Who's the fool?
Income taxes are due Monday. I have simple tax returns, so I complete them myself. It's a good way to lose respect for Kansas legislators.
You see, my federal income tax has decreased in recent years. My Kansas income tax has increased substantially, as have my property taxes.
Most legislators, including those who represent Marion County, crow about cutting taxes. They must think we're idiots.
Every other resident in the county must have received a tax decrease — we keep electing them. I would like to hear from Joe Average individuals who have received significant, substantial tax decreases in the past few years.
One state official used the argument of "taxes would have been higher without the cuts." I'll accept that. But most people interpret tax cuts as a decrease, not as an increase that wasn't as big as it could have been.
It's the same with property taxes. Legislators announce they are cutting taxes, but they require counties to maintain fair and accurate appraisals. That means an increase, more often than not. And unless the mill levy drops substantially, property owners pay the same or more in taxes.
Counties, cities, and school districts increase local budgets to make up the decrease. Legislators claim "we don't have any control over local costs." Clearly they do, if by reducing state payments they force local governments to increase taxes.
It's even more irritating that rural Kansas is losing influence in the Legislature. More population moves to urban areas. It seems apparent that legislators want to consolidate schools, but they don't have the guts to do so. Instead, they are going to force local districts to raise taxes until smaller districts close on their own.
A few years ago, a couple of ivory-tower-types suggested the Midwest should be allowed to return to the great sweeping prairies of the past. Services are more efficient if we are crammed into cities, with rural America left to the whitetail deer and squirrels.
Apparently our legislators agree.
— MATT NEWHOUSE
