Sunflower State Journal

A proposal eliminating the state sales tax on food moved out of a Senate committee Thursday but was expanded to cover utilities, delivery charges and allow theaters to keep sales taxes on ticket sales. The bill would eliminate the state’s 6.5% sales tax on food – one of the highest rate rates nationally – starting Jan. 1, 2024. It would still allow local governments to collect food sales taxes although they would have  the option to eliminate the tax if they choose. Source: Sunflower State Journal

The Kansas Senate on Thursday approved new development incentive to help win the recruiting battle for a $4 billion economic development prospect that’s been characterized as one of the biggest projects in state history. The chamber voted 32-7 to approve the package of incentives for the mysterious development prospect that is considering Kansas along with another site for what Lt. Gov. David Toland described as the largest private-sector investment in state history. The bill creates a special tax incentive for economic development projects with at least a $1 billion investment, although a new provision was added to reduce corporate income taxes [...]

The so-called “dark store” debate over how big box stores are valued is now in the hands of the Kansas Supreme Court. The state’s highest court has agreed to hear Johnson County’s appeal of a court decision that found the county overvalued 11 big-box retail stores. Last fall, the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the state’s tax appeals board, which found the county overvalued a group of Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs by about $60 million in 2017 and $63 million in 2016. The appeals court’s fueled the so-called “dark store theory,” a criticism leveled at retailers that believe [...]

A Senate committee early Tuesday night signed off on a new development incentive to help sway a $4 billion economic development prospect that's eyeing the state for a 3-million-square foot manufacturing plant. The committee sent the package of incentives to the full chamber even as some of its more conservative members tried to slow the down process and provide more oversight of the potentially lucrative incentive. Source: Sunflower State Journal

Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday declared a new short-term emergency, signing executive orders aimed at relieving hospitals and nursing homes struggling with staffing shortages as COVID-19 rages again with the spread of a new variant. Kelly declared a 15-day emergency, clearing the way for executive orders that will give hospitals and nursing homes more flexibility to use staffers to treat and test Kansans who are coming down with COVID-19 in increasing numbers. “Our hospitals have sounded the alarm of the impact this surge is having on the facilities, their staff and their patients,” Kelly said. “We needed to do this and [...]

The Kansas Supreme Court is being asked not to take to take up the “dark store” debate and review whether Johnson County overvalued 11 big-box retail stores. Retailers Walmart and Sam’s Clubs say the county hasn’t advanced any credible argument for why the court should review a Court of Appeals decision that found the county incorrectly appraised the properties. “Appellants petition for review is the final effort in a years-long attempt to cause the judiciary to overturn longstanding Kansas law,” the retailers argue in their brief to the Kansas Supreme Court. The Kansas Court of Appeals recently upheld a decision by [...]

The days of paying gas taxes at the pump may eventually be as passe as using a landline to place a phone call. States across the country are studying new ways to tax the driving public for transportation as gas taxes become less sustainable with more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles on the road. At least 10 states have passed legislation to study what’s known as a road-user charge. Many are already looking at how they could move to a tax based on miles driven as compared to how much gas a driver buys. Source: Sunflower State Journal

Who went too far? A Johnson County district judge who found the state’s new emergency management law unconstitutional. Or the Legislature that authored the law? The Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with those issues as it tried to decide the fate of the new emergency management law passed last session. The bill – known as SB 40 – gave Kansans new legal recourse if they believed they’ve been aggrieved by a health order issued by the state and local governments, including school districts. The law came about in response to complaints that health officers across the state had over-asserted their [...]

Johnson County overvalued 11 big-box retail stores by about $60 million, a state appeals court has ruled, potentially firing up the ongoing debate over whether property should be appraised as if it's vacant, or “dark.” The Kansas Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a decision by the state’s tax appeals board that found the county incorrectly valued a group of Walmarts and Sam's Clubs by about $60 million in 2017 and $63 million in 2016. The new ruling comes several months after a separate panel of appeals court judges SSJ. Source: Sunflower State Journal

Amanda Stanley is stepping down as general counsel for the League of Kansas Municipalities later this month to take a job as the city attorney for Topeka. “My time at the league is coming to an end,” Stanley wrote in a Facebook post. “It has truly been the privilege of my life serving cities and being your voice for the last five years,” Stanley wrote to her Facebook friends. Stanley, who has a background in law and medicine, lobbied at the Capitol on behalf of cities on a variety of issues. She had been the league’s general counsel since December 2017. [...]