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University Dailv Kansan / Wednesdav. Januarv 15. 1992
Finney assails current property tax structure
By Greg Farmer
and Gayle Osterberg Kansan staff writers
Kansan staff writers
TOPEKA—Gov. Joan Finney told Kansas lawmakers yesterday that she wanted to limit property taxes, not raise other taxes and still keep the amount of money coming to the state the same.
In her State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature, she pinpointed budget issues as the biggest challenge for this session, which opened Monday.
Because of a tight state budget, Finney said she hoped to find new sources of money, like funds from video lottery machines.
Some lawmakers question the reliability of the governor's budget plan.
The state, and the University of Kansas, would have to take funding cuts if her plan was unsuccessful, they said.
"It is imperative that we do nothing to worsen the unfair and inequitable property tax structure I inherited," Finney said. "It is imperative that we keep a lid on spending. It is imperative that property taxes be reduced and no new taxes further burden the Kansas people."
Finney plans to improve the state's public education system with a 45-mill statewide property tax levy for education. The levy would reduce property tax rates in 253 of 304 state school districts. A mill equals $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Finney said the uniform mill levy would benefit taxpayers, who would
pay $217 million less in property taxes. She said it also would fulfill the proposal issued by Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock. He proposed that the state restructure the school finance system to provide equal educational opportunity for children.
Video-lottery revenue, sales tax exemption repeals and reductions in the state's required balance level could help make up the $217 million shortfall, the governor said.
video lottery, which was defeated last year in the Legislature, would have to be approved this session for Finney's plan to work.
Local lawmakers said these sources would not provide stable revenue.
"I think it's abborrent to bet the education of our children on the pull of a slot machine handle," said State Sen.
Wint Winter Jr., R-Lawrence.
Finney's statement that her budget required no new taxes was misleading, he said.
"Someone is going to be paying $217 plus million in taxes that they weren't paying before," Winter said. "She has an 'alice in Wonderland' vision of how to make it up."
Winter said he thought the Legislature would not be able to effectively deal with a variety of budget issues until the school-finance question was settled.
"That is the thing that is driving this whole session," Winter said. "That's what has a direct impact on the KU budget."
In Finney's address, the public education issue overshadowed KU and
higher education.
However, Finney did recommend that the Legislature issue $2 million in bonds dedicated to construction of the KU Biosciences Research Center. She said during her address that the plan also would expand the number of teacher and minority scholarships.
Finney's budget also provides funding for merit-pay increases for faculty and staff, but not the 5 percent across-the-board increase the Board of Regents had requested.
State Rep. Betty Jo Charlton, D-Lawrence, said, "We still have a certain amount of inflation and when we don't give our public employees any cost of living increases, it amounts in a cut of salaries."
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