KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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If your New Year's resolution is to save more money, Johnson County is expanding a program that could help residents do that.
Starting this week, eligible homeowners can apply for property tax relief to cover the county's portion of this year's tax bill.
Johnson County, Kansas, has provided tax relief for two years, but only to seniors, disabled veterans and homeowners with an appraised home value less than $384,600.
In 2025, the county helped several hundred people, providing more than $150,000 in property tax relief.
"We wanted to be able to help people directly," Johnson County Board of Commissioners chairman Mike Kelly said. "We've broadened the pool to hopefully have more people utilize the program."
In 2026, those barriers will be gone. The county removed the age limit requirement for applicants and raised the maximum appraised home value to $500,000.
"I expect that we will have more applicants this year than we had in years one or two," Kelly said. "I hope that we spend every dollar that we allocated for this program to make sure that those funds go to homeowners within Johnson County."
Chairman Kelly helped launch a similar program in Overland Park a few years ago before bringing it to the county. He explained that the relief dollars come from federal funds that have already been allocated.
"This program doesn't impact our ability to provide great service for EMS, for the Sheriff's Department, for the Department of Health and Environment, for your parks, libraries, all those great things that Johnson County provides," Kelly said.
The county is prepared to give out $369,000 this year, more than double the amount from last year's relief. Chairman Kelly explained it's a priority for the board to continue the program after the federal dollars run out.
"I fully anticipate that we will find a line item of funding for this into 2027 and beyond," Kelly said.
The one requirement that remains is the income limit for homeowners. If you fall within the limits, you can get some of those county dollars back. Income limits can be found here.
"Even if [Johnson County property tax] is only 17% of your [total] property bill, we know that providing that 17% back to the residents can have a really meaningful impact on folks," Kelly said.
Depending on where you live in Johnson County, homeowners can also apply for individual city property tax relief programs, like Overland Park, Lenexa and Olathe.
"We understand [property tax] is a burden on homeowners and we want to find a way to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to live in Johnson County," Kelly said.
The applications open on Thursday, Jan. 15, and are open until April. If approved, checks from Johnson County will be sent later in the year.
Information once applications open can be found here.
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