As the legislative session continues to progress issues of taxation and of spending, especially spending on K – 12 education, are certain to be increasingly prominent. No matter where one stands on these issues it is important to be armed with the basic facts regarding the current state of taxing and spending in Kansas.

The numbers show that Kansas, when compared with surrounding states, is at or near the top in maximum personal income tax rate, state sales tax rate, gasoline tax per gallon, state tax collections per capita and per pupil public school spending.

Kansas is not a low tax state. It is considered by many tax watchdog groups to exact a relatively high financial toll on its citizens. Kansas leads Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma in state tax per capita, gasoline tax per gallon and per pupil public school spending. This point is illustrated by the matrix below:

Category Max Personal Inc. Tax rate State Sales Tax Rate Gasoline Tax/Gallon St. Tax Per Capita '02 Public School Spending Per Pupil 2002

KS 6.45% 5.3%** $0.24 $1775 $8262

CO 4.63% 2.9% $0.22 $1549 $7453

MO 6.0% 4.225%*** $0.17 $1535 $7395

NE 6.68%* 5.5% $0.246**** $1735 $7336

OK 6.65% 4.5%** $0.16 $1738 $6681

Sources: * 2003 Nebraska state personal income tax rate; ** No exemption for groceries: *** State grocery rate: 1.0%; **** Nebraska adjusts rate for inflation every six months, all gasoline data from Tax Foundation; # Statistic Abstract of US: 2003, p. 169, chart 255; State Tax Collection Per Capita, Tax Foundation Special Report, March, 2004

Statewide during the 2003-04 school year, spending from all sources (local, state, and federal) on public schools in Kansas topped $4 billion for the first time. For the current 2004-05 school year all source spending is anticipated to be $4.588 billion, an increase of 12 percent. As I have noted previously the State Government alone expends approximately 52% of its general fund budget on K – 12 education.

Increased spending on K – 12 education is just part of the dramatic overall growth in Kansas government. It took the state 113 years to reach annual expenditures of $1 billion in the 1974 fiscal year. Since then the state's all funds budget has dramatically grown passing the $10 billion milestone officially in the 2003 fiscal year.

New federal data for 2003, (note the per pupil figures in the matrix above were for 2001- 2002), comparing the 50 states' school expenditures indicates that Kansas is a high spending state on public schools. This is true for both absolute levels of spending since we exceed the national average and is also high compared to our neighboring states. It is particularly poignant because, as will be seen below, Kansas has lower than average personal income.

Here's the per pupil all source spending date for the 2002-2003 school year:

State U.S. Avg. Kansas Colorado Missouri Nebraska Oklahoma Texas New York

Avg. $ per pupil $8,428 $8,687 $8,010 $7,674 $7,671 $6,577 $7,684 $11,910

Ranking (1st highest) x 21 28 31 32 44 30 2

Source: 2004-05 Statistical Abstract for the U.S., chart 241,

Please further note that our per pupil average in Kansas for the current year is now in excess of $9,000 when all sources of revenue are considered. This significant spending is taking place despite the fact Kansas lags below the national average in terms of income. This is crucially important in determining how much Kansans can afford to pay for government. Here is this regional comparison with the highest rank having the highest level of income:

Per Capita State U.S. Avg. Kansas Colorado Missouri Nebraska Oklahoma

Personal Income Avg. $30,033 $28,422 $32,550 $27,773 $29,203 $25,308

Ranking (1st highest) x 26 8 30 21 39

Source: 2004-05 Statistical Abstract for the U.S., chart 653, data is from 2003 in constant 2000 dollars.

There is no doubt that the Kansas Legislature is poised to expend considerable additional resources on K – 12 education. As I have suggested previously there are reasonable arguments that suggest some additional funding is appropriate. As the legislature considers both the extent of such further spending and the mechanism by which to finance it you can be certain that the data above will play a significant role in my thinking.

Lance Kinzer
State Representative
District 14
State House - Room 531-N
(785)298-7663