By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

When the weather is hot outside, what is as refreshing as a cold, half-frozen, flavorful drink? Those are especially good when they are icy. Today we’ll learn about a company that was so excited about the potential of such drinks that they used the name ICEE. Now generations have enjoyed these tasty, refreshing drinks, but they may not know that the founder came from rural Kansas.

Omar Knedlik is the founder of what became the ICEE company. Here is his story. According to the Kansapedia website of the Kansas State Historical Society, Omar Knedlik was born in Barnes, Kansas, in 1916 and grew up on a nearby farm. Barnes is located in Washington County southwest of Marysville.

Omar served in World War II and returned to Kansas. He used his military pay to purchase an ice cream shop. He tried various other business ventures such as hotels and in the late 1950s, bought a Dairy Queen franchise in Coffeyville.

According to legend, he didn’t really have a working soda fountain in his store. Instead, when the weather got hot outside, he improvised by putting bottles of Coke in his freezer and selling them to customers super-cooled and halfway frozen. He noticed that his customers loved the icy drink. He started advertising it as the “coldest drink in town,” and it was a big hit.

Omar Knedlik’s innovative mind went to work. He wondered if he could devise a machine that could create and dispense a similar frozen carbonated beverage on demand. He tinkered with an old ice cream machine until he came up with a device that produced a slushy, icy drink.

Omar took his primitive machine to a company in Texas to refine and produce it. It took him five years to develop a machine which could produce drinks with the slushy consistency that he wanted. He received a patent for it in 1960.

Omar debated what to name the product. A local artist and friend developed the idea of the name ICEE, complete with a logo including snow and icicles hanging on the letters.

The Texas company built and sold about 300 models of the ICEE machine. According to the ICEE Distributors website, the company was soon faced with “an avalanche of sales orders and an overwhelming volume of field service and customer service requests.”

In 1965, the 7-Eleven company bought several ICEE machines and the company took off. The convenience store chain later changed the name of its product to Slurpee. If you have ever heard the sound of a car full of kids enjoying those drinks through straws, you can guess the reason why.

The products have proven immensely popular. Today, there are many variations of the product such as Italian ice and other semi-frozen concoctions in fruit or soda flavors. The ICEE company, now headquartered in California, estimates that 500 million ICEEs are sold each year. In other words, that is half a billion ICEEs – with a B as in, boy, that’s a lot of cold drinks. ICEEs are sold coast-to-coast in the United States and in Canada, Mexico, China, and the Middle East.

ICEE has about 850 employees in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and has more than 100 service centers across the nation.

There are 32 ICEE flavors but the most popular are said to be cherry, blue raspberry, and cola. (Cherry is the best, based on a scientific survey of me and my kids.)

Omar Knedlik was witness to the explosion in the popularity of this product. He eventually moved his family to Joplin, Missouri where he passed away in 1989 at age 73.

Several generations of hot, thirsty families would be grateful for his innovation and creativity which produced this refreshing drink. It’s quite an accomplishment for a farm boy from the rural community of Barnes, Kansas, population 148 people. Now, that’s rural.

When the weather is hot outside, what is so refreshing as a flavorful, half-frozen drink? We commend Omar Knedlik for making a difference by creating this concoction – so cold that it is icy.

Look back to see the future of school finance in Kansas.

In its unanimous decision of March 2, the Kansas Supreme Court determined the “block grant” scheme for funding schools did not meet the constitutional standard of adequacy and ordered the Kansas Legislature back to the drawing board to write a school finance law that meets constitutional muster no later than June 30.

Four fundamental revisions of school finance over the last 50 years, coupled with recent missteps in state finance, foretell what to expect from state lawmakers over the next couple months.

Overall school funding will substantially increase. While the court emphasized that “total spending is not the touchstone for adequacy in education,” its order admonished lawmakers that “the state should not ignore” experts’ cost estimates which in fact point to a sizeable boost in base funding for schools.

School funding will rely more upon state sales and income taxes and less on property taxes. The disastrous tax experiment of 2012 followed by jumps in sales and property taxes have narrowed options for lawmakers. As a result income taxes now stand as the only realistic choice for funding schools and rebalancing state finance. The tax bill passed by strong legislative majorities earlier this session looked back to tax policy prior to the experiment as a starting point. This alternative is in line with the long-term trend of reducing reliance on property taxes for school funding as expressed in every prior school finance revision.

