SESSION OF 2020
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 125
As Recommended by House Committee on
Taxation

Brief*
House Sub. for SB 125 would make a number of
changes in property tax law relating to the authority of county
treasurers and county commissions.

Authority and Duties of County Treasurers
The bill would authorize county treasurers to waive
interest and penalty through August 10, 2020, relative to the
May 10, 2020, second-half payments of tax year 2019 liability.
Such treasurers would be prohibited from waiving interest
and penalty for taxpayers who had been delinquent on prior
tax payments. The bill also would delay for tax year 2019 only
certain statutory dates associated with the preparation and
publication of delinquent tax rolls by the treasurers.
The bill would further authorize treasurers to establish
partial payments and payment plans for all property taxes.
Current law grants treasurers authority to accept partial
payment for delinquent property taxes.


____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
Authority of County Commissions
The bill would, retroactive to tax year 2019, expand the
authority of county commissions to abate property taxes on
certain types of property destroyed or substantially destroyed
by natural disasters.
The bill would broaden the types of eligible property to
include certain agricultural improvements, public grain
warehouses, and commercial real estate for situations
wherein the property has been damaged in a gubernatorial-
declared natural disaster and restoration costs would equal or
exceed 50 percent of pre-damage market value. Similar
authority exists under current law for counties to abate taxes
on damaged residential homestead property.
The bill would clarify that counties would have discretion
in implementing abatement authority and would not be
required to utilize it uniformly for all classes of property or all
parcels within any affected type.
Cities, certain taxing units located within cities, school
districts, and community junior college districts with 25
percent or more of total parcels damaged would have the
ability to object to abatements within 14 days, effectively
blocking the abatements relative to their shares of the
property taxes imposed.

Background
SB 125, as introduced, would have extended the Rural
Opportunity Zone program by five years. The bill was
introduced by Senators Hilderbrand, Alley, Baumgardner,
Berger, Billinger, Bowers, Doll, Estes, Givens, Goddard,
Hawk, Longbine, Masterson, Olson, Petersen, Pyle, Rucker,
Skubal, Suellentrop, Taylor, and Wilborn.
At the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation
hearing on the bill, Senator Hilderbrand and representatives
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of the City of Fort Scott and Crawford County Board of
Commissioners testified as proponents. Written-only
proponent testimony was provided by the Kansas Hospital
Association and Pittsburg State University. No opponent or
neutral testimony was provided.
The House Committee on Taxation on May 14, 2020,
voted to remove the bill’s original provisions, insert the
provisions of HB 2517 as amended by the House Committee
earlier in the session, insert the provisions of Sub. for HB
2607, and add the authorization for county treasurers to
waive interest and penalty on delinquent May 10 property
taxes in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
The fiscal note prepared for the bill as introduced is not
applicable to the substitute bill. A fiscal note on the substitute
bill was not immediately available.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is
not reflected in The FY 2021 Governor’s Budget Report.

HB 2517 (Abating Taxes on Certain Destroyed Property)
The bill was introduced by Representatives Karleskint,
Amyx, Dove, and Horn.
In the House Committee on Taxation hearing on
February 13, 2020, Representative Karleskint,
representatives of the Kansas Grain and Feed Dealers
Association and Kansas Soybean Association, a private
citizen from Linwood, and a Leavenworth County
Commissioner provided proponent testimony on the bill.
Written-only proponent testimony was submitted by
Representative Amyx, Representative Horn, the Kansas
Association of Counties (KAC), and the Kansas Farm Bureau.
No neutral or opponent testimony was provided.
The bill as introduced would have expanded the
abatement authority relative to damaged agricultural
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improvements. The House Committee amended the bill to
also include damaged public grain warehouses and damaged
commercial real estate. The House Committee also added
the provisions clarifying the authority of counties in
implementing the authority and granting the ability of certain
taxing units to block the abatement of their portion of property
taxes.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill as introduced, enactment of HB 2517
would have no fiscal effect on the agency operations of the
Department of Revenue or the State Board of Tax Appeals.
The KAC and the League of Kansas Municipalities (LKM)
indicate the bill has the potential to reduce the amount of
local property tax revenues in communities that are affected
by a natural disaster; however, a precise estimate of the fiscal
effect on local governments could not be determined.

Sub. for HB 2607 (Tax Payment Plans)
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Taxation at the request of Representative Kelly on behalf of
the cities in Montgomery County. As introduced, the bill would
have established specific guidelines for counties seeking to
authorize installment payment plans for residential property.
At the House Committee hearing on February 20,
Representative Kelly appeared as a proponent, as did a
representative of the LKM and the Caney City Administrator.
A representative of the KAC and the Riley County Treasurer
appeared in opposition. Written-only testimony in opposition
was submitted by the Kansas County Treasurers Association.
No neutral testimony was provided.
On February 24, the House Committee amended the bill
to remove its original provisions and to expand the authority
of county treasurers in current law to allow for property tax
partial payments and payment plans. The Committee
recommended a substitute bill be created.
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 A fiscal note on HB 2607, as introduced, prepared by the
Division of the Budget indicated the Department of Revenue
did not anticipate any impact on the amount of property taxes
collected but noted that the timing of receipts could be
affected.


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 74-50, 79-32
Version 2: 79-1613, 79-2024, 79-2302, 79-2303