(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Aug. 17, 2014)
Kansans are two weeks away from learning whether the key to the $384 million in tax increases passed by the legislature this year fix the budget problem for the state.
That key is the amount of revenue that the boost from 6.15% to 6.5% in sales taxes raises. The sales tax is the key to the tax hikes, because it raises the most money, and it is the most unpredictable tax source that was increased.
Without a strong showing in the first month in which those higher rates are going to be fully accounted for—to be revealed Sept. 1 in the Kansas Department of Revenue tax-collection report for August—lawmakers and the administration won’t know whether the two-year budget adopted this spring is going to work.
Other items in the massive tax package remain questionable.