The formula for distributing state funds to individual school districts will return to base funding plus district weightings. Lawmakers represent school districts that vary widely in geography, wealth, and student characteristics, among other factors, and they must come to agreement in apportioning funds through a political process. The current court cited its earlier decision in this regard: “[W]e do not dictate to the legislature how it should constitutionally fund K-12 public school education; we only review its efforts to ensure they do not run afoul of the Kansas Constitution.”

The formula crafted in 1992 included district weightings, such as numbers of at-risk students and students’ distance from schools, to allocate funds among districts and worked effectively for nearly 20 years. While this formula provides a point of departure, the court did highlight that revisions must address those students, particularly minorities and at-risk students, who are not performing at grade levels.

Action on school finance will be bipartisan. Every school finance revision has enjoyed bipartisan legislative support. While Republicans control roughly two-thirds of all legislative seats, roughly half of them question the value of public schools. That reality plus a disengaged governor assures that school finance reform can only be enacted through a bipartisan legislative coalition.

Final action on school finance and the revenues required to fund schools will be resolved in the last hour on the last day of the legislative session, likely this coming June. A billion-dollar hole in state finance complicates the work of state lawmakers. As a result, school finance must go hand in hand with a revenue package that funds it. Early votes last month on taxes provide encouragement that legislative majorities are in place to address these challenges, even though the governor and remaining hard-right legislators show no signs of being part of the solution.

A new class of legislators plus engaged legislative leaders should give Kansans optimism that new directions in school finance and sanity in state finance lie ahead, possibly even before late June.

H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University.

A new mantra is making the rounds in nutrition and health circles: “Variety, variety, variety.”

No longer content with exhorting us to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, scientists now say that consuming a broad and varied range of produce is where it’s at.

Variety really is the spice of a life– and health. Even the most balanced meals eaten in moderation may not provide optimal nutrition. For example, if you eat a picture perfect plate of chicken, broccoli, and brown rice every day, you will still not get the full complement of nutrients available.

Only by consuming the broadest-possible range of vegetables and fruits can we obtain the widest-possible spread of nutrients. Rather than limiting our vegetable and fruit intake to the ever-popular potatoes, corn, iceberg lettuce and bananas, we should expand our meal choices by adding a wide variety of different foods to our diet.

To give you some ideas to get started, the Ellis County Extension Office will host the free educational program “Fixing Funky Foods” at noon on Tuesday, March 28 at the Extension meeting room, 601 Main Street, Hays. Donna Krug, Barton County Extension Agent, will explore several less-familiar fruits, vegetables and grains to expand our menu choices.

This lesson will cover a variety of foods that date as far back in history as Babylon in 3000 BC. Included for each food are the nutritional benefits, preparation methods and history or interesting facts. The goal of this program is for participants to add variety to their diet by choosing nutritious foods that were not familiar before the lesson.

The program is free, but please register in advance at 785-628-9430 to ensure adequate materials and supplies. Bring a lunch to enjoy during the program if desired.

Fruits and vegetables are the main source of antioxidants, helping to repair cell damage and reduce a person’s risk of cancer, cardiac disease, cataracts, and diabetes. You’ll learn that produce of similar colors represent a similar nutrient profile of vitamins and minerals. Each color of fruit and vegetables represents a different nutrient profile, so variety is key. There really is science behind eating all the colors of the rainbow.

Eating a variety of foods will maximize the amount of nutrients in your diet. A wide range of foods also appeals to all of your senses, satisfying unique textures, tastes, and smells to make mealtime adventurous.

Plan to join us at the Ellis County Extension program “Fixing Funky Foods” at noon on March 28th to broaden your dietary horizons and expand the variety of your daily meals.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

Recently, I revealed that I am going to become a grandparent for the first time. My life was greatly influenced by my grandparents.

In a strange turn of events, in one month’s time, four members of the Clinkscales’ team each lost a grandparent. During that time, each shared with me funny and warm stories about their grandparent and the role he or she played in their life.

While I know MY grandmother was special, I was really taken by what these fellow workers shared.

