Conference committee members in the Kansas House and Senate have apparently created a tax compromise that has the blessing of Governor Laura Kelly.
The bill keep the state’s three-rate income tax structure, instead of collapsing it to two rates or a single rate, but it drops the upper-bracket rate from 5.7 percent to 5.5 percent. the middle and low rates remain the same — 5.25 and 3.1 percent, respectively.
The compromise also exempts all Social Security benefits from income tax. It reduces the statewide levy for K-12 education from 20 mills to 19.5 and lets residents exempt the first $100,000 of assessed valuation from property taxes collected for public education.
The bill also ends the food sales tax this upcoming July instead of keeping the original plan of this upcoming January. And it adds a $60 million child- and dependent-care tax credit.
The bill has not made to the floor of either the House or Senate for a vote, but Governor Kelly says she plans to sign the package if it’s approved in its current form. The Legislature has its first adjournment Friday and returns for the annual veto session April 29.
