Tax & Spending

Kansas out-migration creates U-Haul shortages 0
- Tax & Spending
- October 2, 2019
There’s been no shortage of reports about Kansas losing people and businesses to other states. Since 2000, the state of Kansas has lost 6%, via domestic migration, of its population to the rest of the country, primarily to states with lower tax burdens. A new analysis shows that enough people are leaving Kansas that the
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Gov. Kelly’s tax council on track to income redistribution 0
- Tax & Spending
- September 26, 2019
Governor Laura Kelly’s newly minted tax council laid out a roadmap to a new fiscal relationship between state government and Kansans. Unfortunately, the roadmap had little to do with lowering taxes as a means of economic growth. Instead, it hinted more at taking the hard-earned resources from working Kansans to promote “fairness.” Governor Kelly’s tax
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The truth about county spending; there’s room to cut 0
- Tax & Spending
- September 23, 2019
With Kansas property taxes being one of the highest in the nation, the difference in county spending is worth close examination. Massive spending discrepancies exist in these local governments, even among counties with roughly the same population. Therefore it is no surprise county inefficiency is a key driver of excessively high county property taxes. KPI
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Will Gov. Kelly’s tax council reward government over families?0
- Tax & Spending
- September 12, 2019
There’s a good chance Governor Kelly’s new tax council will recommend exactly what she wants, more tax increases to support another record-setting budget. These appointed special interests on the council may focus more on increasing their share of the taxpayer dollar pie at the expense of Kansas families looking to earn a living. Keep in
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Local government property tax data shows opportunity for savings 0
- Tax & Spending
- September 10, 2019
Property taxes assessed for the operation of local government totaled $2.7 billion in 2018 and significant differences in per-resident amounts across the counties indicate large savings opportunities – if the political will exists to take advantage. As we wrote last month, the $2.7 billion for the operation of local government consumes the largest portion of
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Poor feel the bite of Gov. Kelly’s windfall veto 0
- Tax & Spending
- September 3, 2019
Governor Kelly twice vetoed legislation that would have prevented a tax increase on roughly 90,000 Kansans. The Kansas City Star claimed the windfall veto necessary as it “would help wealthier Kansans but would do little for poorer residents.” But data from the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) shows lower-income Kansans had a higher tax increase
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