One of those people who lost a grandparent was my son, Josh. There were 12 grandchildren of his grandmother, Vena Stucky, and I am sure that most of the 12 would have liked to have said something at the celebration service of Vena’s life. Instead, they submitted comments to one of the grandchildren, who spoke for all of them. In her presentation, at the end, she said the following about Josh, and then quoted him:

“My cousin, Josh, is an avid sports fan and when he was living in Wichita, he spent many evenings watching sporting events with Grandma. Josh recently described those evenings like this:”

‘I would get to her house early enough to be able to enjoy a nice evening meal and visit about how my classes were going, how my wife was doing, and other things going on in my life. She would then catch me up on what she had accomplished for the day. Then, the game would start. Now, Grandma probably fell asleep midway through the second inning or halfway into the first quarter of the game, but as something happened, and I was whooping and hollering, she would be startled out of her slumber and would join me in the celebration.’

‘See, Grandma did not really care about the nationally-televised basketball game that I wanted to watch, and Grandma did not lose sleep if the Royals lost a game that night like I did. Grandma wanted me to be there, because she wanted to spend time with me. She wanted to know what time I was coming over, because she would wait to eat supper until I was at her house so we could enjoy each other’s company. Grandma joined me at the television because she wanted to have a conversation with me, even if it were only for 15 minutes. It did not matter to her what we were doing – what mattered was that she was spending time with her grandson.’

If you have the privilege of being a grandparent, you can matter; you can make a difference; you can have an impact. You do not have to do anything special. Sometimes, just unfiltered love, acceptance, and being there is enough. Opening your home and your heart has influence that no amount of money, or things, can ever accomplish. Use that opportunity as Josh’s grandmother did.

I hope to be that type of grandparent.

Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to [email protected]. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.

Click to play the audio or read below.

Alright. I’m wondering this morning how many chicken pickers we have out there. … I see a little hesitancy out there. Some of you are asking for a definition.


A chicken picker is one who removes the feathers from a chicken during the process of preparing the bird for the dinner table.  The effort is usually performed in the backyard, but certainly can be done in the kitchen or garage in case the weather is wet or cold, or both.

My chicken pickin’ days are over, but I’m happy to report that I have picked many a chicken in my day. Here’s the full story.

When I was a wee one, back in the depression days, my parents would send an order for a hundred baby chicks. It would be sent to a chicken hatchery back in eastern Kansas or western Missouri. The order was sent after the brooder house, located out behind the main chicken house, had been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. It was just about this time of year when the order was sent, and of.cpurse it was cold outside.


And so the day old chicks needed heat, and Dad drug out the brooder stove to do the job. The stove consisted of a kerosene tank, a regular small stove attached, and a a very large metal hood that would be placed safely over the stove and close to the floor. The chicks would get under there and be very toasty.


The order placed to the hatchery was always for 100 “”straight run” chicks. Straight run meant that half of them were male and half female. We would eat the males and grow the females to full maturity when they would join the rest of the flock as layers. Occasionally we would dip into the laying flock for an older hen who would become half the ingredients for chicken and noodles. My Mother was without question the best chicken and noodles preparer in Ford County!

And so the Post Office would call when the baby chicks arrived by train. The Post Office would literally have stacks of baby chick boxes, indicating that everybody ordered at about the same time so that they, too, might enjoy fried chicken about harvest time when the young poults would reach the weight of approximately 3 pounds.  Actually, when the birds reached 2 pounds they were considered fair game, but there would be more if the family could be convinced to wait for a little more growth.

When the time was right, Dad would go to the brooder house after dark and catch the biggest one he could find,  Since chickens can’t see at night, the selection job was easier. The bird was put under an old wash tub and the next morning after chores and breakfast, Dad did his thing and the bird was ready to process for lunch.  Mom had a bucket of very hot water ready, and the headless bird was plunged into the water until his feathers became very easy to dislodge. Then Max and I would pick the chicken. When we took it in the house for Mom to dress, she would
singe  the bird over a stove flame to remove the usual tiny hairs that did not come off during the picking process.

When Mom completed the dressing process, we had 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 sides, a wishbone (we called it a pully bone) a breast, and of course a gizzard, a liver, and a heart. Max and I would fight over the gizzard. One chicken was enough for a family of four, as long as there was plenty of mashed potatoes and god, thick, creamy gravy containing little bits of the skillet crumbs!

Who says the Dust Bowl days were bad? It just depended on whether or not you could locate a capable chicken picker!

