"Buying a Home in Kansas This Fall: When Are Property Taxes Due, and Where Is the Bill for the May 10 Half?"

A Kansas property tax statement is one sheet of paper that has to last you six months. It goes out in November, and along the bottom are two payment stubs, one for December and one for May. Saline County's treasurer says that second-half statements are not mailed, so that May stub is the only reminder the county sends. If you are closing on a Kansas home this fall, that sheet may arrive at the seller's address with the seller's name on it.

If you close on a Kansas home this fall, the county mails one tax statement for the whole year in November, to the owner in the county's records. The first half is due December 20 and the second half May 10. Both halves are on that one statement, and counties such as Saline mail no second bill in the spring, so you plan the May payment from the November statement, unless your escrow account pays both halves.

I'm Jeff Moran, a mortgage broker in Bluffton, South Carolina, originating since 1996, NMLS #483943, through C2 Financial Corporation, licensed in fifteen states, including Kansas. A fall closing in Kansas lands right in the middle of the state's tax calendar, so it is worth knowing which papers to look for and which ones may never come.

When are property taxes due in Kansas?

Kansas taxes for a year are due on November 1 of that same year. K.S.A. 79-1804 makes all taxes due on the first day of November, and the lien on the real estate arises that day. A lien is the county's legal claim on the home for the unpaid tax, and it stays until the tax, interest and any penalty are paid.

Due does not mean you owe the money in November. Under K.S.A. 79-2004, you can pay the whole year by December 20, or pay half by December 20 and the other half by May 10 of the following year. The Kansas Legislative Research Department's guide to the property tax cycle walks through the whole 17-month cycle, from the January 1 appraisal date through payment of the tax.

If you are closing in Kansas this fall, your calendar runs like this:

1. November 1. This year's tax becomes due and the lien attaches to the home.
2. November. The county treasurer mails the statement for the year.
3. December 20. The first half is due, or the whole year if you prefer to pay it at once.
4. May 10 of next year. The second half is due. Saline County, for one, mails nothing new for it.

Small counties and big ones use the same two dates. Greeley County's treasurer lists the first half due December 20 and the second half due May 10, and Sedgwick County's treasurer gives the same pair for Wichita.

The date can move when it lands on a weekend

The statute says December 20, but for 2025, when both dates fell on a weekend, Johnson County set them on the following Monday. Johnson County's 2025 announcement set the first half due Monday, December 22, 2025 and the second half due Monday, May 11, 2026. December 20, 2026 is a Sunday, so please take this year's exact date from your own county's statement or website.

The November statement, and whose name is on it

K.S.A. 79-2001 tells the county treasurer to mail a tax statement, before December 1, to each taxpayer "as shown by the rolls," which means the owner in the county's records. Sedgwick County says its statements go out each November, and Greeley County says the same.

The statement goes to whoever the county's records show for that parcel when it prints the statements. On a closing in October or November, that may still be the seller, depending on when your deed was recorded and when the county ran its mailing. I would not guess at which one it will be. A call to the county treasurer's office, with your address or parcel number, tells you whose name is on this year's statement.

If the statement went to the seller, you still need to make sure the tax is paid on time. Greeley County states that not receiving a statement does not waive the obligation to pay or the penalty for paying late.

The May 10 half is on the November statement

Both halves are printed on the one November statement. Saline County's treasurer explains that the payment stubs for the December payment and the May payment are both on the statement mailed in November, and that second-half statements are not mailed. Johnson County describes the same layout: owners who pay directly get a return payment stub at the bottom of the statement.

In a county like Saline, nothing comes in the mail for the May half, so you keep track of it yourself from the November statement. If you pay the first half in December and put the statement in a drawer, the May stub is in that drawer with it, and there may be nothing else to remind you.

Keeping track of it takes about two minutes. As you pay the first half, please write May 10 on your calendar with the second-half amount beside it, and keep the statement where you will see it in the spring. Saline County's page also recommends signing up for its email reminders.

Finding your Kansas tax statement if it went to the seller

You do not need the paper statement to see the bill. Many Kansas counties publish the tax for each parcel online. Johnson County's property tax page lets you search by address, parcel ID or name, view the current and previous year's bills, and pay online. Sedgwick County will send a duplicate statement if you call the treasurer's office.

Your closing disclosure and the settlement statement show how this year's tax was handled on your purchase. I would ask your title officer, before the closing date, how this year's Kansas tax is being treated on your file and who is expected to pay the December and May halves. Your closing papers are the record of what was agreed, and the title company is the one who can read them back to you line by line.

If your escrow account pays the Kansas tax

If your loan has an escrow account, your servicer, which is the company that collects your monthly mortgage payment, pays both halves out of the money collected inside your monthly payment. Sedgwick County's guide to reading your tax bill says that when taxes are paid from escrow, you still receive a statement with the tax information on it. The bill itself goes to the mortgage company or bank that handles your escrow.

Johnson County marks that owner copy clearly. Its 2023 statement announcement says a statement for taxes paid by a mortgage company reads "THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL" at the bottom. If yours says that, the servicer has the bill, and you do not pay it yourself.

