a property owner must reside in the Overland Park home on which they request a tax rebate.
- They have to be current on their property taxes.
- No more than 75% of the city portion of their property tax bill will be rebated.
- Some of the $200,000 Overland Park earmarked for the pilot will cover costs to administer it.
The application window for a rebate opens in June
- The money for the rebate program won’t be first come first serve, but instead will utilize an application process.
- Residents will initially have between June 1 and July 15 to submit their application and supporting documentation for consideration.
- Checks would then be issued for rebates by Aug. 15.
- If there is money left in the pilot program account after that, there will be a second application window between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30.
- Those checks would be issued in November.
Overland Park’s pilot will take other considerations
If needed to help make rebate allocation decisions, the city has also outlined some additional priority criteria that can be used to weigh applications. Those include:
- Homes with an appraised value lower than the year prior’s average for the city. (In 2024, Overland Park’s average appraised home value is $498,188.)
- Individuals who have resided at the same address for 15 years or longer.
- Households that have an annual income that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers “Very Low” or “Extremely Low.”
- Individuals who are veterans, disabled and/or over the age of 65.
- Homes within the city’s “priority neighborhoods,” which would be determined by Overland Park’s neighborhood indicators analysis system.
Councilmembers at the committee meeting this week supported adding the priority criteria. Councilmember Holly Grummert, who chairs the finance committee, particularly pointed out the priority neighborhoods requirement.
“I think that’s a great way to hit our market and hit the target for what we’re trying to do here, which is keep people in their homes, stabilize our neighborhoods, making sure that those most need in our neighborhood are getting the assistance that we’re trying to get them,” she said.
Applicants can also submit additional comments with their application detailing other challenges they might be dealing with, though they will have no bearing on the decision-making process at this time.
Next steps:
- The Overland Park City Council will consider the agreement next.
- During the application period, there will be in-person application workshops and additional guidance about how to apply for a rebate.
- At the end of 2025, Community Capital Fund will be required to submit a report to the city detailing how the pilot program ran in its inaugural year.
More on Overland Park’s 2025 budget: Overland Park adopts flat tax rate, new property tax rebate for 2025