Kay Melia is a longtime broadcaster, author and garden in northwest Kansas.

By U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas)

According to the latest agricultural census, the average age of the American farmer is 58 years old, and it is trending upward. Meanwhile, there are more mouths to feed and people to clothe than ever, and farming and ranching remain challenging – and too often thankless – work. That is why every day, and especially on National Agriculture Day, we want to share our gratitude for the individuals who put in long hours to provide for Americans and keep food on our tables. We are thankful for these men and women, but we are also well aware of the importance of inspiring and maintaining a new generation of farmers and ranchers. The need for a secure, steady food supply intensifies each year, and perhaps exponentially, as we look to the future. All of these factors underscore our belief that America must invest in young people involved in farming and ranching.

Agriculture is one of the few places remaining where sons and daughters work side-by-side with moms and dads, parents and grandparents. For decades, families in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, and all across the country have passed down skills and knowledge from one generation to the next. In this way, longstanding agriculture traditions are preserved and values are shared. Unfortunately, it has increasingly become less of the norm for young people to take up the family business and continue in their parents’ line of work. The number of new farmers decreased by nearly 20 percent from the 2007 to 2012 agricultural census, and we expect to see another decrease in the next survey. For young people whose dream is to run a farm or ranch just like their parents or grandparents did, we should do everything possible to empower them to achieve that goal and preserve that way of life.

As Congress works to address the multitude of issues facing our country, encouraging and supporting young farmers and ranchers ought to remain a high priority. This includes aiding youth agricultural organizations, like 4-H and FFA, that give our kids more opportunities to stay involved in agriculture, while reinforcing the lessons learned at home such as responsibility, teamwork, and the value of caring for one’s neighbor. Through 4-H and FFA projects, such as showing animals at local and state fairs, growing and harvesting crops, and building agricultural mechanic projects, students develop the vocational, technical and business skills needed to successfully farm and ranch.

Students often generate a modest revenue from these projects as well – money that is invested in future projects, deposited in savings or put toward a college education. Recognizing the value of these groups and the education they provide, we have authored legislation designed to incentivize more students to begin and continue participation in programs such as 4-H and FFA. The Agriculture Students EARN Act, as introduced in the Senate, and the Student Agriculture Protection Act (SAPA), as introduced in the House, would allow these student farmers, 18 years old or younger, to keep more of the money they earn on all qualified projects by exempting the first $5,000 of income earned from taxes. This tax incentive will encourage more young men and women to complete 4-H and FFA projects that can lead to successful long-term agricultural careers.

More can and must be done if we are to meet the challenges ahead for young agricultural producers. Through the farm bill, we can continue to build on beginning farmer and rancher programs that give young producers greater access to capital and a leg up in times of low commodity prices or during natural disasters. Congress should eliminate the estate tax, which creates challenges for some families to pass on their agricultural operations to the next generation. We must be vigilant in guarding against regulations that harm family farmers and ranchers, such as past proposals by the Department of Labor to ban youth under the age of 16 from participating in many common, farm-related tasks.

We can demonstrate pride in our future farmers and ranchers by investing in the next generation, specifically by passing this legislation. Farming kids across the country today represent the future of agriculture, and enabling them to succeed means we all succeed. The ideals we want our kids to learn – hard work, perseverance and cooperation with others – are exemplified in American children growing up on farms across the country. These ideals are worth preserving; and we should do everything we can to encourage our children to continue their farming traditions.

NOTE: This op-ed originally ran in Agri-Pulse.

In case you hadn’t noticed, agriculture provides almost everything we eat, use and wear daily. This industry is increasingly contributing to fuel and other bioproducts.

Still, too few people understand and appreciate this contribution. This is particularly true in our schools today where students may be exposed to agriculture only if they enroll in related vocational training – if it even exists.

March 20 marks the first day of spring. It falls during National Ag Week, March 19-25. This is a time to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by this nation’s farmers and ranchers.

National Ag Week encourages each American to understand how food and fiber products are produced; value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy and appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

During this period we as agricultural associations help those in our communities understand how food, fiber and renewable resource products are produced. We must highlight the essential role agriculture plays in maintaining a strong Kansas economy as well as our U.S. economy.

