Real property tax exemptions cost local and state governments more than $1 billion in forgone tax revenue during 2024, a new state audit reports. Acknowledging that their conclusions should be interpreted as rough estimates because they rely on significant assumptions, state auditors reported that local government lost a $1 billion in revenue and the state didn’t collect $12 million in property tax revenue. The auditors noted that just a few of those exemptions are were for economic development projects. The auditors found that between 6% and 42% of Kansas counties’ real property was exempt. Eighty three of the state’s 105 counties had 20% or less of their real property exempt from property taxes. The audit estimated that $54 billion, or about 15%, of the $366 billion in appraised property values across Kansas have been exempted from real property taxes. There are seven broad categories for real property tax exemptions in Kansas, including those for the government, education, public service and nonprofits, energy and utilities, economic development and agriculture and other that don’t fit neatly into a category.
Read more: Sunflower State Journal
