Kansas homeowners have long complained of property tax bills that appear to grow year after year. Fueled by rising home values, the increases are a source of rising anger among residents.
The Legislature is moving closer to approving restrictions that would – at least in theory – make it easier for homeowners to fight future hikes.
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to prohibit local governments from growing the total amount of property tax revenue collected each year unless officials vote to do so. Localities would also have to hold a hearing for residents to air their views.
But in a nod to localities, the bill would also repeal a property tax lid they have strongly opposed since it was implemented in 2017. The lid, intended to limit tax hikes, was often undercut by exemptions and workarounds.
Read more: Wichita Eagle.

The number of suicides in northwest Kansas increased by more than half in recent years.

Twenty counties in the region saw suicides climb by 57% from 2014 through 2018.

That jump comes in a part of the state where people already die by suicide at a higher rate than in the rest of Kansas.

In Kansas “frontier” counties — places with fewer than six people per square mile — about 26 people a year out of every 100,000 die by suicide. Statewide, Kansas sees fewer than 18 suicides per 100,000 people, according to a report by the Kansas Health Institute

And overall, Kansas had 555 suicides in 2018, up 2% from the previous year. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the 2018 suicide rate was the highest in 20 years.

(Read more: Here)