Kansas senators seek to speed up tax lid for cities, counties

Public votes on city and county spending increases above inflation could come as early as next year – a year sooner than expected – under a bill approved by the Senate on Tuesday.

After about five hours of debate and amendments, senators made it easier in some ways and harder in others for local government to increase spending without taking it to a public vote.

Senate Substitute for House Bill 2088, which passed the Senate 24-16, is a follow-up measure to fix glitches in last year’s property-tax cap bill that cities and counties said made it unworkable.

The underlying law limits government spending increases to an adjusted consumer price index to be set by the state.

What that means is that if rising property values bring in more money than the state allows local government to spend, they’ll have to either cut the property tax rate or go to voters for approval to spend the increased income.

The tax lid is opposed by most cities and counties, the most notable exception being the Sedgwick County Commission.

One thing became clear Tuesday: The Senate doesn’t want to live under the spending rules it is handing to local government.

An amendment to do that, by Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita, was ruled not germane, meaning it couldn’t even be debated.

Effective date would move to 2017

The original tax-lid law was scheduled to take effect in 2018. The new bill would take effect in 2017.

The bill will allow the votes to be held as part of primary and general elections, special elections or mail ballots, giving local government more flexibility on when to take a spending increase to voters.

One of the main reasons for the follow-up bill was that the original bill’s election schedule appeared to make it impossible to hold a vote without violating other state-mandated deadlines for appraisals and tax billings.

Two Republican senators, Jeff Melcher of Leawood and Jacob LaTurner of Pittsburg, largely dominated the debate Tuesday.

Melcher got two amendments passed revoking exemptions proposed to the tax lid.

Those amendments mean local governments won’t be able to automatically claim the increased property taxes that come when land uses change or when properties that are part of economic-development zones return to the regular tax rolls.

LaTurner and Melcher led the effort to kill several amendments proposed to make the cap easier for cities and counties to meet without a public vote.

Exemption for emergency services

Senators did, however, allow one big exemption, proposed by Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick.

The McGinn amendment allows cities to keep extra tax dollars for law enforcement, fire and emergency medical needs.

McGinn cited the example of the mass shooting last month at the Excel Industries plant in Hesston, which is in her district.

The emergency response to that incident, where four people died and 14 were injured, will cost local government at least $150,000, she said.

Melcher and LaTurner opposed McGinn’s amendment, saying it was another way of chipping away at the tax lid.

Melcher called McGinn’s amendment “deja vu all over again” and “a smoke screen to get around the intent of the bill.”

McGinn retorted: “I’d just like to ask the senator why the city and county should have to pay for an election to pay for law enforcement.”

After the McGinn amendment appeared to fail on a voice vote, a roll call vote came out 22-17 in her favor.

LaTurner later followed up with an amendment specifying that funds freed up by McGinn’s amendment could be used only for law enforcement, fire protection and emergency medical services, not for construction or remodeling of buildings.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Kansas senators seek to speed up tax lid for cities, counties."