State Sens. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, and Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, met at the Kansas State Fair

Masterson and Holscher battle over property tax relief in Kansas race

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Kansas voters will decide between different approaches to addressing surging property taxes across the state. Republican gubernatorial nominee Ty Masterson and Democratic nominee Cindy Holscher are locked in a battle over whether the failure to provide meaningful tax relief is a result of local government greed or a systemic failure of Republican leadership to use its supermajority, the Kansas Reflector reported.

The stakes are visceral for homeowners. While the state has seen various tax cuts over the last five years, the total revenue collected from property taxes ballooned from $5.4 billion in 2021 to $6.6 billion by 2025. For many Kansans, the “relief” promised by leadership has felt like a series of minor adjustments while the actual bills continued to climb due to double-digit spikes in property valuations.

The Shift from Commercial to Residential Burden

To understand why this has become the central flashpoint of the 2026 race, one has to look at who is actually paying the bill. For decades, the burden of funding local services fell primarily on businesses. In 1997, residential property owners accounted for just 38% of property tax revenue, while commercial owners covered 62%.

That math has completely inverted. By 2024, residential owners were footing 57% of the state’s property tax bill, while commercial contributions dropped to 43%. This shift is the direct result of an accumulation of business tax exemptions over the years—a trend that has left homeowners and farmers increasingly exposed.

This demographic shift creates a “so what” moment for the average voter: the middle class is now subsidizing the very commercial exemptions that were intended to spur economic growth. When valuations rise, it is the homeowner, not the corporation, who feels the immediate squeeze.

A Half-Decade of Incrementalism

The timeline of the last five years reveals a pattern of “nibbling” at the edges of the problem rather than solving it. Since 2021, the Legislature has passed several measures, but few moved the needle for the average family.

Year Action Taken Impact/Result
2021 “Truth in Taxation” Law Required notice/hearings for revenue increases above inflation.
2022 COVID-19 Reimbursements Tax relief specifically for retail businesses shut down during pandemic.
2024 Residential Exemption Increase Raised to $75,000 for K-12 school levies.
2025 State Levy Reduction Eliminated 1.5 mills for state construction ($80 million total).

Some of these wins were purely symbolic. For example, one increase in the residential exemption for K-12 schools saved the average homeowner roughly $46 per year—a negligible sum when compared to the thousands of dollars added by rising valuations.

The Supermajority Deadlock

Sen. Cindy Holscher argues that the lack of progress is a choice. She points to the fact that the GOP held a supermajority in the Senate and a two-thirds majority in the House, yet failed to apply the same aggression to property taxes that they used to slash state income taxes and grocery sales taxes.

Ty masterson cindy holscher kansas bk

“Ty Masterson has had years as Senate president, with a Republican supermajority behind him, and time and again he has repeatedly failed to deliver the property tax relief Kansans need,” Holscher said. “He said, ‘We can do whatever we want because we’re in charge.’ He either doesn’t want to do this or doesn’t know how.”

Ty Masterson, Cindy Holscher debate at Kansas State Fair

Masterson views the problem from the opposite end of the telescope. He blames “obstinate Democrats” and “phony Republicans” for blocking his efforts to rein in local governments. His argument is that the state cannot fix the problem if cities, counties, and school boards are allowed to pile up revenue without constraint.

This represents the fundamental divide in the race: Masterson wants to cap the ability of local governments to tax, while Holscher wants to change how the state funds its obligations to prevent local boards from being forced to raise taxes.

Competing Blueprints for November

As the election nears, both candidates have offered distinct paths forward. Masterson has proposed a “Homeowners Bill of Rights,” which centers on a constitutional amendment to cap the annual growth of taxable property valuations at 3%.

  • Lowering the taxed percentage of home values from 11.5% to 9%.
  • Fully funding special education programs at the state level—a mandate she claims hasn’t been fully met since 2011—to stop school boards from shifting that cost to property owners.
  • Restricting tax breaks for wealthy business owners to rebalance the residential-to-commercial ratio.

The tension here is a classic economic trade-off. If the state caps property tax growth or raises exemptions, local governments must either cut services or find new revenue streams. If the state increases funding for schools and special education, it must either raise other taxes or cut spending elsewhere in the budget.

Whether the solution lies in a constitutional cap or a restructuring of state funding, the $6.6 billion currently flowing from Kansas homes into government coffers remains the most potent political weapon in the race.

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