Tax & Spending

Kansas Tax Increase Unfairly Burdens The Poor 0
- Tax & Spending
- August 12, 2019
The fall in consumer spending has local officials puzzled; there’s a reason why Kansans are buying fewer things at the register. Not surprisingly, counties with declines in consumer shopping also have hiked property taxes. Couple that with the state income tax increase, and the collective tax burden on Kansas families (especially low-income) has increased by
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Local officials learning tax hikes doom consumer spending 0
- Tax & Spending
- August 1, 2019
City and county officials in Johnson County recently told the Kansas City Star they are ‘puzzled’ by sluggish sales tax collections and consumer spending. They shouldn’t be. Local officials should realize the obvious. Kansans are dealing with their third consecutive year of state income tax hikes. Local officials also raised property taxes, and tax increases
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Three Signs of Kansas Government Growth 0
- Tax & Spending
- July 11, 2019
How much government is too much for Kansas? Three straight years of income tax increases are sending the state budget to another historical high. However, three signs suggest that bigger is not always better. Three signs; jobs, personal income, and purchases, that link government growth to a stagnant Kansas economy. The legislature approved, and the
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Over 2,500 KPERS ‘millionaires’ and $1.7 billion in pension payments published 0
- Tax & Spending
- July 5, 2019
An Open Records request fulfilled by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) shows record-setting payouts in 2018 of $1.7 billion. The number of KPERS ‘millionaires’ also set a new record, with 2,522 government retirees expected to receive more than $1 million in pension benefits over the first 20 years of retirement; that’s 188 more
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Local Government Pushes Property Tax to Record Levels 0
- Tax & Spending
- July 2, 2019
Property tax assessed by Kansas counties has grown 164% over the past 21 years, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue. Over the same time frame, inflation is 49.5%, and population growth is 11%. This growth means Kansans are paying roughly $593 million more in taxes than the county’s prices or population would dictate. Graphs
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“Hope” Leads to Work & Opportunity 0
- Tax & Spending
- June 24, 2019
Taxpayer-funded programs that combat poverty should operate in ways that create a pathway to economic independence. As such, welfare reforms, like the Hope Act and other efforts, truly benefitted low-income Kansans by encouraging work and lowering poverty rates. Increasing handouts, in contrast, trapped more Kansans into government dependency, stifling their potential success and self-reliance. Kansas
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