On a fall closing, though, the servicer's records are brand new. I would call your servicer in early December and ask two things: whether it has this year's Kansas tax bill for your parcel, and the date it plans to pay the county. That one call covers the first half. The payment date also matters if you want to question the county's value. A payment under protest on the county's value gets a January 31 deadline only when your mortgage company paid at least half of the tax by December 20.

How an escrow account collects for taxes and insurance walks through how the servicer pays the bill and resets your payment each year. If this year's Kansas bill comes in higher than the figure your escrow was built on, why your property taxes can change after you buy explains where that gap comes from.

Steps for a fall closing in Kansas

1. Before closing, I would ask your title officer how this year's tax appears on your closing disclosure and who is paying the December and May halves, so nothing about the bill surprises you later.
2. After closing, you can look up your parcel on the county treasurer's website, so you know this year's tax before the statement arrives.
3. In November, please keep an eye out for the statement in your mail. If it does not come, the county's website or a call to the treasurer will show you the bill, because it may have gone to the seller.
4. By December 20, or the county's weekend date, the first half or the whole year is paid, by you or by your servicer.
5. On the same day, if you are paying the tax yourself, I would put May 10 on your calendar with the second-half amount, because the county may not send a reminder.
6. Next August, the revenue neutral rate notice for your Kansas address gives you a first look at next year's tax rates.

Mistakes that are easy to avoid

Waiting for a spring bill. Saline County, for one, does not mail one. The second half is on the November statement, and the May 10 date runs whether or not you have that statement in hand.

Assuming the seller's statement is not your concern. If the statement went to the seller's address, I would call the treasurer or look up the parcel online. Then I would ask your title company to confirm how the year was handled at closing.

Paying a statement your servicer is already paying. If your servicer pays your tax, the copy that comes to you is for your records, and you do not pay it. In Johnson County it says so at the bottom, and paying it yourself would send the county the same money twice.

Missing the first half. Under K.S.A. 79-2004, a first half left unpaid after December 20 starts drawing interest from that date. You can still pay it, with interest, any time before May 10.

Forgetting special assessments. Some Kansas homes carry yearly installments for streets or sewer lines on the same statement. If your new home has them, the special assessments on a Kansas tax statement are part of each half you pay.

A made-up example of a fall closing

Numbers below are made up to show the mechanism. The tax amount is invented, and nothing here is a Kansas average or a quote.

A client closes on a home in Salina in late October and pays the property tax herself, because her loan has no escrow account. The county's statement for the year arrives at her new address in November, with two stubs at the bottom.

Tax for the year (invented)                 $4,200
                                             ------
First half, due December 20                  $2,100
Second half, due May 10                      $2,100

She pays $2,100 in December with the first stub. The same evening she writes May 10 and $2,100 on her calendar and puts the statement, with the second stub still attached, in the folder with her closing papers. In May nothing arrives from the county, and she pays from the stub she kept.

If her statement had gone to the seller instead, she would have found the same two amounts on the county's website, and the dates would have been the same.

Planning your Kansas purchase around the tax calendar

If you are buying in Kansas, I would rather build the tax line in your payment from the county's own figure for the address. A Kansas pre-approval is where I review your income, debts and credit with your documents in hand, and the Kansas mortgage page covers what is particular about a Kansas closing, including the title company's role.

Run your numbers and you will see rates for your scenario, your debt ratio and closing costs priced for Kansas. No credit pull, no account, nobody calls you. If you would rather talk it through, you are welcome to call me, and we can go over how the December and May payments fit with your escrow account and your first year in the home.

Nothing here is a loan approval, a denial, a commitment to lend, or tax or legal advice. The county treasurer bills and collects the tax, and your title company and closing papers show how it was handled on your purchase.

Common questions

When are property taxes due in Kansas?

Kansas property taxes are due November 1 of the tax year, and a lien on the real estate arises that day under K.S.A. 79-1804. Under K.S.A. 79-2004 you can pay the whole year by December 20, or half by December 20 and the other half by May 10 of the next year. For 2025, when both dates fell on a weekend, Johnson County set them on the following Monday, so it is worth checking your own county's date each year.

Does Kansas mail a bill for the second half of property taxes?

Not in Saline County, whose treasurer says second-half statements are not mailed. The county mails one statement for the year in November, with payment stubs for both the December and the May payment. You plan the May 10 payment from the November statement or from the county's website, and if your escrow account pays your tax, the servicer handles both halves.

I just bought my Kansas home. Will the tax statement come to me or the seller?

It goes to the taxpayer shown on the county's records when the statements are printed, under K.S.A. 79-2001. On an October or November closing, that may still be the seller. You can call the county treasurer with your address or parcel number, or look up the parcel on the county's website, to see this year's bill. Your title company can tell you how the year was handled at closing.

What happens if I don't receive my Kansas property tax statement?

The tax is still due on the same dates. Greeley County's treasurer states that not receiving a statement does not waive the obligation to pay or the penalty for paying late. Many Kansas counties show the current bill on their websites, and in Sedgwick County the treasurer's office will send a duplicate statement if you call.

Do I have to pay my Kansas property tax if my mortgage has an escrow account?

Your servicer pays it from the escrow account. Sedgwick County says you still receive a statement with the tax information, while the bill goes to the mortgage company or bank. Johnson County marks those copies "THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL." After a fall closing, it is worth calling your servicer in early December to confirm it has this year's bill for your parcel.