It’s up to us to foster an appreciation of the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable food, fuel and fiber among today’s citizenry. Also, we must inform this same population about the career opportunities in the agricultural industry.

Agriculture is too important a topic to be taught only to a small percentage of students considering careers in agriculture and pursuing vocational agricultural studies.

County Farm Bureaus across the state will be celebrating National Ag Week. Activities include radio programs on farming and ranching, breakfasts, ag book distributions, library displays about agriculture, newspaper ads, farm tours, ag implement dealer tours and farm and ranch safety programs.

These activities are intended to increase the knowledge of agriculture and nutrition among today’s consumers to help them make informed personal choices about diet and health. Informed citizens will also be better able to participate in establishing the policies that will support a competitive agricultural industry in the country and around the world.

A few generations ago, most Americans were directly involved in – or had relatives or friends involved in agricultural-related endeavors. Today, that’s no longer the case.

That’s why it is so important we join together on this special week devoted to telling the story of this unparalleled success story. Remember, celebrate agriculture this March 19-25.

Agriculture is truly amazing.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. 

In the rush of daily life, it’s easy to forget indoor toilets are relatively new to housing construction. Those who’ve never relied on an outhouse don’t understand how relieved residents were when they had a solid privy resting on a concrete foundation. Thanks to Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, 600,000 American families enjoyed stable, sanitary facilities behind their homes.

The WPA focused on projects that improved life. Few communities could fund band shells, picnic houses, and swimming pools without federal dollars and the necessity to provide jobs. However, those weren’t the only projects that enhanced the USA. Health organizations had insisted from the early 1900s that Americans needed higher sanitary standards. Shallow pits and poor outhouse drainage led to epidemics related to fecal exposure. Scientists determined that concrete vaults at least 6 feet deep reduced such risks. This was a perfect goal for this department.

Most of us have visited WPA pools, buildings, and other monuments to hard work and hopes for better times. Depression era toilets add to the projects local labor teams and resources constructed. With so many built across the country, remains of facilities must still exist in western Kansas.

This information might help find them. Bureaucrats selected a standardized design that involved a poured underground vault planned so the top served as the outhouse foundation. Wisely, someone included a surface level concrete pot and vent hole. Cement flooring and seat construction offered better sanitation than wood construction did. Wisely, this design required screened vents to prevent fly-borne disease. Such models significantly improved public health.

While the vaults and seats were standardized and mass-produced, the actual wooden shelter depended on local materials and preferences. The plan called for a 4 x 5 frame and braced wooden door. While building crews followed similar plans, researchers note structures varied throughout the country.

Although labor teams installed over 600,000 outdoor commodes during that era, few remain. If you want to visit a Kansas WPA outhouse, you must get permission to search old homesteads for concrete foundations. Once you find one, don’t fall in the hole.

If seeing the wooden “house” satisfies your curiosity, a landowner in McPherson County moved one onto his property years ago. The Sherman House Bed and Breakfast in Elk County transported another one to a site near their flower garden and named it “The Flower Pot.”

A trip to Franklin County Indiana offers the opportunity to check out ten such relics. For your reading pleasure, their museum has an edition of the “Indiana Community Sanitation Program Regulation Manual, Sponsored By United States Public Health Service, Indiana Division of Public Health Works Progress Administration.” This would be helpful if you want to install a reproduction on your homestead. In addition, they’ve posted official outhouse maintenance rules tacked to a surviving privy door.

Personally, I want to observe one of these as an historical object. While WPA construction has many charms, I’m happy with my indoor toilet.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

“Many signals.” That describes today’s radio airwaves which have multiple sources and stations. Today we’ll meet a radio industry leader who has enhanced his stations’ service to the region and earned the Boy Scout honor camping society nickname, Many Signals.

Greg Buser is co-owner of KNZA FM radio in Hiawatha and other stations serving northeast Kansas, western Missouri, and southeast Nebraska. The Kansas stations are sometimes called Kanzaland radio from the name of the Native American Indian tribe, the Kansa Indians.

Greg grew up in rural Kanzaland between the towns of Whiting, population 187, and Muscotah, population 176. Now, that’s rural.

He began in a one-room school where he was the only student in his grade level for the first three years. “It was the only time I was head of my class,” he said with a smile. Greg attended Atchison County High School, graduated from K-State in Radio-Television and then heard about a new radio station in his home area.

