Johnson County property taxes come from one formula, and every number in it is public. These steps take a Kansas home from the county's appraised value to the amount due, using the 2025 levies. By the end you will be able to check a bill you have received, or estimate one for a home you are considering.
Before you start
Have these ready:
- The address of the home.
- Its record in the county's AIMS property look-up, which shows the appraised value.
- The city the home is in, and the school district for the address.
- The latest tax statement, if you own the home or the seller will share it.
Step 1: Find the appraised value
Each property in the county gets an appraised value dated January 1. The Appraiser sends a Notice of Appraised Value by mail no later than March 1, and the county's property look-up shows the figure too. Every later step is a calculation on this number.
Watch for the year. A new value is set each January 1, so use the notice for the tax year you are checking.
Step 2: Take 11.5% for the assessed value
Kansas does not tax a home on its full appraised value. K.S.A. 79-1439 puts the assessed value at 11.5% of it. For a home appraised at $450,000, the assessed value is $51,750.
Step 3: Add up the mill levies for the address
One mill means $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. Each taxing unit sets its own, and the county publishes them as its 2025 mill levies. All of Prairie Village is one tax unit, which means one 2025 list covered every home in the city:
- State of Kansas: 1.500 mills.
- Johnson County: 17.290.
- Johnson County parks and recreation: 3.023.
- Johnson County Library: 3.817.
- Johnson County Community College: 7.873.
- City of Prairie Village: 18.057.
- Shawnee Mission School District: 50.886.
- Consolidated Fire District No. 2: 10.007.
That adds up to 112.453 mills.
Watch for the school district. Where a city has more than one, the total changes with the district. Overland Park's 2025 totals were 98.929 mills at a Shawnee Mission address, 104.463 in most of Blue Valley and 109.991 in Olathe. Leawood's were 107.890 in Shawnee Mission and 113.424 in Blue Valley. The guides to Lenexa, Olathe and Shawnee give theirs.
The lines on the list can differ too. An Olathe statement has no Johnson County Library levy. The city funds its own public library from the city levy instead.
Step 4: Multiply, then divide by 1,000
Multiply the assessed value by the total mills, then divide by 1,000. For the Prairie Village home, $51,750 times 112.453, divided by 1,000, is $5,819.44.
Step 5: Subtract the school levy exemption
Part of one school levy is left off every home. Under K.S.A. 79-201x, the statewide school levy of 20 mills does not apply to the first $75,000 of appraised value. The county's 2025 statements show it as a school general credit of $172.50. Taking that off the example leaves about $5,647 for 2025.
Step 6: Add any special assessments
Mills are not the only thing on a statement. Other charges are billed with them as special assessments, and the examples in Jennifer's area guides are all figured before these. The guides name the following:
- Prairie Village adds its trash charge and a stormwater utility fee. The fee is $0.040 for each square foot of roof and driveway, charged yearly.
- Lenexa has billed a stormwater utility fee this way since 2000.
- Shawnee bills a stormwater drainage assessment.
- Overland Park bills a stormwater drainage charge.
Watch for these on the seller's statement when you compare two homes.
Step 7: Mark the Johnson County property tax dates
- On or before March 1: the county mails the notice of value.
- 30 days from that mailing date: the deadline for an informal appeal (K.S.A. 79-1448), filed by mail or on the county's appeal portal.
- By November 15: the county mails tax bills.
- December 20: the full amount is due, or the first half if you split it.
- May 10: the second half is due.
An appeal is one of two routes. The other is to pay the tax under protest when it is due.
Common questions
Why do two homes of the same value get different bills?
Levies are totalled by tax unit, and most of the gap between two units comes from the school district. In Overland Park the 2025 total was 98.929 mills at Shawnee Mission addresses and about 118.7 at Spring Hill addresses. Look up the district for an address before you estimate its tax.
Who pays the property tax in the year a home sells?
The bill for a year comes at the end of that year. When a sale closes before the bill has been paid, the buyer is the one who will pay it. The seller therefore gives the buyer a credit covering January 1 through the day before closing. Jennifer's seller net sheet works that credit out from your tax statement and closing date.
Can a homeowner get any of the tax back?
Three state claims refund part of the tax to owners who qualify: Homestead (K-40H), SAFESR (K-40PT) and SVR (K-40SVR). The filing window at the Kansas Department of Revenue runs January 1 through April 15, and the county lists the claims on its relief programs page. Prairie Village also has a rebate of its own, with $100,000 budgeted for 2026. It returns the city's share of the tax to owner-occupants who meet its income limits and whose home is appraised at or below the prior year's city average.
These steps are general information, not tax or legal advice. For federal questions, IRS Publication 530 has tax information for homeowners. If you are buying with a loan, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a Loan Estimate explainer on reading and comparing a lender's estimate.
Start with the appraised value for one address. Jennifer can look up the county's record for any home you are weighing, and the home valuation page is where to ask for a pricing review of one you own. The mortgage calculator estimates a payment, and you can contact Jennifer with the address.
