By NOAH TABORDA
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — House support for a bill providing a tax exemption on any materials purchased to repair or replace fencing destroyed by a natural disaster hit a snag Tuesday over a property tax amendment added by the Senate.
Senate Bill 318 is a direct response to the December wildfires that burned more than 160,000 acres across 12 counties.
However, during debate on the Senate floor, lawmakers added a new section to the bill that raised concerns among some House members and county representatives. The amendment expands the eligibility for property tax abatements to allow for buildings and improvements to qualify if damaged by natural disasters.
Under current law, the board of county commissioners, after making findings, determine whether to allow the abatement request.
“Expanding eligibility would make the job of the county appraiser almost impossible, as they would have to visit and review properties after any event to change the valuation during the tax year,” said Jay Hall, deputy director of the Kansas Association of Counties. “This would make tax receipts extremely unpredictable, and because county budgets are based largely on property taxes, changing valuations during the tax year could create substantial budget uncertainty for counties and smaller taxing subdivisions.”
According to estimates from the Department of Revenue, the state will not receive about $1.4 million in tax revenue if legislators approve the exemption. Property tax exemptions could also hurt local government budgets.
Hall noted that small tax subdivisions would not have any property tax base to draw from should a significant portion of a district be destroyed, leaving other properties to pick up the tax burden.
“In addition to the uncertainty that this would create, it could destroy the budget for necessary services in the aftermath of a disaster,” Hall said. “This would be a bad outcome for not only those residents who are attempting to rebuild, but also for those whose property was not damaged.”
Despite concerns on the amendment, Hall voiced support for the base bill alongside representatives from the Kansas Farm Bureau, the Kansas Livestock Association and several other agricultural groups.
A frustrated Rep. Ken Corbet, a Topeka Republican, responded to Hall’s concerns by asking his fellow legislators to worry more about the people who need relief than the bureaucracy of local government.
“When somebody loses their entire livelihood, their farm, their house, you’re worried about the tax base,” Corbet said. “I think if you turn it around, you might think a little bit more about ‘we the people.’ ”
Rep. Jim Gartner, a Topeka Democrat, expressed disappointment the Senate chose to add the amendment despite originally expressing a desire to keep the bill clean. Now, he said, the bill is stuck in committee, rather than on its way to the governor to help Kansans, because the Senate inserted a property tax proposal that failed to move forward the past two years.
“This really frustrates the heck out of me that we work diligently, very hard, and here we are holding that whole bill up,” Gartner said.