Homeowners may see a break on their property taxes this year but the change is creating extra work for the County Clerk’s Office.

The tax relief package adopted by the Kansas Legislature at the June 18 special session changed the School Finance Levy Residential Exemption. Beginning in tax year 2024, the amount of residential property exempt from that statewide levy will increase from $43,049 to $75,000 of appraised value.

County Clerk Bev Schmeidler told the Barton County Commission on Tuesday that her office was notified of this change on Friday afternoon and given until July 1 to update their abstracts, values, and budget sheets.

Barton County Counselor Patrick Hoffman noted this affects counties throughout the state. “It is a little bit of a mess. Not just here.”

Schmeidler told the Great Bend Tribune she also did not meet the June 15 deadline to notify taxing entities of taxable values. That is because Barton County is the home county for the Central Kansas Library System, a shared district that contains 16 counties. “I must wait for preliminary values from those counties before I can proceed,” she said. “The deadline for all County Clerks is now July 1st, this year only, because of the change.”

Even though the school finance levy exemption will lower some local tax bills, it won’t reduce the amount of state aid schools receive. Great Bend USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton said state aid is based on the number of students. “The increased exemption will be recognized at the local level by the property owners. The school district (funding) will not be reduced by the exemption amount.  It will have a neutral effect on the district.”

Additional reporting Becky Gillette, Great Bend Tribune.