TIF Overview for Kansas Mayors

If you are a Kansas mayor exploring developer-backed TIF Bonds for the first time, this overview covers what you need to know. The Taxpayer Agreement Act (HB 2737), signed into law in April 2026, gives your city one of the strongest TIF frameworks in the country — combining Kansas’s established special obligation bond authority with new enforceable developer guarantees.

What TIF Is and What It Is Not

TIF captures the increase in property taxes generated by new development and directs that increase toward eligible public infrastructure costs. No new taxes are created. No tax rates increase. The base year taxes continue flowing to all taxing jurisdictions as usual — and the 20 mills for school districts plus 1.5 mills for the state are fully protected from TIF capture. Only the increment, the growth that would not exist without the project, is set aside for up to 20 years to support eligible costs.

What HB 2737 Changes

The Taxpayer Agreement Act authorizes voluntary taxpayer agreements where the developer guarantees payments on TIF bond debt. Delinquent payments are enforceable as delinquent real estate taxes. The Act also authorizes conduit bonds — where the city has no obligation to advance funds or levy taxes for repayment. This means your municipality bears zero financial risk on developer-backed TIF Bonds.

Your Role as Mayor

You champion projects publicly, ensure the governing body has sound analysis (including the required feasibility study), and guide the two-thirds supermajority vote to adopt the project plan. You are not expected to be a TIF structuring expert — that is what your ED team, financial advisors, and resources like Hageman Capital are for. What you need to communicate to constituents is clear: TIF does not spend public money, does not redirect existing revenue, and under HB 2737, does not put the city’s credit at risk.

Getting Started

Hageman Capital provides free TIF education and structuring guidance to Kansas mayors. Connect with Whitney Peterson, our Director – Government Relations, to schedule a no-cost consultation.