During and after the 2025 Kansas legislative session, we are providing Johnson County lawmakers the opportunity to share their thoughts about what is happening in the state capitol.
The views expressed in each Capitol Update are solely those of the lawmaker. The topics are of the lawmakers’ choosing and are not fact-checked.
Below is a submission from Republican Rep. Robyn Essex, who represents Kansas House District 78, covering a section of Olathe. (Essex is also currently an Olathe city councilmember.)
The Post this week has also extended invitations to publish Capitol Updates from Democratic Rep. Susan Ruiz of Shawnee and Republican Rep. Laura Williams of Lenexa.
Imagine your home’s temperature is controlled by someone sitting in the state capitol.
They set the thermostat based on what they think the average household needs — maybe 70 degrees year-round. But your house is multi-level with tall ceilings that can make it pretty drafty in the winter and hot in the summer. Sounds illogical, right?
Well, that is a picture of the difference between state control and local control. The state can offer guidance but only the local community knows what conditions they are living in. Whether it’s taxes, schools, zoning or services, local control is like setting your own thermostat.
Over the past few years I have heard a consistent plea from Kansans that their property taxes are too high and that the state isn’t doing enough to lower those taxes. The state is only a fraction of your property taxes, about 20 mills. The rest of the property tax authorities are the schools, counties and cities.
Kansas officially took itself off of property tax rolls this session with the passing of SB 35 (which eliminates statewide levies of 1 mill and 0.5 mills, respectively, for the state education building fund and state institution building fund.)
This bill shifts $56 million to the education building fund and $25 million to the state institution building fund from the state’s general fund. This simple shift will offer sustainable relief that puts $81 million back in Kansans’ pockets.
The question now is: Is it the state’s responsibility to tell local governments, who have their own duly elected officials, what they can and can’t do with their money?
It is easy for lawmakers and some local leaders to demand action on property taxes but provide no solutions. Our House and Senate Committee Tax chairs were hard at work long before the session began to find solutions to this dilemma.
This year, the House had a bill, HB 2396, that struck the perfect balance of partnering with our local governments. If local budgets stayed at the previous year’s spending level, plus inflation and minus voter approved bond projects and new development, the cities would receive a stipend from the state.
If the budget went over that number, it would be subject to a citizen protest petition, and if that petition was signed by 10% of voters the budget would need to be redone within those limits.
This measure passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 115-6.
The Senate had a different approach in mind that involved capping home appraisal values and local budgets. The bill that put caps on appraisals didn’t actually lower property taxes and was soundly rejected by the House with bipartisan supermajorities.
Late in the session as the House and Senate Tax Committee chairs worked through the night trying to find a compromise, the bill quickly became more of a heavy hand and involved costly citywide budget elections. When members expressed their concerns with this version it went back to conference.
The final product involved a new requirement of 80% support from the local governing body for a budget to pass and included other changes in how the stipend would be paid out. This version did not go through our normal vetting process, but it did pass the House with narrower margins. The Senate decided not to take it to a vote this year. I’m sure we will see a version of this bill again next year.
Finally, I leave you with this: 4 of 7 and 2 of 165. What does that mean?
In Olathe, each resident can vote for 4 out of 7 of their city council members (the mayor, two at-large city councilmembers and their ward councilmember). But you can only vote for two out of 165 members of the state legislature.
The local level is closer to the people.
Kansas is a big, beautiful mixture of rural, urban and suburban communities. Each area has very different needs and tax bases. Property taxes are a local issue, but state lawmakers hold some of the keys to reform.
Communicate your concerns with your local elected officials, too. The best solutions come not from overreach but from strategic support, smart funding and respect for local control.
I am looking forward to continuing these conversations in 2026.
