At Thursday’s City Commission meeting, Kim Rupp, City of Hays Finance Director, presented the city’s financial report for the month of June. The complete statement can be found on the city’s website here. Here are some of the key areas:
Water Consumption
-Revenues in June totaled $6,765,312 a decrease of $156,434 compared to the same period as last year.
Residential and business water consumption fell 30% when compared to this time last year. This translates into a drop in water sales & conservation revenue of -$87,811 for the month.
Water consumption in Hays has been a popular and controversial topic. This week, the city mailed letters to residents advising of the new usage and pricing tier system.
The 2nd water usage tier, which was put into place this year, will charge $7.20 per cubic foot. The new tier is not designed to make money for the city.
Rupp told Hays Post “The intent of the new tier is to stop…at least decrease outside watering. The second conservation tier is designed to curb outside usage. It was never designed to offset any kind of revenue. The top 20% users in the city use 44% of the water. [The new tier] was designed to curb that.”
Rupp went on to say that loss of revenue as a result of decreased usage was never factored into the new tier rate. “We really don’t know what kind of impact this might have. Obviously, if people use less then revenue will go down.
“Conservation specialist Nick Willis had found that if you raise rates a certain percentage that means revenue’s going to go down a certain percentage because consumption goes down, but we never really put a pencil to any of that.
“We just followed what had already been put in place…The minimum is $1.80 per cubic foot. The first tier that was put in place years ago is double that, $3.60 per cubic foot. We followed what was already in place.”
Rupp added that residents just need to be aware of how much water they are using, especially with outdoor watering.
“People just need to turn their automatic sprinklers off, and only water when it’s necessary. Run it manually. Like today, we’ve had over an inch of rain, people didn’t turn them off. People really need to be cognizant not just set it and forget it.”
Sales Tax
At the end of the report, Mayor Kent Steward asked Rupp if all businesses are now charging the correct sales tax. Rupp replied “probably not.”
The current sales tax for Hays is 7.9%. The state’s portion is 6.15% and the city’s portion is 1.75%. During the City Commission meeting, Rupp indicated that calls are still coming into the city office regarding businesses charging the incorrect amount.
Rupp told Hays Post that sales tax dropped twice recently: once when the city’s .05% for the Sports Complex ran out, and again when the state dropped their portion of the sales tax. Businesses made the first change right away, but the 2nd drop is the one that some businesses haven’t adjusted in their computer and register systems. Because of this, people are finding that they are being charged 8.05% rather than the correct 7.9%.
If you see that you have been charged the incorrect amount of sales tax, The Kansas State Department of Revenue is the group that administers sales tax. They can be reached at 785-291-3580