The Kansas Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations is giving Kansas residents and opportunity to submit their thoughts and opinions of local government financing.
Each year, the KACIR solicits public opinion on the workings of the state and local government.
The state’s ongoing budget crunch has led many communities to question the state’s current local government funding system. Last year, many social services endured cuts that left people do find ways to do without or with less.
Late in the legislative year, law makers did pass a 1 percent state-wide sales tax that helped restore and retain funding for different services, including education, but that move gained critics as well.
This year and next more tough decisions will have to be made as revenue levels continue to return to pre-2008 levels. State and local officials recognize the impacts of their decisions and are now looking to the public for insight on possible changes that can be made to make the system more efficient and effective.
This Thursday, the first of two public forms will be held at the Sternberg Museum in Hays. KACIR and local government officials will be on hand to talk about government funding and how local governments receive support from the state. A second forum will be held Sept. 30 at the Matt Ross Community Center in Overland Park.
Lynn Robinson with the KACIR said people who are not able to attend one of the forums can submit their ideas, comments and input via an online comment system that can be found on KACIR’s website www.ksrevenue.org/kacir.htm.
Comments gathered from both the online survey and the two forums will be compiled into an annual report that will be distributed to the governor and all state-level law makers.
At the conclusion of each report Robinson said, are recommendations for policy changes.
Recommendations included in the group’s 2009 report included the passage of Senate Bill 75, which would allow for the consolidation of any city or county-level governments.
It also made suggestion for “addressing the erosion of the tax base” including a moratorium on new property tax exemptions and a review of all previously granted exemptions, a moratorium on all new sales tax exemptions and the repeal of the consumer utility sales tax exemption as well as other consumer exemptions and consider a comprehensive exemption policy. Income taxes also received the same suggestions, with KACIR recommending a moratorium on income tax exemptions for businesses and any incentive policies that include those exemptions. The group’s annual report also noted that removing the various tax exemptions will not only benefit the state government but will also provide additional funding for local governments.
In its review of local government funding, KACIR found no one-sized fits-all solution to local funding. The issue will again be analyzed during this year’s review period.
The 2010 annual report, including comments made during the forums and through the online survey will be published later this year.
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The Kansas Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations is giving Kansas residents and opportunity to submit their thoughts and opinions of local government financing.
Each year, the KACIR solicits public opinion on the workings of the state and local government.
The state’s ongoing budget crunch has led many communities to question the state’s current local government funding system. Last year, many social services endured cuts that left people do find ways to do without or with less.
Late in the legislative year, law makers did pass a 1 percent state-wide sales tax that helped restore and retain funding for different services, including education, but that move gained critics as well.
This year and next more tough decisions will have to be made as revenue levels continue to return to pre-2008 levels. State and local officials recognize the impacts of their decisions and are now looking to the public for insight on possible changes that can be made to make the system more efficient and effective.
This Thursday, the first of two public forms will be held at the Sternberg Museum in Hays. KACIR and local government officials will be on hand to talk about government funding and how local governments receive support from the state. A second forum will be held Sept. 30 at the Matt Ross Community Center in Overland Park.
Lynn Robinson with the KACIR said people who are not able to attend one of the forums can submit their ideas, comments and input via an online comment system that can be found on KACIR’s website www.ksrevenue.org/kacir.htm.
Comments gathered from both the online survey and the two forums will be compiled into an annual report that will be distributed to the governor and all state-level law makers.
At the conclusion of each report Robinson said, are recommendations for policy changes.
Recommendations included in the group’s 2009 report included the passage of Senate Bill 75, which would allow for the consolidation of any city or county-level governments.
It also made suggestion for “addressing the erosion of the tax base” including a moratorium on new property tax exemptions and a review of all previously granted exemptions, a moratorium on all new sales tax exemptions and the repeal of the consumer utility sales tax exemption as well as other consumer exemptions and consider a comprehensive exemption policy. Income taxes also received the same suggestions, with KACIR recommending a moratorium on income tax exemptions for businesses and any incentive policies that include those exemptions. The group’s annual report also noted that removing the various tax exemptions will not only benefit the state government but will also provide additional funding for local governments.
In its review of local government funding, KACIR found no one-sized fits-all solution to local funding. The issue will again be analyzed during this year’s review period.
The 2010 annual report, including comments made during the forums and through the online survey will be published later this year.
