Capitol Comments
March 6, 2000
The Senate returned to business on Tuesday, with the House returning on Wednesday, to
commence committee action following our turnaround break. Action will be back to normal by
the end of the week as bills commence flooding our schedules.
DEMAND TRANSFERS THE HOT ISSUE OF THE WEEK
As I have previously reported, there is usually one weekly issue which draws more attention in my office than others. This week I heard from many local government officials on the negative impact the Governor’s recommended 2001 Demand Transfers will have to local governments. I share this major concern. The recommendations represent a $7 million, or 6.4% reduction from the estimated FY 2000 transfers. It also represents $24.3 million or 19.7% below what should be transferred if the budget were approved according to the statutory formulas for the Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund (LAVTR), City-County Revenue Sharing Fund (CCRS), and Motor Carrier Property Taxes. During the present environment of State General Fund shortfall, I believe the recommendation before us is disproportionately hard on our local units of government. Recognizing that the LAVTR and CCRS are revenues used by counties to offset property taxes or financing of essential local services, I fear we are shifting the state’s budget problems to our local levels of government which could impact our counties by decreased services and/or increased local property taxes. I am committed to doing what I can so that we do not balance the state’s budget at the expense of our local governments. The state repeatedly fails to live up to the statutory formula by capping the growth in revenues distributed locally, but the current recommendation, for the first time calls for an actual reduction. I view this as totally unacceptable.
REVENUE SHORTFALL CALLS FOR INTERNAL BORROWING
My constituents frequently ask me if the state is really suffering from a shortfall of revenues like the media is leading Kansans to believe. To respond to this question I explain that for the first time since 1991, the Governor proposed a shift $150 million to its general fund from idle state accounts so the state is able to pay its bills on time, especially the required payments to the local school districts. The internal borrowing procedure has only been used six times before, the first in December 1982 and the last December 1991. The cash-flow problems we are experiencing at the state level are short term and do not indicate a long term financial crisis but it represents a serious cash flow problem. It does indicate our revenue collections are not as large as had been previously projected. The state is down about $13 million from projection in revenues for the first eight months of the fiscal year. It doesn’t help that the Department of Revenue is sending unwarranted refunds back to taxpayers to the tune of $2.2 million. Hopefully, in the near future that amount will be recovered to assist in the state bill paying.
BYPASS PROPOSALS PRESENTED
This past week Arkansas City City Manager Curt Freeland and Winfield City Manager Warren Porter, as well as Mayor Mike Ledy, gave excellent presentations of their respective transportation system enhancement bypass projects to the Transportation Economic Development Review Panel in Hillsboro. This panel is chaired by Lt. Governor Gary Sherrer. I was privileged to assist in both presentations which I felt were very well received by the panel members. The staffs from both cities are to be congratulated for the development of excellent visual presentations. I asked the panel members, many of whom I served with on the Governor’s Transportation 2000 Study Group, to place a high priority on finishing the projects which were started as a result of the 1989 Comprehensive Highway Program prior to commencing new enhancements under the new program. This would encompass the completion of both cities’ bypass projects. The final selection of projects will be announced in late spring or summer.
IN CONCLUSION
As the session continues, I am always pleased to hear from my constituents. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me.
I appreciate receiving all concerns and opinions on legislation which is being acted on this session. You can reach me via E-mail at ggoodwin@ink.org. Or Goodwin@senate.state.ks.us. My address is State Capitol, Room 403-N, Topeka, KS 66612, telephone (785) 296-7381 or l-800-432-3924. You can visit my web page at members.tripod.com/~Ggoodwin.
Copyright © January, 2001 by Jamiebro Web Publications. All rights reserved.