by Murrel Bland
There continues to be a shortfall of revenue in the state of Kansas. Legislators recently heard that February revenue collections were down by $53 million.
“This trend of the state not meeting its budget numbers continues to plague policymakers,” Cathy Damron told the Legislative Committee of the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce Friday, March 11.
Damron, the chamber’s lobbyist, said the recent $16 billion budget that the legislators passed, is already in the red. As a result, Gov. Sam Brownback cut $17 million from state universities for the remaining four months in this fiscal year.
There is concern that this revenue shortfall will mean further cuts in the Kansas Department of Transportation’s highway funds.
One of the major issues still facing legislators is how to satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court’s order to develop an equitable formula for funding schools. There are two bills in the legislature that speak to that issue. Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr., a Republican from Olathe, introduced a bill that would shift money from wealthier districts, including those in Johnson County, to poorer districts, including Kansas City, Kan. Kansas City, Kan., would receive an additional $2.1 million. This bill would use $17 million in redistributed money from the state’s extraordinary fund that is presently set aside for the block grant program. The Supreme Court ruled that the block grants were unconstitutional.
Another bill introduced by Sen. Ty Masterson, a Republican from Andover, would redistribute funding, but would not require additional state money. The Kansas Supreme Court gave the legislature until June 30 to come up with an equitable formula or close schools.
Another issue that the Chamber’s Committee discussed was the property tax lid. Anti-tax advocates support this measure. The law would trigger a vote of the people when property taxes are increased more than the rate of inflation. The Unified Government and the KCK Chamber have favored a repeal of the law; however, that doesn’t look likely. What looks more feasible is a bill that would amend the law, allowing for exemption for growth and unknown expenses.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.