Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2440

Introduced

1/14/26

Refer

1/14/26

Report Pass

2/9/26

Engrossed

2/12/26

Refer

2/13/26

Report Pass

3/17/26

Enrolled

3/26/26

Passed

4/9/26

Caption

Excluding owners of oil leases from having to file request for exemption with the board of tax appeals for property tax exemptions.

Summary

HB2440 amends Kansas property tax exemption procedures to remove owners of oil leases from the requirement to file an initial request for exemption with the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals. Under current law, most property owners seeking an ad valorem property tax exemption must file with the county appraiser, receive a county recommendation, and then have the request docketed with the board for possible hearing and final action. This bill adds oil leases to the list of exemptions that are excluded from that board-filing process. The bill makes a targeted change to K.S.A. 79-213, which governs how property tax exemption requests are processed, while leaving the broader exemption framework intact. It does not create a new exemption category; rather, it changes the administrative path for oil leases already exempted under K.S.A. 79-201t so that they are not required to go through the board of tax appeals filing and review process. The bill also retains the existing list of other property types that are exempt from the section’s procedures, such as farm machinery, inventories, certain government property, and other statutorily exempt property. In practical terms, the bill reduces procedural steps for oil lease owners seeking property tax exemption treatment, likely simplifying and speeding up exemption administration for that industry. County appraisers and county tax officials would still administer property tax matters generally, but oil lease exemptions would no longer be processed through the same board-level exemption request system as most other exemption claims. The bill amends and repeals the existing version of the statute to incorporate this change. The overall sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. It passed the House 119-0 and the Senate 40-0, indicating unanimous support in both chambers. No committee transcript or recorded debate is provided, and the voting history suggests broad agreement on the administrative nature of the change. The main point of contention, if any, would be the special treatment of oil lease owners compared with other property owners seeking exemptions. The bill singles out oil leases for a procedural carve-out, which could raise questions about preferential treatment or reduced oversight, but the unanimous votes suggest no significant legislative opposition was recorded.

Impact

HB2440 amends K.S.A. 79-213, the Kansas statute governing initial requests for ad valorem property tax exemptions, by excluding oil leases from the requirement to file an exemption request with the state Board of Tax Appeals. The change affects the administrative process for exemption claims tied to oil leases under K.S.A. 79-201t, while leaving the underlying exemption itself unchanged. It also preserves the existing procedures for other exempt property categories and does not alter the general county appraiser review framework for most exemption requests.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been received positively and without meaningful opposition. It passed the House unanimously, 119-0, and the Senate unanimously, 40-0. With no committee transcripts or recorded objections available, the available legislative history suggests the measure was viewed as a narrow, technical adjustment to property tax exemption administration rather than a controversial policy change.

Contention

The only notable issue is the bill’s special carve-out for oil leases, which exempts that property class from the standard Board of Tax Appeals filing process used for most exemption requests. That could be seen as reducing procedural oversight or giving the oil and gas sector a distinct administrative benefit. However, the unanimous votes indicate that any such concern did not generate visible opposition in the legislative process.

Latest KS HB2440 Activity

View All Events: KS 2025-2026 Regular Session HB2440

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS HB2003

Establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, modifying the definition of household income and increasing the appraised value threshold for eligibility of seniors and disabled veterans related to increased property tax claims and citing the section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, providing property tax exemptions for certain personal property including watercraft, marine equipment, off-road vehicles, motorized bicycles and certain trailers, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value, providing for certain exclusions from the prohibition of paying taxes under protest after a valuation notice appeal and providing four prior years' values on the annual valuation notice.

KS SB1

Modifying income tax rates for individuals, exempting all social security benefits from Kansas income tax, increasing the Kansas standard deduction and the Kansas personal exemption, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, decreasing the privilege tax normal tax, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value for property tax valuation purposes, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund and abolishing the local ad valorem tax reduction fund and the county and city revenue sharing fund.

KS SB2

Eliminating the income limit to qualify for the subtraction modification exempting social security benefits, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, citing the increased property tax homestead refund claim section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, decreasing the normal privilege tax rate, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, decreasing the rate of ad valorem tax imposed by a school district; providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund, reducing the state rate of tax on sales of food and food ingredients and modifying the percent credited to the state highway fund from revenue collected.

KS SB8

Exempting the sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition, firearm safes and firearm safety devices from the retatilers' sales tax.

KS SB6

Providing a sales tax exemption for sales of electricity to residential premises by municipally owned or operated utilities.

KS HB2004

Authorizing counties to propose an earnings tax for ballot question.

KS SCR1604

Proposing to amend section 1 of article 11 of the constitution of the state of Kansas to limit property tax valuation increases for real property and personal property mobile homes.

KS SB5

Authorizing counties to impose an earnings tax.

KS HB2001

Authorizing the secretary of commerce to enter into agreements with major professional sports franchises to establish STAR bond projects for a major professional sports complex, providing for additional revenue sources, expanding the powers and discretion of the secretary and making other changes to the STAR bonds financing act to facilitate such projects, limiting the secretary’s authority to approve such projects to one year unless extended by the legislative coordinating council, authorizing the Kansas development finance authority to issue STAR bonds for such projects, transferring funds under certain circumstances from the state gaming revenues fund to the attracting professional sports to Kansas fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and, if approved by the legislative coordinating council, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.

KS SCR1603

Proposing to amend section 1 of article 11 of the constitution of the state of Kansas to limit property tax valuation increases for residential property.