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Redistricting was a hot topic at the legislative coffee sponsored by the McPherson Chamber of Commerce and AT&T Saturday at The Well.
All three members of the McPherson County delegation — Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg; Clark Shultz, R-Lindsborg; and Don Schroeder, R-Hesston — attended the event.
Hearings were conducted Monday in the Kansas House on a redistricting map. The map is set to be discussed by the redistricting committee Wednesday.
Schroeder said he was not free to discuss all aspects of the map until it was released Monday.
The Senate is working on the federal Congressional districts map. New congressional and legislative district lines are drawn every 10 years after the U.S. census.
Federal congressional districts must have equal numbers of people in each district. In order for that to happen, more voters must be added to the fourth district.
Emler said there is a showdown shaping up in the Senate on whether McPherson County, which is in the 1st District, or multiple counties west of Sedgwick County will be added to the 4th District.
“We have more shopping interest with Saline and Reno County and right here at home than we do with Sedgwick County, but we are dealing with the dynamics of an urban legislature,” Emler said.
The Legislature’s goal is to have all the maps completed by March prior to the deadline for those filing to run in the August primary.
KPERS
Nick Gregory, McPherson city administrator, expressed his concerns about how reforms to KPERS, the public employee retirement system, may affect future recruiting for the state and municipalities.
At present, the state has more than $8 billion in unfunded liability in the state pension system.
One proposal to reduce future liability is to change the system from a dedicated-benefit to a dedicated- contribution system, like the 401K programs used in private industry.
“I am concerned about our ability to recruit strong, quality candidates in the future,” Gregory said. “State employees may be paid less, but they have had better pensions.”
Shultz said every year the state doesn’t change the system, the problem gets worse.
Changing to the 401K plan would only address future liabilities, Emler said. The state still needs to pay into the system to address its current unfunded liabilities. The state would need $188 million this coming budget year to begin to address that issue, but that would cut significantly into the surplus budget Brownback has recommended for the state.
Redistricting was a hot topic at the legislative coffee sponsored by the McPherson Chamber of Commerce and AT&T Saturday at The Well.
All three members of the McPherson County delegation — Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg; Clark Shultz, R-Lindsborg; and Don Schroeder, R-Hesston — attended the event.
Hearings were conducted Monday in the Kansas House on a redistricting map. The map is set to be discussed by the redistricting committee Wednesday.
Schroeder said he was not free to discuss all aspects of the map until it was released Monday.
The Senate is working on the federal Congressional districts map. New congressional and legislative district lines are drawn every 10 years after the U.S. census.
Federal congressional districts must have equal numbers of people in each district. In order for that to happen, more voters must be added to the fourth district.
Emler said there is a showdown shaping up in the Senate on whether McPherson County, which is in the 1st District, or multiple counties west of Sedgwick County will be added to the 4th District.
“We have more shopping interest with Saline and Reno County and right here at home than we do with Sedgwick County, but we are dealing with the dynamics of an urban legislature,” Emler said.
The Legislature’s goal is to have all the maps completed by March prior to the deadline for those filing to run in the August primary.
KPERS
Nick Gregory, McPherson city administrator, expressed his concerns about how reforms to KPERS, the public employee retirement system, may affect future recruiting for the state and municipalities.
At present, the state has more than $8 billion in unfunded liability in the state pension system.
One proposal to reduce future liability is to change the system from a dedicated-benefit to a dedicated- contribution system, like the 401K programs used in private industry.
“I am concerned about our ability to recruit strong, quality candidates in the future,” Gregory said. “State employees may be paid less, but they have had better pensions.”
Shultz said every year the state doesn’t change the system, the problem gets worse.
Changing to the 401K plan would only address future liabilities, Emler said. The state still needs to pay into the system to address its current unfunded liabilities. The state would need $188 million this coming budget year to begin to address that issue, but that would cut significantly into the surplus budget Brownback has recommended for the state.
Taxes
Brownback’s proposal to decrease the income tax had some locals concerned about how a move on income tax would affect property taxes.
McPherson Mayor Tom Brown said he had concerns about what a possible shift away from income tax to more reliance on property tax might do to the local economy.
“What is good for the state is not necessarily good for McPherson or Lindsborg,” he said. “It would kill us on economic development.”
Emler said all three members of the McPherson County delegation had a concern about how changes in tax policy would affect local constituents and governments.
“We have had a three-legged approach to taxes in Kansas for a long time, and we know that at this time one leg is out of whack and that is property tax,” he said.
The governor has proposed making up for his decrease in income tax by extending the 0.6 percent sales tax. But that also is seeing opposition, as Sen. Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick has introduced a bill to do away with the tax earlier than planned.
Terry Lacy, a rural McPherson resident, said he was in favor of keeping the sales tax in place.
“Small businesses have had a tough time,” he said. “They have to pay property tax every year whether they have had a good year or not. I think the more fair tax is the sales tax.”
SRS
Emler said there may be good news concerning the McPherson Social and Rehabilitation Services office.
After the state SRS secretary ordered the closure of the McPherson SRS office last year, the city of McPherson and McPherson County agreed to pay a combined $34,000 to keep the office open.
Although there will be no fiscal help this year for the office, Emler said the Legislature is working to put the money back in the FY2013 budget to keep the office open.
