Morton Blog for March 25

Apparently, a tax is not a tax when it is levied at the local and not the state level. Currently, in Topeka, an effort is afoot to put making up the budget shortfall and the loss of stimulus funding at the feet of every local community within the state of Kansas. This action smacks of hypocrisy at its worst. At best, it begs the question; at its worst it is disingenuous! What it means for us locally is this; We would need to raise our Local Option Budget by 7.7 mills while losing $627,000 of our general fund and $813,000 out of our LOB, for a total reduction of $1.44 million. Every other district in Harvey County would face a similar scenario. This reduction would come on top of the nearly $2.4 million we have been reduced already.

What is the net result? First, it means that the legislature would essentially divest itself of having to fund education in our state, even though such funding is required by the Kansas constitution. Second, the burden of taxation would be distributed again unequally throughout our state, with those least able to make up deficits by increased mill increases having to bear the largest increases. Finally, such a move compromises the quality of education and the availability of educational opportunities for nearly every student in the state of Kansas.

And, even worse, this only takes care of next year; the worst year, 2011-2012, is yet to come. This narrow, convoluted, short-term thinking must stop! We need a three year plan at minimum to get us on the other side of the current fiscal fiasco. To do anything less borders on the criminal. Please tell our legislators to stop this madness and deal with the fiscal and budget realities in a way that will ultimately benefit our entire state and, most important, our children who are the future of Kansas!