County concerned with tax lid bill
The Jackson County Commissioners expressed their concern with the property tax lid bill (Senate Bill 316) by attending hearings on the proposed piece of legislation recently at the State Capitol Building in Topeka.
On Wednesday, the commissioners – Janet Zwonitzer, Bill Elmer and Rob Ladner – were in attendance at tax committee hearings on two property tax lid bills. The hearings included testimony from opponents of SB 316, as well as proponents of House Bill 2609, which is an alternate option to the Senate bill, it was reported.
Representatives from the Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities encouraged county commissioners from across the state to attend the hearings, to voice their concern for SB 316.
The bill moves up the time before local governments must start conducting a public vote before raising spending by more than the adjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) – also known as inflation rate – which is set by the state.
Currently, all counties receive more property tax revenue automatically when property values increase, even if the county’s mill rate remains the same.
The bill places a lid on how much property tax revenue can be increased without a public vote.
A cap on local property taxes was approved last year during the Legislative session as an amendment to a bill that increased state sales taxes and reduced income tax deductions. It was set to take effect in January 2018.
If SB 316 passes, the deadline would be moved up to July 1, 2016.
“If it now becomes effective July 1 of this year, it’s too late in the election schedule to bring any increases to the voters,” said Jackson County Clerk Kathy Mick. “It doesn’t work.”
SB 316 also removes numerous exemptions from the original amendment, it was reported, such as allowing local governments not to have a public vote when additional funds are needed for infrastructure improvements.
“We definitely don’t want any type of tax lid,” Mick said.
Sedgwick County, which includes Wichita, is the only county in the state supporting the piece of legislation, it was reported.
An alternative bill, HB 2609, has been proposed instead of SB 316. The House bill uses the Municipal Cost Index (MCI) as the bar for raising spending and adds several exemptions to allow for growth and unknown expenses, it was reported.
The MCI was developed by the American Association of Cities and Counties and it looks specifically at the cost of providing services to residents. The MCI is designed to show the effects on inflation on the cost of providing municipal services.
HB 2609 also requires that at least 10 percent of registered voters in the county would have to sign a petition in order to force a public vote on a proposed tax increase.
