This week was a rare win for counties in the state of Kansas.
Riley County commissioners were informed Thursday morning that the Kansas Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in favor of counties in a case that dealt with appeals on appraised property values.
Assistant County Counselor Craig Cox told commissioners that the court said the state freezing disputed property values for three years was unconstitutional.
Before, recent changes to the appeal process — which were largely championed by commercial tax representatives — allowed any property owner who won a valuation appeal to have their value frozen for two years after the mandatory freeze on the year in question.
The supreme court case, which was led by Johnson County and joined by Riley County and 20 others, ruled that such a freeze damaged the state’s ability to provide for a “uniform and equal basis of valuation of property.”
Instead, the process resorts to its previous procedure of freezing the value for one year if an appeal is won.
“I think it makes sense,” commissioner Ron Wells reacted.
“I would think that county appraisers across the state were happy when that decision came out,” Cox replied.
