Kansas Senator Caryn Tyson recently received Legislator of the Year Award.

Tyson received national recognition as legislator of the year for her leadership and work on Property Tax Transparency, Senate Bill (SB) 13.

Tyson researched and led an effort in Kansas to stop automatic tax increases solely due to property valuation increases.  SB 13 is being used as model legislation by other states.

 

Tyson said she was humbled and honored for the recognition.

She stated, “For years Kansans have been facing continued increases in their property taxes, being left with little to no say, resulting in some opting to leave Kansas rather than continue to pay high taxes.  With the passage of SB 13, the shell game of who raised your property taxes will end.  Local property taxing authorities will have to vote at a public meeting to raise property taxes in order to collect more money than the previous year.”  Tyson went on to thank others, “solutions of this magnitude do not occur in a vacuum.  It takes a team of people, many of us who spent time and effort.” Tyson drew upon her business experience to design and implement this system in Kansas.

 

In addition to Property Tax Transparency, SB 13 prohibits an increase in the appraised value of real property solely as a result of normal repair, replacement, or maintenance of existing structures, equipment, or other improvements on the property, allows County Treasurers to establish property tax payment plans, and removes the ineffective tax lid.

 

Tyson has math and computer science degrees from Kansas State and an engineering management degree from KU. After graduating K-State she began working in the Information Technology industry and continued working in this field for more than 30 years.

She is in the running for the Kansas State Treasurer position.