TOPEKA, Kan. — In a speech on Tuesday, Gov. Brownback disputed claims that his financial philosophy for Kansas has hurt schools.
When asked specifically about the schools whose leaders said they were forced to make deep cuts, and a school in which the superintendent resigned because school officials said the salary was no longer affordable, Gov. Brownback promised an offline explanation of the problems with those districts’ unique budgets.
He cited the case of Garden City, Kansas, as an example. He said that while they did face less revenue because of property tax devaluation, he said the Garden City School District’s budget went up nine percent over the prior year. He said they “had very little ending balance from the year before because they doubled their normal increase in salary increases that were given to people in the system.”
He went on to explain that it was Garden City’s decision-making that created a budget crisis there, not his tax plan.
“That’s a choice they made. That’s fine. But then they come in and ask for money at the end of the year when they spent it down because they had a big increase that came in and you had an extraordinary event,” he said.
He told reporters to look in-depth at the situations in some of the school districts that claim hardship from the state’s education budget.
“Because the total amount of money has gone up substantially,” he said. “From 14 to 15, $195.5 million increase to K12.”
On Friday, faced with a budget gap that would require enormous cuts to programs, Kansas legislators passed two bills to raise $384 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. The House voted 63-45, the Kansas Senate voted 21-19. One measure raises the sales tax to 6.5 percent from 6.1 percent. The other increases the cigarette tax by 50 cents to $1.29. In passing these measures, the legislature averted a deficit that is prohibited by the state constitution.
Gov. Brownback denied an assertion by a Republican Senator Jeff Longbine, who represents areas around Emporia, Kan., that Gov. Brownback “blackmailed the legislature” into getting what he wanted. He also denied that businesses are the ones benefiting from the tax structure and budget plan. Kansas Democrats insisted that in order to balance the budget, the legislature should reverse the 2012 policy that freed Kansas business-owner and farmers from paying income taxes on their profits. Some Republicans agreed that business owners should be taxed on profits again, but Gov. Brownback had set a ceiling for those taxes. In the end, the lawmakers agreed to raise business income taxes by $24 million in the fiscal year.
Gov. Brownback has stood behind Kansas’ aggressive tax cuts of 2012. He maintained that economic growth would fuel the state’s needs.
“I understand people are concerned about how a sales tax of 6.5 percent will affect them on a day-to-day basis, and based on consumer expenditure survey data, which estimates 45 percent of a household’s expenditures are subject to sales taxes, a household making right around $36,000 will see an annual sales tax increase of $56.35. A household making $48,000 or just under that will see an increase of $75.20,” Gov. Brownback said.
Gov. Brownback described taxes on income as ‘productivity’ taxes, as opposed to ‘consumption’ taxes, which he said was a sales tax.
“The net effect, with the reduction of income taxes and transition to consumption taxes, Kansans are paying less in taxes than they were before, and more importantly paying reduced taxes on their productivity,” Gov. Brownback said.
Gov. Brownback said that between 2013 and 2014, Kansas saved $713 million on taxes on their ‘hard-earned incomes.’
“Some would have you believe that this bill represents a tax increase and that is not accurate. When looked at in totality, from 2012 to 2015, as I stated at the outset, Kansans are paying less in taxes and continuing to move off income taxes to consumption-based taxes,” he said.
FOX 4’s Shannon O’Brien was in Topeka for continued reaction on the Kansas budget. CLICK HERE to watch her special report.
