New sales tax starts April 1

The new quarter-percent sales tax approved by voters to support Holton Community Hospital will go into effect April 1, rather than the previously reported Jan. 1 start date.

During the Nov. 4 general election, Jackson County voters approved the new special .25 percent retailers’ sales tax for hospital operations by a vote of 1,413 in favor and 848 opposed.

When hospital officials originally submitted the measure to the county to be placed on the Nov. 4 ballot, the proposed start date for the tax – if approved – was listed as Jan. 1, 2026. 

Subsequent county public notices published in The Holton Recorder also cited Jan. 1 as the effective date. 

However, the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) has strict notification deadlines that govern when new sales taxes may be implemented, resulting in the later April 1 start date, it was reported. 

According to KDOR officials, state statute requires cities and counties to notify the department of a local sales tax change at least 90 days before it takes effect. In turn, KDOR must provide businesses with at least 60 days’ notice before the tax in implemented. 

Because the general election was held in early November, a Jan. 1 start date did not allow sufficient time to meet those requirements, KDOR officials said. 

“The earliest a sales tax on a November ballot can be enacted is the following April,” according to the KDOR officials.

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