Budgets and taxes have been front and center for the Kansas Legislature all session. Not surprisingly, they were the lead topics at Emporia’s first Legislative Dialogue of the session Saturday.
The House and Senate have passed their respective versions, and it’s up to a conference committee to sift through the details for an up-or-down vote later this session. Lawmakers are increasingly mentioning concerns about deficit spending, and 17th District Senator Mike Argabright of Olpe isn’t optimistic the finished budget this year will reverse that trend.
House 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia says lawmakers are diverting a lot of potential revenue out of the State General Fund.
House 76th District Representative Brad Barrett of Osage City says lawmakers face difficult choices as special federal funding continues to disappear.
Property tax conversations continue, but it has been hard to reach agreement between the chambers on specific policy points. The main House plan caps property tax increases at 3 percent over the prior year, but residents who want to challenge increases above 3 percent need to submit a protest petition signed by 5 percent of the number of people who voted in the last Kansas Secretary of State election. The Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1616, which was designed to cap assessed real property valuations at 3 percent with some exceptions like new construction or property improvements had it been recommended — but it wasn’t.
Argabright says it has been hard to get consensus on property tax policy.
Barrett is interested a concept like SCR 1616, and he says some form could come back before the session ends.
Argabright sees some conversation likely next year on a potential consumption tax of some sort to help offset property taxes, but Schreiber and Barrett say that’s unlikely to move forward.
Following Saturday’s Dialogue at Presbyterian Manor, another Dialogue is tentatively planned for April although the date and location have not been set. Dialogues are organized by the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce Government Matters Committee and the League of Women Voters Emporia chapter.