Two employees of KMBZ radio in Kansas City, Mike Carter and Bill Bilyeu, decided that northeast Kansas needed a local radio station. They got an FCC license and built a radio station. In August 1977, they began operating KNZA FM radio from a site five miles south of Hiawatha with 3,000 watts of power. It was later upgraded to a 50,000 watt station. 

At that time, most FM stations were part of AM station operations.  KNZA FM is believed to be the very first stand-alone FM station in Kansas.

Greg Buser first visited the station when he was home on Christmas break from college.  He started on weekends and then worked full time, eventually buying into ownership.  Robert Hilton, an original on-air employee at the station, joined Greg as an owner before retiring in 2012.

In 1992, they built 92.1 FM in Seneca where they were already broadcasting high school sports. In 1996 they purchased KAIR AM and FM in Atchison. That station was originally called KARE but those call letters were purchased by a Minnesota television station.  The new call letters, K-AIR, seem appropriate for a station on the air in Kansas. In 1998, the owners built an FM station in Falls City, Nebraska and later bought the AM station there.

The key to the success of these stations is local coverage. The stations focus intently on local news, sports, and weather. “If it wasn’t for that, nothing else would matter,” Greg said. Obituaries and community announcements can be heard on these stations.  Station staff members attend 14 county fairs.

The stations produce two printed publications: A biannual shopper with customized covers for the relevant radio stations, and a high school football and basketball preview magazine featuring some 47 high schools and area colleges.

One challenge was how to operate multiple stations serving three different states. “We put together a website, www.mscnews.net, which covers news, sports, weather, and community announcements covering the whole area,” Greg said. Each station, in whatever state, can direct listeners to this site for more information. The site even features live streaming of high school football games for many area schools. “That site is getting a million clicks a month,” Greg said.

What does MSC stand for? When Greg’s kids got into Boy Scouts, he was asked what he does for a living so he could be identified by an honorary camping society native American name as is customary. When he replied that he worked in radio, the name he was assigned was Many Signals. From that it was fitting to name the website Many Signals Communications.

“Together, Greg Buser and Robert Hilton have made KNZA a dominant force in a market with numerous competing signals, including stations in St. Joseph and Kansas City,” said K-State journalism professor Steve Smethers.  “KNZA became successful because Greg and Robert never lost sight of the importance of good local service, a tradition that continues to this day.”

Many signals. It’s an appropriate name and description for these radio stations. We salute Greg Buser and Robert Hilton for making a difference with outstanding local coverage. For the communities they serve, that sends many positive signals.

One of those great little taxes that is quiet, regular and nothing you worry much about, that 20-mill property tax levy for support of K-12 education in Kansas, is about to start making noise.

The deal is that the 20-mill tax, which raises more than $600 million toward the roughly $4 billion a year spent on public schools, is about to expire. No, don’t think about it going away, just think about the Legislature having to reauthorize the tax with a bill this session.

Hmmm…now, if the Kansas Supreme Court in an order earlier this month said that the state isn’t spending enough money on K-12 education, that levy isn’t going to die, is it?

Earlier this month, we mentioned that nothing was certain yet but that you might keep your eye on the 20-mill levy. Well, a bill that would reauthorize the 20-mill statewide property tax to help finance K-12 education is now being considered by the Senate Tax Committee.

It is likely to be bumped up to raise more money to meet that Supreme Court demand for more spending on education. And, culturally, while Kansas pumps billions of income and sales tax revenues into school finance, one part of the tax mix—property taxes—is near-exclusively used for school aid.

There’s just something about property taxes and schools that is a natural match, and while nobody wants to pay more in any taxes, including property taxes, Kansans really don’t want their state-assessed property taxes to be spent on anything but education.

Now, it’s just a coincidence that this year, when the Legislature is being asked to pump more money into schools, that the sleeping dog of the 20-mill levy is awakening. Years ago, courts ordered that the state must reauthorize the levy every two years or it expires, and this is the year for the reauthorization.

So, more money needed for schools, legislators are going to have to vote on the mill levy bill anyway, so is a bump in that levy convenient this year? Historically, that tax has ranged from 35 mills from 1994-1996 to 27 mills in 1997 and to the 20 mills in 1998.

