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Session of 2025
SENATE BILL No. 201
By Senator Schmidt
2-5
AN ACT concerning property taxation; relating to exemptions; providing
for a property tax exemption for homestead property of certain veterans
and former law enforcement officers with service-connected
disabilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. (a) All homestead property owned and used as a qualified
residence by a veteran or former law enforcement officer with a disability
or a surviving spouse thereof, to the extent herein specified, shall be and is
exempt from property or ad valorem taxes levied under the laws of the
state of Kansas, as follows:
(1) If the veteran has a service-connected disability of 30% or more
but less than 50%, as certified by the United States department of veterans
affairs, then the extent of the exemption is $2,500 of its assessed valuation;
(2) if the veteran has a service-connected disability of 50% or more
but less than 60%, as certified by the United States department of veterans
affairs, then the extent of the exemption is $5,000 of its assessed valuation;
(3) if the veteran has a service-connected disability of 60% or more,
as certified by the United States department of veterans affairs, then the
property is exempt from taxation;
(4) if the taxpayer is the surviving spouse of a veteran whose death
was determined to be service-connected and who is certified by the United
States department of veterans affairs as a recipient of dependency and
indemnity compensation under federal law, then the property is exempt
from taxation;
(5) if the former law enforcement officer has a service-connected
disability of 30% or more but less than 50%, then the extent of the
exemption is $2,500 of its assessed valuation;
(6) if the former law enforcement officer has a service-connected
disability of 50% or more but less than 60%, then the extent of the
exemption is $5,000 of its assessed valuation;
(7) if the former law enforcement officer has a service-connected
disability of 60% or more, then the property is exempt from taxation; and
(8) if the taxpayer is the surviving spouse of a former law
enforcement officer whose death was service-connected and in the line of
duty, then the property is exempt from taxation.
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(b) If a homestead exemption is granted under this section and the
person awarded the exemption subsequently becomes a resident of an
adult care home as defined by K.S.A. 39-923, and amendments thereto, or
a facility operated by the United States department of veterans affairs, then
the exemption shall continue:
(1) So long as the residence continues to be occupied by the
qualifying person's spouse; or
(2) if the residence remains unoccupied but is still owned by the
person who qualified for the homestead exemption.
(c) The tax exemption under this section carries over to the benefit of
the veteran's or former law enforcement officer's surviving spouse as long
as the spouse holds the legal or beneficial title to the homestead,
permanently resides thereon and does not remarry. If the surviving spouse
sells the property, an exemption not to exceed the amount granted from the
most recent ad valorem tax roll may be transferred to the new homestead
of such surviving spouse as long as it is used as such surviving spouse's
primary residence and such surviving spouse does not remarry.
(d) Nothing in this section shall require the veteran or former law
enforcement officer to have qualified for or obtained the exemption before
death if the veteran or former law enforcement officer was killed in the
line of duty.
(e) (1) The initial exemption request shall be made pursuant to K.S.A.
79-213, and amendments thereto. The owner or owners of all property that
is exempt, or partially exempt, pursuant to this section shall, in each year
after approval thereof by the state board of tax appeals, claim such
exemption on or before March 1 of each year in which such exemption is
claimed in the manner provided by K.S.A. 79-210, and amendments
thereto, except that if a veteran has a combined service-connected
disability rating of 100% and is deemed to be permanently and totally
disabled, as certified by the United States department of veterans affairs,
or a former law enforcement officer has a combined service-connected
disability rating of 100% and is deemed to be permanently and totally
disabled, the taxpayer who has been granted an exemption under this
section shall no longer be required to claim the exemption on an annual
basis, and the exemption shall be in effect for as long as the exemption
would otherwise be permitted pursuant to law.
(2) If the person qualifying for the exemption does not occupy the
qualified residence as of January 1 of the taxable year, the exemption
granted under this section shall be prorated on a monthly basis. The
prorated exemption shall apply beginning with the first complete month in
which the person occupies the qualified residence.
(f) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Homestead" means the same as defined in K.S.A. 79-4502, and
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amendments thereto.
(2) "Law enforcement officer" means a person who by virtue of office
or public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public
order or to make arrests for violation of the laws of the state of Kansas or
ordinances of any municipality thereof or with a duty to maintain or assert
custody or supervision over persons accused or convicted of crime, and
includes wardens, superintendents, directors, security personnel, officers
and employees of adult and juvenile correctional institutions, jails or other
institutions or facilities for the detention of persons accused or convicted
of crime, while acting within the scope of their authority.
(3) "Qualified residence" means real or personal property, excluding
any portion of that property that is used for commercial purposes, with an
appraised value of less than $250,000 that is the primary residence of a
veteran or former law enforcement officer with a disability. Property
rented for more than six months is presumed to be used for commercial
purposes.
(4) "Surviving spouse" means:
(A) The surviving spouse of a veteran or former law enforcement
officer who obtained the exemption under this section prior to the veteran's
or former law enforcement officer's death;
(B) the surviving spouse of a veteran or former law enforcement
officer who was killed in the line of duty at any time prior to the expiration
of the application period in effect for the exemption for the taxable year
for which the exemption is sought;
(C) the surviving spouse of a veteran or former law enforcement
officer who did not obtain an exemption under this section before death,
but who would have qualified for the exemption under this section in the
taxable year for which the exemption is sought if the veteran or former law
enforcement officer had survived, and whose surviving spouse has been a
resident of Kansas from the time of the veteran's death through the taxable
year for which the exemption is sought; and
(D) the surviving spouse of a veteran whose death was determined to
be service-connected, but who would not otherwise qualify under
subparagraph (A), (B) or (C), if such surviving spouse:
(i) Is certified by the United States department of veterans affairs as a
recipient of dependency and indemnity compensation under federal law at
any time prior to the expiration of the application period in effect for the
exemption for the taxable year for which the exemption is sought; and
(ii) remains eligible for that dependency and indemnity compensation
as of January 1 of the taxable year for which the exemption is sought.
(5) "Veteran" means a Kansas resident who has served as a member
of the United States armed forces on active duty or state active duty, a
member of the Kansas national guard or a member of the United States
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reserve forces and who has received an honorable discharge.
(g) The provisions of this section shall apply to all taxable years
commencing after December 31, 2025.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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