Kansas · KS
Kansas quotes rates in mills rather than dollars per hundred, and assesses commercial property at 25% of appraised value. It is also the only one of our four states with a genuine alternative route: payment under protest, which runs on an entirely different clock from the ordinary appeal.
counties
25% for commercial and industrial property
Mills, applied to 25% of appraised value
Annual
Deadlines
The equalization appeal runs 30 days from the county's notice of value, which lands in March (K.S.A. 79-1448). If that window closes, payment under protest under K.S.A. 79-2005 remains available, generally when the tax is paid — by 31 December for the first half. The two routes are mutually exclusive for the same year, so choosing correctly matters.
Appeal deadlines cannot be extended. Our calendar computes the date for your specific parcel from the governing statute or ordinance and shows how well it is verified.
Check your localityThe appeal ladder
Each rung has its own deadline, its own evidence standard and its own cost. Skipping one usually closes the ones above it.
An equalization appeal begins with an informal meeting, filed within 30 days of the notice of value. The appraiser must issue a written result.
The state board. Kansas BOTA has a small claims division for lower-value matters and a regular division above it, with different evidence expectations.
Judicial review of the BOTA decision.
A separate route that begins when the tax is paid rather than when the notice is issued. It is the fallback where the equalization window has closed — but it cannot be combined with an equalization appeal for the same year.
What catches owners out
A 130 mill levy on a commercial property appraised at $4 million means tax on $1 million of assessed value — 25% — at 130 mills, or $130,000. Comparing a Kansas mill rate directly against a Virginia dollar rate without converting both is a common and expensive error.
Equalization appeal and payment under protest cannot both be used for the same property in the same tax year. Which one is right depends on where you are in the calendar and whether the tax has been paid.
Thirty days from a notice mailed in March is the tightest ordinary deadline in any of our four states. Kansas notices need acting on the week they arrive.
The small claims division is faster and less formal; the regular division expects appraisal-grade evidence. Filing in the wrong one wastes a cycle.
Forms
Filed with the county appraiser within 30 days of the notice.
Filed with the county treasurer at the time tax is paid.
We hold the current form library for all 105 Kansas counties and file on the correct version, by the method that locality accepts.
Where we work
We cover every jurisdiction in the state. These are the markets where we carry the most case volume.
Questions
An equalization appeal must be filed within 30 days of the county's notice of value, which is generally mailed in March (K.S.A. 79-1448). It is the shortest ordinary appeal window of the four states we practise in.
Under K.S.A. 79-2005 you can pay the tax under protest and contest the valuation from there, rather than through the equalization route. It is the fallback once the 30-day window has closed. The two routes cannot both be used for the same property in the same year.
Commercial and industrial property is assessed at 25% of appraised value, and the levy is quoted in mills — thousandths of a dollar. A $4 million property at 130 mills is taxed on $1 million of assessed value, producing roughly $130,000.
The small claims division handles lower-value matters quickly and informally. The regular division expects appraisal-grade evidence and takes longer. Filing in the wrong division can cost a cycle.
Send us the parcel and the assessed value. We will review it against market evidence and come back with a written opinion of value — and a straight answer on whether an appeal is worth bringing.
This page is general information about Kansas assessment appeals, not legal advice, and statutes change. Confirm any deadline with your locality before relying on it. Sterling Tax Management is a property tax consultancy and is not a law firm.