NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With stronger Republican supermajorities in Topeka, Americans For Prosperity Legislative and Coalitions Director Michael Austin hopes that will make the process of tax relief smoother in the coming legislative session.
"There's a number of things that need to be done, particularly on the tax policy side," Austin said. "While it was great that we saw some tax reductions when it came to property taxes, when it came to income tax, it's clear that we need to go further. I mean, the last election really suggested that inflation and cost of living are really what's at the forefront of Kansans minds. When we come back next session, we should really make an effort to go back to trying to get a single flat rate for income tax, and then do what we can to lower property taxes as well."
Property tax relief will likely need to bubble up from the local level though, rather than being sent down from Topeka.
"I really like that idea of putting in a limit on local government spending, because that's really where the problem lies," Austin said. "You know, it's not necessarily in the appraisal values, though I'm sure you'll have listeners that disagree, but when people look at their appraisal values, what are they doing? They're looking at it and they're trying to calculate what that means in terms of taxes. So ultimately, the issue is the amount of money that is spent at that local level, not necessarily your home appraisal. It's the tax and the spending that definitely needs to have a cap put on it."
Keeping the size of government as small as possible is another goal the Republican supermajority can aim for.
"We should have a conversation about putting a spending lid within state government," Austin said. "Not to say that it can't grow at all, but let's have it grow along with the economy. Whether that is growing with GDP or growing with inflation or growing with population growth, put some sort of limit on that spending so that it only rises when the economy is doing well. That way, we could have the excess revenues to not only do further tax cuts, but make these tax cuts sustainable."
Find out more at https://ks.americansforprosperity.org/.