By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Republican Kansas State Treasurer candidate Michael Austin sees an opportunity for tax relief from local jurisdictions through federal ARP money.
"Despite the legislative effort on property taxes, I think it's clear that more work needs to be done," Austin said. "Inflation is rising. Kansans, especially those on retirement, seem to be paying more and more in property taxes. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is gifting our tax dollars to governments to support higher local government spending. Something has to give. What I'm doing is, I'm making a call for localities to give back our federal tax dollars in the form of a federal tax rebate."
It appeared to be the intent of Congress not to allow that at some levels of government.
"There are provisions in that, that kind of limited what state governments could use that money for," Austin said. "Obviously, there are plenty of attorneys general who are pushing back, saying, no, state governments, if they wish, can use this money to provide tax relief. At the local level, for city and county governments, there is no such restriction."
Austin wants to be sure that presumably one-time money is used for a one-time solution.
"When you have this type of federal tax dollar infusion, you don't want to put it into an ongoing expense," Austin said. "Here in Kansas, we learned a good while ago, after the onset of the great recession, that if you take federal money and you just put it into the budget, you're going to leave yourself a big, gaping hole to fill once that federal money dries away."
Austin is one of at least three Republican candidates who have declared their intent to run for State Treasurer, an office currently held by Democrat Lynn Rogers after his appointment by Gov. Laura Kelly.