USD 259 / Bond tax estimatorNovember 3, 2026 election

Wichita Public Schools · 2026 bond proposal

What could change
on your property taxes?

Enter your home’s value to see how your property taxes could change from what you pay today, based on the district’s estimates.

Your estimate

Start with your home

Use , not assessed value, equity or mortgage balance.

Drag to a preset value, or enter any amount above.

Election outcome to estimate

Question 2 requires Question 1 to pass.

For residential property inside USD 259 only. Check district boundaries ↗

Both questions · $200,000 home

Change from what you pay today

$4.17 / month

Estimated increase · $50.00 per year

When would this start? The district’s published estimates do not specify the first tax bill that would include this increase.

Monthly equivalents are annual estimates ÷ 12. These are not estimates of your total tax bill or a guaranteed mortgage-payment change.

An estimate, not your total tax bill.

The result shows the change from today’s rate for your selected election outcome. It assumes your home’s value and other tax rates stay the same. Actual property-tax bills may change for other reasons.

The proposal at a glance

Two questions. Up to $615 million.

Question 1

$407.1 million

School rebuilds and additions, a trades FutureReady Center, preservation at North and East, and HVAC and traffic improvements.

More details
  • Build a new trades FutureReady Center on the East High campus for carpentry, HVAC, electrical and plumbing pathways.
  • Rebuild Truesdell Middle School on its existing property.
  • Rebuild Black Elementary to serve students from Black and OK Elementary.
  • Rebuild McLean Elementary with updated learning spaces.
  • Rebuild Chisholm Trail as a K–8 school in Park City.
  • Add a middle-school wing at Cessna Elementary to make it a K–8 school.
  • Preservation work at North High School.
  • Preservation work at East High School.
  • Improve vehicle and pedestrian traffic flow at Christa McAuliffe, Isely and Seltzer.
  • Add HVAC and air-quality improvements at five high schools, eleven middle schools and the Manufacturing FutureReady Center, including air conditioning in gyms and other learning spaces.
  • The ballot also permits other necessary building, technology, efficiency and utility improvements from remaining bond proceeds, plus related fees and expenses.
See the district’s project descriptions ↗
Question 2 · Additional

$207.9 million

Coleman and Adams rebuilds, building repurposing, early-childhood space, and high-school preservation and career/technical improvements.

More details
  • Preservation work at West, South, Heights and Northwest high schools, including structural repairs and related building maintenance.
  • Renovate the former Hadley Middle School for Horace Mann Dual Language K–8 Magnet, allowing the program to expand.
  • Move Irving Elementary into the current Horace Mann building.
  • Renovate OK Elementary into an early-childhood center to expand Little Early Childhood Center services.
  • South High: add fire-safety labs and expand collision-repair spaces.
  • Northwest High: add law-enforcement pathway spaces.
  • West High: update culinary labs, add a multipurpose space for programs such as JROTC and girls wrestling, and resurface and expand parking.
  • Heights High: expand and renovate woodworking and welding spaces, including paint booths and HVAC, and update the secondary auditorium.
  • At South, Northwest, West and Heights: safety improvements to communications, lighting and storm-shelter vestibule doors, plus auditorium lighting and HVAC optimization as described by the district.
  • Build a new Coleman Middle School, with space for its environmental magnet theme. Renovate the existing building to consolidate Chester Lewis Alternative High School, Education Imagine Academy and Gateway Alternative Program.
  • Rebuild Adams Elementary to continue serving its neighborhood.
  • The ballot also permits other necessary building, technology, efficiency and utility improvements from remaining bond proceeds, plus related fees and expenses.
See the district’s project descriptions ↗

The district expects a 20-year repayment period. Bonds fund capital projects, not ordinary salaries or day-to-day operations. Borrowing amounts exclude interest.

Recent votes · 2000–2025

USD 259 bond history

What voters decided, what the bonds funded, and what the records show. Amounts are borrowing authorizations, before interest.

  1. Approved

    $284.5 million

    Air-conditioning and other infrastructure upgrades.

    Learn more
    • Election result: voters approved the borrowing.
    • Purpose: KMUW describes the program as focused largely on air-conditioning and infrastructure upgrades.
    • Construction: the district’s FY2013 financial report states that all bonds had been sold and all construction was completed.
    • What that establishes: the district reports a completed construction program. That statement alone does not establish that every original project was unchanged, on time or on budget, or that the bond improved academic outcomes.

    Sources: FY2013 financial report, printed p. 26 (PDF p. 38); KMUW, April 22, 2024.

