Today is the first day of the 2010 Kansas Legislative session. For the citizens of Washington, Clay, Dickinson, Marion, Butler, and Cowley counties this could well be one of the most important legislative sessions in recent history. In 2006 the legislature passed a law, KSA 79-227, that granted Keystone/TransCanada pipeline an exemption from local property taxes in the six counties it passes through.
The construction of the pipeline will happen in 2010 and the counties in the pipeline corridor will lose out on tax revenue amounting to $8.5 million each year for 10 years (Salina Journal, 11/7/09). In addition to the property tax exemption, Keystone/TransCanada signed a contract with the Kansas Department of Commerce in Jun, 2009 for $55.49 million in tax credits. The legislators did not inform the counties in 2006 that they were giving away their taxing ability.
The legislation in 2006 that exempted the property tax is unfair to the counties and may have been a mistake on the part of the legislators, and it can be corrected. A bill can be introduced to rescind the parts of KSA 79-227 that grant the property tax exemption. Bad laws can be and need to be corrected. No other state north of Kansas has granted the pipeline a property tax exemption so there should be no expectation of such treatment in Kansas. The state of Kansas has been very generous with the $55.49 million tax credit, in these tight economic times Keystone/TransCanada should not expect more. The process of correction of KSA 79-227 may be difficult for some legislators to engage in, particularly those who may have received support from Keystone/TransCanada.
It is very important that the citizens of Washington, Clay, Dickinson, Marion, Butler and Cowley counties contact their state representatives and state senators and make them aware of the need to address this issue. Next Tuesday, Jan. 19, is County Government Day at the Capitol in Topeka and it will bring home the importance of this issue if our representatives see and hear county officials and citizens in the halls. The property taxes in question will have an impact on every county government, school district, public hospital, and municipality in the six counties. The ability to address concerns and expect results from elected officials is a basic tenet of our representative democracy. We need to unite in our efforts to demand a correction of this unfair legislative action.
Harry E. Bennett
Marion
