KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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The deadline to appeal property tax assessments in Johnson County is Friday, March 27th.
Thousands of residents have appealed their assessments, and several reached out to me in the process, including Prairie Village property owner Jerry Ward.
Ward is among those who appealed his assessment. He wanted more context on why his assessed value increased just over 13%.
According to the appraiser's revaluation report, residential property values, not including apartments, increased by an average of six percent county-wide from 2025 to 2026.
You can look at the breakdown of cities here.
"I'm just trying to understand what's happening here," Ward said. "I realize we need to pay taxes, but I just want it to be a fair amount."
In his assessment, the sale prices of three other homes near him were listed as factors to determine his valuation. One of these homes was three times the value of his.
I took this question to the county.
In an email, Johnson County Appraiser Carolyn Logan wrote, "Typical factors that are used to compare homes are age (year built), size, quality, and condition. Other factors might include detached garage or other improvements. If a property owner is concerned about a specific comparable, please encourage that owner to reach out to our office."
Ward told me he's paying attention to what's happening, and I want them to know that it, it does affect people.
He's lived lived in his home for 30 years, and even has photos showing what the house looked like in 1930.
"It is a nice house, but it's, it's an old house, and we love the neighborhood, and I think we're going to try to stay here for a while," Ward said.
I asked for an interview with the county appraiser to discuss concerns and questions related to property tax assessments. The county provided Johnson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Kelly for an interview.
"I can hopefully point people towards resources that we've made available to try to make it transparent and digestible and something with which they can engage," Kelly said.
He said the appraisal process itself is set by state statute.
"We follow that state statute to the letter of the law, and we have to appraise homes here in Johnson County based on comparable sale value," he said.
While the assessed value is important, it's only half the equation. I asked Kelly about the other half — mill levies, which are set by local taxing entities to help pay for things like schools and parks. The budget is the most important document that we put together each year, and it is a long process. It's a good process," Kelly said. "As much as we (the County) send out the property tax bill, and we get probably the majority of the comments back, we're one portion of that."
Kelly also pointed to the vast amount of services Johnson County provides as an important factor in its budget process.
"There always has to be that balance between level of service and property tax," he said.
Kelly said it's not too late to appeal, noting that 45% of those who do are successful. He said around 6,600 people appealed their assessments last year in Johnson County. He said around 3,500 people have appealed so far, but they expect a lot more appeals in the next few days.
"Any information that they can provide can be helpful in the appeals process, whether that be photographs or repair estimates or if you've had an appraisal done in your home for a refinance," Kelly said.
If property owners miss the Friday deadline, Kelly said they can still pay their taxes under protest. He also pointed to property tax relief available in about a dozen Johnson County cities.
"It can have a greater impact than just a mill levy reduction on those who are particularly vulnerable to an increase in price values," Kelly said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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