TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are wrestling with whether to end sales tax breaks in a larger plan to fix the state budget and raise additional funds for public schools.
Senate tax committee members were cold Wednesday toward a House-passed plan to raise $110 million over two years by imposing the state’s 6.5 percent sales tax on a few untaxed services. They include towing, pet boarding and bill-collecting.
The panel heard testimony from collection agency operators that their businesses would be harmed in competition with out-of-state firms.
But backers of the House bill are working on a new plan to raise about $330 million over two years by eliminating sales tax exemptions.
Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $887 through June 2019, and the Kansas Supreme Court has said education funding is inadequate.