Sedgwick County property tax is calculated by multiplying your home’s assessed value (11.5% of appraised value for residential property) by the total mill levy for your location, then dividing by 1,000. The county’s own portion of the levy for the 2025 tax year is 27.567 mills, down from 28.701 the year before, but that is only one slice of your bill. Every property also pays into state funds, a school district, and usually a city or township, fire district, and other local entities, and the combined rate can easily exceed 120 mills depending on where you live.
How Your Tax Bill Is Calculated
Kansas doesn’t tax the full market value of your home. The county appraiser sets an appraised (market) value, and then a fixed assessment rate converts that to the assessed value that actually gets taxed. For residential property, the rate is 11.5%. Commercial and industrial property is assessed at 25%, which is why business owners pay substantially more on the same appraised value.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-1439 – Appraisal of Real and Tangible Personal Property at Fair Market Value in Money; Exceptions; Rate of Assessment
A mill is one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. So the math runs like this:
- Appraised value: $220,000
- Assessed value (11.5%): $25,300
- Total mill levy for the tax unit: 130 mills
- Annual tax bill: $25,300 × 130 ÷ 1,000 = $3,289
Your appraised and assessed values appear on the annual valuation notice from the Sedgwick County Appraiser and in the county’s online property records.2Sedgwick County. Property Taxes
What the 2025 Mill Levy Looks Like
The Sedgwick County Clerk publishes an official mill levy sheet each fall. The state and county pieces for the 2025 tax year (funding the 2026 budget) break down this way:
- State funds: 1.500 mills (1.000 for education buildings, 0.500 for state institutional buildings)
- County general fund: 23.222 mills
- Highways, roads, and bridges: 0.861 mills
- Wichita State University program development: 1.500 mills
- Aging services: 0.330 mills
- Bond and interest: 1.654 mills
- County fire district (unincorporated areas): 16.754 mills
The county-wide total is 27.567 mills. Combined state, county, and fire district levies come to 45.821 mills before any city or school district is added.3Sedgwick County. 2025 Ad Valorem Tax Levies
School districts and cities layer on top. A home inside Wichita city limits in USD 259 will carry a significantly higher total levy than a rural property in the unincorporated county with no city levy at all. Every property belongs to a specific “tax unit” based on its physical location, and that tax unit determines the exact combination of entities you fund. Two properties a mile apart can have noticeably different total levies if one sits inside a city’s boundaries and the other doesn’t. You can look up your property’s exact combined rate on the Sedgwick County Treasurer’s online portal or on the mill levy sheet for your tax unit.
When and How to Pay
The Sedgwick County Treasurer mails real estate tax statements on or before November 15 each year, and Kansas law requires all statements to go out before December 1.4Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2001 – Tax Statements; County Treasurer You then have two choices: pay the full amount by December 20, or pay half by December 20 and the remaining half by May 10 of the following year.5Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Statutes 79-2004 – Time for Payment of Real Estate Taxes When a deadline falls on a weekend, it shifts to the next business day. For the 2025 tax year, the first-half deadline is December 22, 2025, and the second half is due May 11, 2026.3Sedgwick County. 2025 Ad Valorem Tax Levies
One exception: statements of $10 or less must be paid in full by December 20. The half-and-half option doesn’t apply to small balances.5Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Statutes 79-2004 – Time for Payment of Real Estate Taxes You can pay online through the Sedgwick County Treasurer’s website, by mail, or in person. If your mortgage lender escrows for taxes, the treasurer coordinates with the lender directly.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Missing a deadline is expensive. If the first half remains unpaid after December 20, interest accrues at the rate set under K.S.A. 79-2968 plus five percentage points. For 2026, that works out to 13% per year on delinquent balances under $10,000 and 15% on balances of $10,000 or more.6Kansas Department of Revenue. Property Tax Interest Rates for Calendar Year 2026 Taxes still unpaid after May 10 keep accruing at those rates until paid or until the property is sold through foreclosure.7Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2004 – Time for Payment of Real Estate Taxes; Interest, When
Delinquent properties are eventually sold at a county tax sale. If the owner doesn’t redeem the property within roughly two years after that sale, the county attorney is required to file a judicial tax foreclosure action in district court.8Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 79-2801 – Judicial Tax Foreclosure Once foreclosure proceedings begin, the property can be sold at auction and the original owner loses all rights to it. Redemption remains possible at any time before the auction by paying the full delinquent amount plus interest, but by then years of compounding interest have piled on top of the original bill.
Challenging Your Valuation
If you think the appraiser overvalued your property, you have two paths, and both run on tight deadlines. You cannot use both for the same tax year.
The informal appeal starts with the valuation notice the Sedgwick County Appraiser mails on March 1. You have 30 days from that mailing, typically until March 31, to return the appeal form printed on the back. The appraiser’s office schedules an informal meeting where you present evidence that the valuation is too high, such as comparable sales or condition issues, and the appraiser must share the documentation supporting their valuation. If the result doesn’t satisfy you, you can appeal to the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) within 30 days of receiving the informal meeting results.9Sedgwick County. Appeals
The alternative is “payment under protest.” You file a written protest statement with the county treasurer on BOTA forms at the time of payment, or if you pay early, no later than December 20. The form requires you to state the specific grounds for your protest and the valuation you believe is correct.10Kansas Legislature. Kansas Code 79-2005 – Payment Under Protest If you already started an informal appeal through the appraiser’s office, you can’t also file a payment under protest for that year’s valuation.
Relief Programs for Qualifying Homeowners
Kansas offers two programs that return part of what you paid, and both have filing windows. Missing the window means waiting a year.
Homestead Property Tax Refund
This program refunds a portion of property taxes paid on your primary residence. To qualify, you must have been a Kansas resident for the full year, owned and occupied your home, and had household income of $43,389 or less. Your home’s appraised value cannot exceed $350,000. You also need to meet at least one of these: age 55 or older, blind or permanently disabled, have a dependent child under 18 who lived with you the entire year, be a disabled veteran with a service-connected rating of 50% or higher, or be the surviving spouse of a service member who died on active duty.11Kansas Department of Revenue. Frequently Asked Questions About Homestead
SAFESR (Senior Property Tax Relief)
The Selective Assistance for Effective Senior Relief program refunds 75% of property taxes paid by qualifying low-income seniors. For the 2026 tax year, you must have been born before January 1, 1961, with household income of $25,380 or less. If you previously received a refund under any residential property tax relief program and your home’s value later climbs above $350,000, you won’t lose SAFESR eligibility for that reason alone.12Kansas Legislature. Supplemental Note on Senate Bill 402 You claim the refund on Kansas Form K-40PT and file it with your state tax return.