NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of County Commissioners at their Wednesday meeting expressed concern about a proposed bill in the Kansas Senate, SB 468, that had a hearing this morning in the Senate Tax Committee.
"The way it's written right now, if it was passed, if there was a tax exemption given by the county to a business, even if it was to help them, kind of like you guys helped APAC last year, it would then tie your hands to, at least for the next year, hold the budget at revenue-neutral rate," said Reno County Administrator Randy Partington.
This would change the competitive landscape in Kansas considerably.
"An Industrial Revenue Bond, that's tax exempt for 10 years," said Commissioner Ron Hirst. "We've done two of those not too long ago, one of them was for AgriCenter and the other one was for APAC. It's going to tie our hands pretty hard. If you look at the fact that 35 mills or 34 point whatever mills times zero is still zero. But, if we get a company come in that wants to spend a billion dollars or so, or a million dollars, then that's real money, come ten years from now."
Commissioner Don Bogner did make a significant point.
"If they tie our hands, they tie our neighbors hands, too," Bogner said. "You know they can't offer something, well, I guess they can, if they're willing to take the hit."
It's not that Reno County wants to raise taxes. In fact, they've been able to hold to the Revenue Neutral rate for the past couple of years. However, the lack of flexibility, especially if a new business were to require county infrastructure investment, makes the bill problematic in its current form.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.