Voice For Liberty

Tag: Taxation

  • Estes Park repeals TIF district

    A city in Colorado has voted to repeal a TIF district. Wichitans ought to take notice. Randal O’Toole, the author of the post, notes the complexity of the TIF mechanism. This is in line with testimony I’ve delivered to the Wichita City Council, in which I characterized TIF districts as “a confusing arrangement that hides…

  • Kansas tax exemptions should be cut

    One of the ways that Kansas might increase revenue this year is to reduce or eliminate the many sales tax exemptions that our state has issued over the years. The governor didn’t mention this in his state of the state address, but this reform would be a good thing to do, even if we’re not…

  • Wichita makes case for tax credits

    At yesterday’s meeting of the South-central Kansas legislative delegation with government officials, the City of Wichita spent most of its time presenting the case that cuts made to a program of tax credits for historic buildings should be restored.

  • Kansas state budget crisis largely self-inflicted

    What should citizens do when they feel that local news media is not covering issues as they should be covered? You could do as I did, starting Voice For Liberty in Wichita. Others start think tanks like the Kansas Policy Institute and its featured projects Kansas Watchdog and Kansas Reporter. Now the Kansas Policy Institute…

  • Kansas news digest

    News from alternative media around Kansas for December 21, 2009.

  • Taxation: it’s more pervasive than you know

    Have you ever thought about how many taxes you are paying when you buy a product or a service? An amount is obvious when a sales tax is tacked on, but is that the only tax included in the price you pay? You know the answer — of course it is not, but the remaining…

  • Visioneering Wichita should not receive public funds

    I’m here today to recommend that this body not give taxpayer funds to Visioneering Wichita. My reason is simple: Many of the items that Visioneering is in favor of require government spending. Mr. Rolph told me that Visioneering doesn’t advocate for higher taxes. But any government spending — at least by governmental bodies other than…

  • Peterjohn’s Kansas taxpayer protection platform recognized

    I was pleased to learn of the Sedgwick County Commission’s new legislative platform regarding property taxes. It reads, “All local sales tax increases must be approved by voters under Kansas law. All property tax increases that raise the mill levy should also be required to receive voter approval.”

  • Oklahoma City sales tax passes; model for Wichita

    On Tuesday, voters in Oklahoma City passed a new sales tax to fund downtown improvements. It passed by a vote of 54 percent to 46 percent. Wichitans can count on a similar sales tax being proposed for whatever projects the year-long downtown planning process calls for.

  • Peterjohn presses taxpayer protection platform through Sedgwick County Commission

    At today’s meeting of the Sedgwick County Commission, commissioners revised the county’s 2010 legislative platform, adding important and groundbreaking taxpayer protection to the platform. The split vote lets voters know without a doubt where commissioners stand on taxpayer protection issues.

  • Don’t forfeit Kansas’ economic future to the United Nations

    The global warming debate is at a crossroads. With a skeptical American public already rising up against a cap-and-trade scheme that would send energy prices through the roof, a whistleblower at the influential Climate Research Unit revealing that the temperature data used to make the case for global warming was badly manipulated, predictions of yet…

  • Wichita city council discusses economic development incentives

    Last week a Wichita company that’s expanding made an application for industrial revenue bonds and accompanying property tax abatements. The company’s application wasn’t timely, and for that reason is not likely to receive the requested help. The discussion surrounding the item provides insight into city council members’ ideas about the role of the city in…