The City of Shawnee’s Property Tax Rebate program is back with an aim at helping more low-income residents with housing costs.
Through May 15, the City of Shawnee will be accepting applications to qualify for up to $500 in property tax relief from the city.
This year, the program’s funding doubled from $50,000 in 2025 to $100,000 in 2026 to help more people. The measure was included in the 2026 City Budget, which was approved by the previous Shawnee City Council in September.
At the Shawnee City Council meeting on Jan. 12, Assistant City Manager Lauren Grashoff said city staff hope even more residents will take advantage of the property tax rebate program.
“We had about 90 participants last year,” she told the city council. “We would love to double that.”
The program has restrictions
In order to qualify for this year’s program, residents must:
- Be a current resident of the City of Shawnee
- Live in and own their home
- Be current on their property taxes and special assessments
- Meet HUD’s Very Low Income Guidelines’ maximum total income limit (listed below):
After the city council approved the measure to double the funding for the program, City Manger Paul Kramer said they hope it can help as many Shawnee residents as possible.
“We are definitely trying to get that word out through service agencies more so than we have in the past. We want every dollar allocated … to be used by those who need that property tax relief,” he said at a city council meeting in September 2025.
City will heavily advertise the program
At the city council’s Jan. 12 meeting, Grashoff said the city will be using multiple avenues to get the word out about the program, including the “All Things Hometown” newsletter, direct mailers and social media posts.
The city is also looking at hosting outreach events, where city staff can help people see if they quality and help with their applications.
“We’re looking at other areas (and) opportunities to get into the community, to host those events,” Grashoff said.
Shawnee may partner with Johnson County to maximize impact
While the city is hoping to help more people with this year’s program, it’s also looking to maximize property tax relief efforts by partnering with Johnson County in 2027 to combine both of their programs.
“They run an almost exact (same) program that has the same eligibility criteria, same applications and work on the same timeline, as far as accepting those applications,” Grashoff said. “So we think it could be a good partnership, potentially in ’27, of just having one application to qualify for the different city and county rebates.”
Applications for the 2026 Property Tax Relief Program are available at the City of Shawnee’s website.
