NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After hearing from Finance Director Angela Richard on Tuesday that the city might be able to pay off the debt for the Sports Arena early, City Council member Stuart Conklin III commented on sales tax more generally at the close of the meeting.
"Wichita's got an unrealistic low sales tax," Conklin said. "Everybody else around us, more or less is 8.6% or 9%, but not our main competitor, Wichita, which is 7.5% and has been forever and there's no movement to increase their tax. It's another really important thing that we are competing with Wichita."
Conklin notes that a $500 difference in sales tax on a $50,000 vehicle can be enough to keep buyers from making the trip to compare.
"We can compete on a level playing field," Conklin said. "When we have to start off by having a $500 fine by crossing the Reno County line from the Sedgwick County line, that makes it difficult. All of the dealerships in Wichita make that very clear to anybody from Wichita that is out shopping, saying, well, I'm going to go over to Hutchinson and shop around, we'll you're an idiot. You're going to pay their extra tax? Is that what you want to do?"
Conklin is a realist and understands that even when the Sports Arena goes off, Hutch will still be higher, but it is an important topic to continue to talk about.
"I think that we have to compete with Wichita on every front," Conklin said. "I've talked about that in the wage negotiations. I've talked about that in the budget meetings and it's an appropriate thing to talk about here. I know we're not discussing it right now, but I just think that needs to be understood that is a real stumbling block on bigger ticket items."
The state sales tax rate is 6.5%, amounts above that are collected by local jurisdictions.
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