This memorandum provides information on the mortgage registration tax and statutory fees for recording documents with county registers of deeds. The mortgage registration tax was repealed in 2019.
Mortgage Registration Tax Phase-out and Fee Increase Phase-in
Prior to 2019, Kansas law provided for a tax on mortgage registration to be paid to county registers of deeds. The tax was phased out beginning with calendar year (CY) 2015 through CY 2019. Statutory fees charged for documents filed with county registers of deeds were increased from CY 2015 through CY 2018 to compensate for the decrease from the phase-out of the mortgage registration tax.
The mortgage registration tax, which had been levied at the rate of 0.26 percent of the principal debt or obligation secured by mortgages, was reduced to 0.2 percent for all mortgages received and filed for record during CY 2015; 0.15 percent during CY 2016; 0.1 percent during CY 2017; and 0.05 percent during CY 2018. The tax was repealed altogether beginning in CY 2019. Of the revenue generated by the mortgage registration tax, 25/26ths had been retained by the counties.
Statutory recording fees were increased as follows:
| Prior Law | CY 2015 | CY 2016 | CY 2017 | CY 2018 & thereafter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| First page of deeds, mortgages, other instruments | $ | 6.00 | $ | 8.00 | $ | 11.00 | $ | 14.00 | $ | 17.00 | |||||||||||||||
| Each additional page of such documents | 2.00 | 4.00 | 7.00 | 10.00 | 13.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Recording town plats per page | 20.00 | 22.00 | 25.00 | 28.00 | 31.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Release/assignment of mortgages | 5.00 | 7.00 | 10.00 | 13.00 | 16.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Certifying instruments on record | 1.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 | 9.00 | 12.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature acknowledgment | 0.50 | 2.50 | 5.50 | 8.50 | 11.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| IRS tax lien filing notices | 5.00 | 7.00 | 10.00 | 13.00 | 16.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| IRS/KDOR lien release notices | 5.00 | 7.00 | 10.00 | 13.00 | 16.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Liens for materials/services per KSA 58-201 | 5.00 | 7.00 | 10.00 | 13.00 | 16.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The above fees were capped beginning in CY 2015, such that a maximum of $125 may be levied for recording mortgages of $75,000 or less involving single-family principal residences.
Heritage Trust Fund
The Heritage Trust Fund had previously been the recipient of 1/26th of the revenue generated by the mortgage registration tax. The Heritage Trust Fund receives no revenue from the mortgage registration tax as of calendar year 2015. Rather, an additional fee of $1 is levied and credited to the Heritage Trust Fund on the first and all subsequent pages of any deeds, mortgages, and other instruments and on release or assignments of mortgages. An annual statutory cap of $100,000 on Heritage Trust Fund mortgage registration tax distributions from any given county was replaced with a new cap of $30,000 from any county relative to the new $1 fee.
County Clerk and County Treasurer Technology Funds
An existing separate fee of $2 per page was increased to $3 per page beginning in calendar year 2015, and receipts from this additional $1 are split into two separate $0.50 portions and deposited into two funds created in 2015 in each county – the County Clerk Technology Fund and the County Treasurer Technology Fund.
by Eric Ardell
Research Analyst
785-296-4404