The regular portion of the 2016 Legislative Session is complete. The Kansas Legislature will now take a few weeks off before returning for the wrap-up session in late April. All legislative action should be completed by mid-May.
Here’s how KAR is promoting and protecting Kansas REALTORS® through political action and advocacy during the 2016 Legislative Session:
1. Opposing Attempts to Increase the Tax Burden on Kansas Property Owners
WHAT’S HAPPENING:
- State tax revenues are significantly under the amount of money that the state previously estimated it would take in this year. If revenues continue to fall below estimates over the next two to three months, the Kansas Legislature may consider increasing income or sales taxes to balance the budget.
- If the Kansas Legislature attempts to increase taxes, they may try to make further reductions to the ability of state income taxpayers to claim the mortgage interest and property tax deductions on their state income tax returns. Eliminating these two very important deductions would lead to a tax increase on Kansas homeowners.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING LAWMAKERS TO DO:
- KAR will push the Kansas Legislature to do no harm to the recovering real estate market by opposing attempts to reopen the state income tax reform debate. Economic growth depends on a stable investment environment with a consistent tax code.
PROGRESS ON THIS ISSUE:
- The Kansas Legislature will need to take action sometime in the next few months to close a projected budget deficit for fiscal year 2017 (starts on July 1, 2016). We will monitor discussions on the budget to defeat any effort to increase income tax revenues by making further reductions to the ability of Kansas homeowners to claim their mortgage interest and property tax deductions.
2. Reducing the Property Tax Burden on Kansas Property Owners
WHAT’S HAPPENING:
- Over the last 18 years, the property tax burden on Kansans has increased by three times the rate of inflation. In 2015, the Kansas Legislature gave voters the right to vote when cities and counties increase property taxes by more than the rate of inflation over the previous year.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING LAWMAKERS TO DO:
- The property tax vote requirement is not currently scheduled to go into effect until January 1, 2018, which gives cities and counties a free pass to increase property taxes over the next two years without a public vote. In addition, the law is riddled with exemptions that are too broad and do not relate to growth and development.
- KAR will push the Kansas Legislature to move up the effective date of the property tax vote requirement on property tax increases to this year and to remove a few of the overly broad exemptions to the law.
PROGRESS ON THIS ISSUE:
- An agreement has been reached with cities and counties to move up the implementation date of the property tax vote requirement by one year to January 1, 2017, to eliminate several loopholes to the law and to add several new exemptions to the law that will allow cities and counties to respond to disasters and respond to development and growth. We anticipate the Legislature will take action on our legislation (Senate Substitute for HB 2088) during the wrap-up session.
3. Protecting Consumer Choice in the Housing Market by Banning Price Control Mandates
WHAT’S HAPPENING:
- Advocacy groups are pushing local governments to adopt “inclusionary zoning” requirements, which would establish sales price limits on a percentage of all new housing units constructed in new housing developments. These “price controls” act as a tax on new housing units and can lead to a significant decrease in the number of housing units built and an increase in the cost of market-rate housing for Kansas families.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING LAWMAKERS TO DO:
- KAR will ask the Kansas Legislature to protect consumer choice in the real estate market and promote affordable housing for middle-class Kansas families by passing legislation to prohibit cities and counties from adopting or enforcing price control mandates on privately-owned property.
PROGRESS ON THIS ISSUE:
- Both the Kansas House and Senate have passed legislation (SB 366) that will prohibit cities and counties from adopting or enforcing price control mandates on privately-owned commercial and residential property. Since there were some minor changes made to the bill by the Kansas House, a conference committee has been appointed to discuss these changes and develop a final version of the legislation. We anticipate the Legislature will pass SB 366 when the Legislature returns for the wrap-up session.