  2. Approved

    $370 million

    Nine new schools and other improvements. The original plan changed during delivery.

    Learn more
    • Election result: voters approved the borrowing.
    • Facilities delivered: KMUW reports nine new schools, including the replacement Southeast High School. The district’s FY2013 report also documents classroom and multipurpose-room additions, fine arts and athletic renovations, middle-school auditorium upgrades and tracks.
    • Southeast: the board voted in 2013 to relocate the school rather than operate both the old school and a new one. A May 2016 report described the move to the new building for classes that August.
    • Changes to the plan: KMUW reports that several projects were scaled back or dropped after state and federal funding losses, including plans for two additional comprehensive high schools and a K–8 school in Bel Aire. A replacement high school is different from an additional operating school.
    • Construction: the FY2025 financial report states that all bonds had been sold and all construction was completed. This does not mean every original proposal was delivered unchanged.
    • Repayment: the same report lists $183.305 million in bond principal outstanding as of June 30, 2025, related to the 2008 authorization. Construction completion is not the same as completing debt repayment.

    Sources: FY2025 financial report, printed p. 28 (PDF p. 39); FY2013 financial report, printed p. 24 (PDF p. 36); KMUW’s historical overview; reporting on project changes; 2013 Southeast decision; 2016 Southeast move.

  3. Rejected

    $450 million proposed

    The proposal failed by 319 votes. This borrowing was not authorized.

    Learn more
    • Election result: KMUW’s report of the county’s final tally says the proposal failed by 319 votes, with about 28,000 ballots cast and approximately 14% turnout.
    • Proposed projects: five new elementary schools, two new middle schools, a new early-childhood center, two elementary-to-K–8 conversions, a construction-trades career center, and athletic fields at Northeast Magnet, along with other renovations and program relocations.
    • Outcome: voters did not authorize these bonds, so this was not a completed construction program to evaluate.
    • A different proposal: the February 2025 vote was for $450 million. The November 2026 ballot has two questions totaling up to $615 million, with a different project list.

    Sources: KMUW, March 7, 2025 — final result; KMUW, February 14, 2025 — proposed projects.

Selected recent votes, not a complete district history. “Approved” describes the election result, not a rating of project performance. Completion statements come from district financial reports; they are not an independent project-by-project performance audit.

Assumptions & sources

How this estimate is calculated

Estimates scale from the district’s rounded public examples using your county-appraised residential value:

  • Both questions vs. today: value × 0.00025 per year.
  • Question 1 only vs. today: no estimated change.
  • No bonds vs. today, beginning in 2028: value × −0.000625 per year.

All results compare with today’s rate. The district estimates that if the bond fails, a $200,000 home would pay about $125 less per year beginning with the 2028 tax bill. Maintaining today’s rate is therefore different from receiving that projected decrease. Figures are calculated using annual amounts, then divided by 12 and rounded for display. The district displays $4.16/month for $50/year; standard rounding gives $4.17.

Kansas residential assessed value is 11.5% of appraised value. One mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. This calculator uses the district’s rounded net-change examples, not the gross new-bond levy.

What could change the actual amount?

These estimates hold home value and unrelated tax levies constant. Actual bills depend on appraisals, annual levies, financing terms and the timing of bond issuance. The projected no-bond reduction starts in 2028, not immediately.

The figures are not a year-by-year debt-service forecast. A precise lifetime household cost cannot be calculated by simply multiplying these estimates by 20. Building needs and future funding decisions remain regardless of this election’s outcome.

This calculator does not estimate commercial-property taxes, tax-relief eligibility or rental-cost effects.

Borrowing, interest & repayment

The district-linked election-resolution packet projects $615 million in principal plus approximately $401.7 million in interest for both questions, or approximately $1.017 billion district-wide. Its assumptions include 5% interest, 20-year repayment and no bond state aid.

The packet projects average new-bond levies of 5.500 mills for Question 1 and 2.180 mills for Question 2. Gross new-bond taxes are different from the net change compared with existing taxes.

These are projections, not final financing terms. The publicly linked packet contains unsigned forms and blank template fields.

Source documents & data notes

Data note: the district FAQ lists $18.75/year for a $100,000 home. The homepage lists $25/year, consistent with its other examples. This calculator uses the homepage’s proportional figures.

Proposal-specific forecasts come from the district and have not been independently audited here. Differences between published rounded examples and formal average-levy projections are not combined into a lifetime forecast.

Read the full research notes & sources · Download Markdown