Individual Income Taxes

Property Taxes

A variety of services are offered by local municipalities, which must be carefully considered in conjunction with property tax rates. Throughout the metropolitan area, there are numerous taxing authorities for services such as schools, junior colleges, fire prevention, sewer and water, drainage, and hospitals. All of these taxing authorities may impose levies in any given community, thus, tax rates will vary for every municipality.

INFORMATION FOR BOTH KANSAS AND MISSOURI
IS PRESENTED BELOW.

Kansas
The local property tax rate is an aggregate of state, county, city, school, and other district levies expressed as tax per $1,000 of assessed valuation. All real property is subject to ad valorem taxation unless expressly exempt. Examples of exemptions are:

	Merchants’ and manufacturers’ inventories.
	Personal property moving through the state or consigned to a warehouse in Kansas from a point outside Kansas in transit to a final destination outside Kansas.
	Real and tangible personal property used exclusively for literary, educational, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes.
	Aircraft used predominantly in the conduct of business.

The Department of Revenue's Division of Property Valuation is the state agency exercising general supervision over ad-valorem policies and procedures in Kansas.

	Commercial and industrial real property is assessed at 25% of fair market value.
	Residential property is assessed at 11.5% of fair market value.
	Real property owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations and vacant lots are assessed at 12% of fair market value.
	Agricultural land, mineral leasehold interests, and motor vehicles are assessed at 30% of fair market value.
	Public utility real and personal property is assessed at 33% of fair market value.

Real Property
Most real property is appraised at its fair market value with the exception of agricultural land. Property is assessed by the county appraiser in the taxing district in which the property is located. Taxes are paid to the county treasurer.

Tangible Personal Property
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment acquired by qualified purchase or lease, or transferred into the state, for the purpose of expanding an existing facility or establishing a new facility is exempt from state and local property tax. This exemption covers:

	Equipment used in manufacturing operations
	Equipment used in warehousing/distribution
	Businesss machinery
	Computers
	Desks and chairs
	Copiers
	Fax machines

Intangible Personal Property
Kansas law permits the imposition of a 3% or less intangible personal property tax on the income derived from all money, securities, credits, notes or other evidences of indebtedness. Counties, cities, and townships have the option of reducing or eliminating the tax. The six Kansas counties in the metropolitan area have eliminated their shares of the tax, and most cities in those counties have eliminated all or part of the tax.

Non-Business Personal Property
The county appraiser has the responsibility to value watercraft and trailers at market value and is assessed at 30%. Taxes on autos, light and medium trucks and motorcycles are due at the time of registration and the value is depreciated 15% per year of the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

Missouri
The local property tax rate is an aggregate of school, city, county, and state levies expressed as tax per $100 of assessed valuation. Property is assessed on the basis of "fair or true market value." All property, real and tangible personal, is taxable unless expressly exempt. Examples of exemptions include:

	Inventories of retail merchants, manufacturers, and wholesalers, including raw materials and goods in process.
	Property “actually and regularly used exclusively” by an exempt organization pursuant to its exempt purposes and not held for private or corporate profit.

The State Tax Commission of Missouri is the agency charged with overseeing Missouri's property tax system.

	Commercial and industrial real property is assessed at 32% of fair market value.
	Tangible personal property, not elsewhere classified, is assessed at 33 1/3% of fair market value.
	Residential property is assessed at 19% of fair market value.
	Agricultural property is assessed at 12% of fair market value.

Real Property
All property is appraised at its fair or true market value by the county. Commercial and industrial real property (i.e., land and buildings) is assessed an additional county surcharge designed to replace revenue losses attributable to the tax exemption of business inventories.

Tangible Personal Property
Assessed values of tangible personal property in Missouri are set at 33 1/3% of fair or true market value. Most counties in the metropolitan area use formulas under which original costs of depreciable personal property are discounted to determine true values. Tangible personal property includes machinery and equipment.

Intangible Personal Property
There is no tax on intangible personal property.

Non-Business Personal Property
The state has authorized local governments to apply a tax based on the actual cash value of licensed motor vehicles (automobiles, trucks, motorcycles), boats, motors, trailers and campers. The assessment ratio for this type of property is 33 1/3%. The assessment ratio for livestock is 12% and 0.05% for grain and crops.

DEFINING THE GREATER KC METRO AREA
Kansas City is a Missouri/Kansas bi-state metropolitan area. All statistical references made to Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) include the counties of Bates, Cass, Caldwell, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray in Missouri, and Franklin, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. The greater Kansas City area also includes the adjoining Lawrence, KS, St. Joseph, MO, and Topeka, KS MSAs, as well as the Atchison, KS, Chillicothe, MO, Ottawa, KS, and Warrensburg, MO areas.