Historically, 20 years is a long time for the state to go without raising tax rates on nearly anything. And here’s that 20-mill levy that has been left alone for two decades…

See where this is going? If you must raise taxes and then ask those taxpayers to vote for you anyway, well, telling them that you’ve held rates level for 20 years is almost a good defense.

And, that school mill levy comes with an exemption for the first $20,000 of value of a home, so if your house is appraised at less than $20,000, you don’t pay any tax at all. For people living close to the ground in cheap homes, it doesn’t get much better. Everyone defends the concept of sparing the presumably poor from taxes, and that exemption does it.

For some, it means that you might not have to pay taxes on the $20,000 of value that in-ground swimming pool and spa area adds to your home’s appraisal. Gripe about property taxes, but who wouldn’t like a school tax-free swimming pool? That $20,000 exemption costs the state about $44 million, and some of that lost revenue is being kept by relatively poor people…and some isn’t…

OK, back to that reauthorization of the 20-mill levy. Just increasing the levy by 1 mill is likely to raise about $31 million for the upcoming school year, and it could be just a matter of multiplication to see how many mills added to the levy would raise a substantial amount toward increasing state aid to public schools.

But, there’s a practical political limit on the increase out there somewhere.

Let’s watch and see where the Legislature thinks that limit is…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

Hello from Topeka!

We welcome springtime and the hope it brings to each one of us. We are in the final couple of weeks of the regular session and we are working on bringing together solutions to some of the biggest concerns.

In the Taxation committee, I introduced HB 2387 which provides sales tax exemptions for fence replacement in the state affected by the wildfire destruction. I also carried it on the House floor, where is passed unanimously. It then headed to the Senate, where a minor change was made in the language to state that the material had to go to reconstruction of fences, not a new fence of a difference configuration on the affected property. At this time, we are awaiting the Governor’s signature.

We continue to read and hear stories about the wildfires and as one constituent has a good reminder that livestock that survived the fires, will still need medical attention for a long time. Assessments are still being conducted by authorities to get the best accounting of what all was lost, then that information will be sent to the President for review on a possible Federal Disaster Declaration. If that happens, it will bring more federal dollars for clean-up, restoration and indemnity payments.

Last week, the Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony regarding HB 2313, which would legalize the use of lottery ticket vending machines in the state of Kansas. These vending machines would allow an individual to manually purchase a lottery ticket, check the status of a lottery ticket, and would also be used to promote information regarding the Kansas Lottery. On Friday, the Committee amended the bill to include provisions that would nullify any ticket purchased by a minor, with the intent of discouraging the youth from purchasing tickets via their parents/guardians. Under current law, minors may purchase lottery tickets, but are unable to redeem prizes from such tickets. The bill passed favorably with a slight majority of votes.

The Appropriations Committee will begin putting together the “Mega” appropriations bill (HB 2364) on Monday March 20. The Mega bill contains all appropriations for FY ’18 and ’19, with the exception of the Judicial Branch appropriations (HB 2365) and school finance (will be addressed in the K-12 Education Budget Committee). The Mega bill will reflect the recommendations from the Budget Committees that were adopted by the Appropriations Committee and any amendments made during Appropriations Committee discussion.

The current year (FY ’17) rescission budget passed out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and was approved by the entire Senate on Thursday, March 16. The Senate placed its budget recommendations into HB 2052, the House’s rescission bill. Documents, also known as explainers, on both versions of the bill are available on the KLRD website: http://www.kslegresearch.org/KLRD-web/Appropriations&Revenue.html.

The K-12 Education Budget Committee met for three days last week. The agenda was open discussion on a Committee-produced school finance formula. The Committee members addressed various components that they believe should be part of a final formula. The Committee discussion also involved consulting with the Department of Education, Legislative Post Audit, and education lobbying organizations. The Committee is crafting a bill with components of other bills, and will hold hearings when the bill is compiled. We should have a first look at one of the formulas by the end of the week.

Last week we had four young men from Hill City High School serve as pages: Joel, Pimlott, Domineck Journigan, Jr., Steven Hamel and Adam VanLoenen. Thanks to Mr. Brad Eckols for the opportunity.

If you would like to contact me: Session phone number is: (785) 296- 7463 and email is: [email protected] and my cell number is (785) 302-8416.

It is my honor to serve as your representative.

Ken Rahjes, (R-Agra), is the 110th District State Representative.