By STAN UNRUH
Post News Network
Earlier this month, Gov. Sam Brownback approved the $129 million school funding measure to satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court ruling. While the bill provides more money for public education, it also was intended to provide property tax relief for school districts.
But what does that mean for a typical homeowner? In Hays, for instance, the immediate reaction of local school officials was to call for a property tax increase to help offset what they expect to be reduced state funding.
The impact will be different in each school district and, apparently, there are too many unknowns at this point to fully answer the question.
In conversations with county treasurers across the state, the consensus is there isn’t enough information available to make an educated guess.
“I saw the governor’s television commercial that mentioned property tax relief and wondered how that was going to work,” offered one treasurer.
Saline County Treasurer Jim DuBois said due to the increase imposed by the recently approved USD 305 school bond and numerous other issues, it would be difficult for him to determine exactly what impact it would have. In addition, the mill levy for the Salina airport may be reduced.
However, in Saline County, “Taxes will probably still go up,” DuBois said.
Riley County Treasurer Eileen King said in an email she had not had a conversation with the school district, but had read published reports suggesting a 1.14 mill increase for USD 383 in Riley County.
The taxes on $100,000 were $557.29 in 2013. A 2.3 percent increase in property value and an increase of 1.14 mills, would mean an increase of $27.29 in taxes for 2014. She had not finished doing research on the issue.
In Great Bend, USD 428 Director of Finance Khris Thexton said, “In theory, the legislation should reduce the property taxes. What we will gain financially with the increase in state funding, we will lose in other parts of the bill. We were at 5 mills for our LOB (local option budget).”
The LOB is money the state allows each local school district the option to raise above what the state provides. It is typically about a third more than the state funding but varies each year.
In Hays, USD 489 is planning a mail-in referendum that will would raise the LOB by 1 percent, a move that will raise about $200,000 in additional revenue.
The confusion follows a series of school funding issues recently, beginning with the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling that current funding levels to not meet constitutional requirements. The legislative solution was a bill that is estimated to provide between $117 million and $129 million to the state’s poorest districts.
The bill also contained policy changes that would due away with state-mandated due process, also known as tenure, for teachers and create a tax incentive for corporations to help fund private schools.