SESSION OF 2020
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 242
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Assessment and Taxation

Brief*
SB 242, as amended, would 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 authority to include all
buildings and agricultural improvements listed as real
property for situations wherein such property has been
damaged in a gubernatorial-declared 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 provisions of the bill would be retroactive to tax
year 2019.
The bill would be in effect upon publication in the
Kansas Register.

Background
The bill was introduced by Senator Holland.
In the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation
hearing, Senator Holland and representatives of the Kansas
Cooperative Council, Kansas Grain and Feed Association,
Kansas Soybean Association, a Leavenworth County
Commissioner, and a Leavenworth County resident provided
____________________
*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
proponent testimony on the bill. The proponents discussed
the damage in multiple counties in northeast Kansas resulting
from the May 2019 tornado and indicated owners of property
that no longer exists had received property tax bills later in
the year based on the valuation on January 1.
The original bill would have expanded the authority of
county commissions to abate taxes on damaged agricultural
improvements. The Senate Committee amended the bill to
broaden its application to all damaged buildings and
improvements listed as real estate, including public grain
warehouses.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, enactment of the bill
would have no fiscal effect on the agency operations of the
Department of Revenue or the State Board of Tax Appeals.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is not
reflected in The FY 2021 Governor’s Budget Report.


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 79-1613
As Amended by Senate Committee: 79-1613