The main argument for the Register’s opposition to the proposed countywide sales tax increase that appears on the Nov. 5 ballot is that changing the funding mechanism for EMS from a property tax to a sales tax disproportionately hurts low-income households.
The proposed measure would raise the county’s sales tax rate by a half-cent, adding another $1.3 million to county coffers for its emergency medical services.
At Thursday’s political forum County Commissioner David Lee described the funding change as a “shift.” In exchange for raising the sales tax, commissioners would lower the property tax, though he would not nail down by how much.
That “shift” is not an apples-to-apples move.
And who is expected to assume that burden is what makes all the difference, especially when one considers the demographics of Allen County.
The reason the recent “Ax the tax” on groceries was so popular last spring was because Kansas legislators — Republicans and Democrats — acknowledged a tax on groceries hits the poor the hardest. That $50 bag of groceries takes a bigger chunk out of a store clerk’s paycheck than that of her boss.
That’s why a sales tax is called a regressive tax; because it hurts the low-income harder than the privileged.
After years of impasse, the state finally reduced the state sales tax to zero, effective January 2025.
In his presentation, Lee said with the elimination of the state sales tax on groceries, Allen Countians would now pay only a half-cent tax on groceries, if the measure were to pass.
That’s not quite true.
Allen County already levies a 1.25% sales tax. With the additional half-cent, the county rate will be 1.75%. This is on top of each city’s sales tax rates, which in Iola are 1%; Humboldt, 1.75%, and Moran, 0.5%.
So how much difference would a half-cent sales tax on groceries make?
A low-cost grocery budget for a family of four is about $250 a week or $12,000 a year. The additional half-cent sales tax would add $60 a year to their food bill.
We are primarily a paycheck-to-paycheck county. Fifteen percent of Allen Countians live in poverty compared to a state average of 11.2 percent; almost one-in-four of our children live in poverty.
An increase in the sales tax also affects things that many don’t realize, including repairs to your car and appliances, routine maintenance on heating and cooling systems, the lease fees for cars, appliances, or machinery, and services such internet streaming or cable TV, making everyday life more expensive.
