Would property tax relief offset cost of sales tax for Wichitans? What we found

Up to $150 million of Wichita’s proposed 1% sales tax could go toward property tax relief.

Commercial property owners and those who live in more expensive homes could benefit if the sales tax were to pass, while renters would be largely left out, an Eagle analysis found.

As proposed, $150 million in property tax relief could lower the city’s mill levy rate by about four mills each year during the lifespan of the sales tax.

That equates to $46 saved for every $100,000 in appraised value on a residential home.

Depending on a number of other variables, including family size and household spending, those savings could be wiped out by the increased cost of a sales tax.

For a family of four, with a combined income of $50,000, a 1% Wichita sales tax would be an estimated increase of $173 a year, according to adjusted Internal Revenue Service data.

Commercial property owners, which make up about 40% of Sedgwick County’s property tax base, could see $100 in savings for every $100,000 in appraised value. They’re taxed at a rate two to three times the rate residential properties are taxed at.

Many businesses also don’t pay sales tax under a laundry list of exceptions to state tax law.

Could savings be passed down to renters?

U.S. Census data shows that nearly 40% of homes in Wichita are renter-occupied.

Wichita Forward, the group pushing the sales tax initiative, has claimed that even renters could see savings from the increased sales tax, with landlords passing down the savings from their property taxes through lower rents.

There’s little research to back up those claims, according to Yale professor Cameron LaPoint.

“I’d be skeptical that you would see landlords having an incentive to pass through these costs,” LaPoint said.

He also pointed to research he coauthored that indicated lowering property taxes could be harmful to renters hoping to become first-time home buyers.

According to his research in the National Tax Journal, when a city lowers its property taxes, those from outside the city, with more savings and higher down payments, flood the market, blocking out first-time home buyers.

“If they’re aware of how much they could save on their bill year on year, that might lead them to actually pay more for the house when they bid on it. So when they make an offer to the current seller of that property, if that’s the case, then average home values in Wichita are going to go up…

“And anyone who’s a renter now looking to gain entry into the home ownership market is going to have to save more in terms of a down payment, presumably, to buy those properties.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 9:35 AM.