Protesting Taxes

More information on protesting taxes can be found on the Appraiser's website.

If you have not met with the County Appraiser to protest the value of your property for the same year you are paying taxes then you may file a protest at the time of payment. Protest forms are available from the Ellis County Treasury. Additional information can be found at the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals website.

Please read and follow the instructions on the form carefully, to ensure a successful appeal. NOTE: if the protest form is received by the Treasury unsigned, the protest is considered invalid and will be returned. The delay may jeopardize your chances for a hearing.
Protest forms must accompany either the first half or full payment, due on or before December 20th. If taxes are delinquent and a protest form is filled out, payment must be made in full. If a mortgage company pays your taxes, the deadline to file a protest is extended to January 31st of the following year. If you did not file a protest with the first half payment you may do so with the second half payment due on or before May 10th of the following year. It should be noted that these deadlines change in years where they fall on weekends, to the next working day.

Once your protest is received, processed and filed; the County Appraiser notifies you of your scheduled informal hearing. If you are filing a protest on the basis of an illegal tax levy, a completed appendix must be attached to your protest form. When filing a protest on an illegal tax levy the Treasurer forwards all completed forms to the Court of Tax Appeals and no formal hearing is held.

The Court of Tax Appeals is the highest administrative tribunal to hear cases involving ad valorem (property), income, sales, compensating use, and inheritance taxes, along with other matters involving taxation by state and local authorities. The Court is an independent tax tribunal, meaning that it is not affiliated with the Kansas Department of Revenue or any other taxing authority. The Court of Tax Appeals is a neutral decision-making body.

If your appeal is successful and your taxes are reduced, the Treasurer, upon notification from either the Appraiser or the Court of Tax Appeals, refunds over payments of taxes and when applicable interest thereon.

Tax Roll Corrections

All tax bill corrections are ordered either by the State Board of Tax Appeals, the County Commission or the County Appraiser. The Treasurer receives these orders and issues corrected statements. Reductions are reflected on the second half due if the original taxes were paid in half. Full payment tax reductions result in a refund and in certain cases interest is paid thereon.