Kansas

The Wichita City Council last week designated a 400-acre site in east Wichita as a STAR bond district that can issue debt supported by revenues from the state’s 6.3% sales tax.

Mayor Joe Reardon said last week that the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., must decide on how to use tax revenues from the new state-authorized Hollywood Casino that opened Feb. 3 in Wyandotte County.

Kansas state revenues were $30.6 million less than expected in January due to more taxpayers filing electronically, which results in quicker refunds.

The effort by the Kansas City suburb of Mission to tax residents for roadwork is illegal and cannot be collected, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said last week in a non-binding opinion.

Kansas is one of only three states without an emergency reserve fund, but voters might be asked to change that as early as November.

The fiscal 2013 spending plan outlined last week by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback would use $70 million of gambling revenue from two new casinos for debt service or early retirement of state bonds.

DALLAS — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback Wednesday said he will seek a lowering of the state income tax rate that would eliminate 23 tax deductions, including charitable donations, home loans and local property taxes.

DALLAS — Leaders of the Democratic minority in the Kansas Legislature proposed a plan Tuesday to draw on projected budget surpluses and increase state aid to local education.

DALLAS — The Wichita, Kan., City Council began the process Tuesday that could result in $50 million of sales tax and revenue bonds for a multi-sport amateur athletic complex in the city.

A Kansas City developer Tuesday will present the Wichita City Council with a plan for $50 million of bonds for a large indoor sports field house as part of a larger project in northeast Wichita.

Trustees of the Sedgwick County Unified School District 260 have called an election on April 3 for bonds to finance system-wide upgrades.

Dodge City is considering using sales tax and revenue bonds, or STAR bonds, to lure more tourists.

Leaders of the Democratic minority in the Kansas Legislature have proposed a 14-point job growth plan that would be financed with gambling revenue rather than the general fund.

A top aide to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback outlined a new school finance plan last week that he said would increase funding for about half of the 283 school districts in the state without harming the others,

Opponents of a city subsidy for a hotel in downtown Wichita, Kan., have apparently amassed enough petition signatures to force a citywide vote on the proposed project.

Kansas state Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, said she will recommend an early end to most of a 1% hike in the sales tax approved in 2010.

The Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority is lining up supporters in its quest for a $25 million federal grant to create a hub at Topeka’s airport that would include local and interstate bus operations, a shuttle, and rail service.

A voluntary retirement program for Kansas state government workers is expected to save $34.5 million over the next two years, Gov. Sam Brownback said last week.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., this year will redeem an extra $27 million of sales tax revenue bonds issued in 2005 to finance construction of a large shopping district.

Three bond refinancing efforts since August have cut Wichita’s debt service by almost $16.2 million, city manager Robert Layton said last week.