Month: November 2019

State’s October total tax receipts are $36.8 million ahead of estimates

Topeka – For the month of October, the state saw an increase in its total tax collections at $552.9 million; 7.1 percent or $36.8 million ahead of estimates. These collections amount to $41.5 million more than October of fiscal year 2019.

Individual and corporate income tax collections continued to be more than estimated. Individual income tax collections were $15.0 million ahead of the estimate at $260.0 million; $17.8 million ahead of the same month last fiscal year. Corporate income tax collections were at $26.2 million; $6.2 million more than the estimate and $6.7 million more than collected in October of fiscal year 2019.

Retail and compensating use tax collections were also ahead of the estimate. Retail sales tax collections were at $200.8 million; $8.8 million or 4.6 percent ahead of the estimate. These collections were $10.4 million more than the same month of fiscal year 2019. Compensating use tax collections came in $7.7 million or 22.6 percent ahead of estimates at $41.7 million; a $7.2 million increase from October of fiscal year 2019.

“The increase the state is seeing in compensating use tax collections could be, in part, due to the recent increase in the number of registrations by out-of-state retailers,” Secretary Mark Burghart said.

“As we saw in September, the latest report is a positive sign as we slowly recover from the failed Brownback-Colyer tax experiment,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “Still, we’re mindful of the need to remain cautious and show fiscal restraint as we continue to rebuild the state and strengthen the economy.”

4-H members clean up historic cemetery in Edwardsville

4-H members in Wyandotte County recently cleaned up an old, historic cemetery in Edwardsville, Kansas. (Photo from 4-H)

Wyandotte County 4-H members recently held a cleanup at a cemetery in Edwardsville, Kansas.

According to David Streit, who is a leader with a 4-H group, the 4-H members participated in a community service project on Oct. 12 as part of National 4-H Week.

The cemetery where the cleanup took place is known as Stoney Point Cemetery in Edwardsville, although it is not in the same neighborhood as another Stony Point area that is farther east in Kansas City, Kansas, in Wyandotte County. Streit said the cemetery is not really accessible by roads, but only from private property.

The cemetery had been abandoned at one point and was in need of a cleanup, according to Streit. Some headstones had fallen over and it was in need of repair, he said. He believes the last burials may have taken place there in the 1930s and 1940s. The cleanup was organized by Wyandotte County 4-H in conjunction with the city of Edwardsville and St. Martin in the Fields Church.

According to Streit, this cemetery in Edwardsville was founded by Junius Groves, a successful farmer known as the “potato king.”

Groves, who was born into slavery in 1859, was an Exoduster who settled in Edwardsville after traveling 500 miles on foot, according to Streit. He started as a sharecropper for John Williamson, and eventually saved enough money to purchase his own land.

In 1902 Groves was the single largest producer of potatoes in the world, earning the name, “potato king of the world,” Streit stated. He also was known as the first black millionaire west of the Mississippi River.

In 1886, Groves purchased an acre of rocky hillside for $1, which would become the Stoney Point Cemetery. It is thought that the white settlers of the time did not want blacks buried in the same cemetery, according to Streit.

Through their service project, the 4-H members learned about local history and historical figures such as Junius Groves, and honored the legacy of the people buried there, gave them dignity that is past due, and reflected on their own spiritual cleanup, Streit stated.

The 4-H group made a video of their cleanup project that is posted on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV9bN_J0XuQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1ixbr16-snYPa08MjA7l6pTuwNeNUZD4PIn4ufgMqndFTXFmQlj3qYpcE .

4-H members in Wyandotte County recently cleaned up an old, historic cemetery in Edwardsville, Kansas. (Photo from 4-H)
4-H members in Wyandotte County recently cleaned up an old, historic cemetery in Edwardsville, Kansas. (Photo from 4-H)
4-H members in Wyandotte County recently cleaned up an old, historic cemetery in Edwardsville, Kansas. (Photo from 4-H)

Trick-or-treating

A cold forecast didn’t keep trick-or-treaters from the annual Halloween event held Thursday night at the Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas. Neighborhood groups and the Leavenworth Road Association sponsored tables at the event. (Photo from Deniese Davis, treasurer of the Leavenworth Road Association)
A cold forecast didn’t keep trick-or-treaters from the annual Halloween event held Thursday night at the Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas. Neighborhood groups and the Leavenworth Road Association sponsored tables at the event. (Photo from Deniese Davis, treasurer of the Leavenworth Road Association)
A cold forecast didn’t keep trick-or-treaters from the annual Halloween event held Thursday night at the Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas. Neighborhood groups and the Leavenworth Road Association sponsored tables at the event. (Photo from Deniese Davis, treasurer of the Leavenworth Road Association)