KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - County Commissioner Wants Sales Tax Vote
by Kim Hynes (WICHITA, Kan.)
Sedgwick County residents just finished paying a one cent sales tax for the downtown arena. Now County Commissioner Kelly Parks wants to bring the sales tax back. This time it would pay off the county's debt. Parks says in the long run it would reduce property taxes.
"It's a long term benefit for a short term tax," said Kelly Parks.
For 18 months, Parks proposes raising sales tax one cent to pay off county debt. "It's just like your household. If you have a credit card with interest on it, it's better to attack that and get rid of that interest," he said.
Sedgwick County pays about $18 million a year in interest. The debt comes from borrowing money for projects like the Aviation Technical Training Center. "The county doesn't have $54 million laying around to pay for that and so we sell bonds. We then repay those bonds over a long period of time," Chief Financial Officer Chris Chronis said.
Parks wants to speed up those bond payments to save taxpayers money in the long run. "The mill levy goes to pay off the debt including interest and principal. All of that could be erased by the sales tax revenue we could collect in a fairly short period of time," Chronis said.
A reduction in debt could save you on property taxes. If the county no longer has to make interest payment, the mill levy would drop. That $18 million in debt costs someone with a $100,000 home $45 a year. Parks says if the debt was gone you would save that $45.
Chronis estimates an 18 month sales tax would generate about $135 million.
The Kansas Legislature would have to approve the county's raising the sales tax. Then it would go to a public vote.
Other commissioners agree it's a good idea in theory but say there's a lot more to look at before it goes to a vote. Parks hoped it would happen for the 2010 budget.
