Taxpayer Advocacy Group Calls Freshmen House Members\’ Plan "an economic growth inhibitor"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans for Tax Reform strongly opposes efforts to increase taxes for hard-working Kansans. Efforts to increase taxes sponsored by 16 freshmen House of Representatives Members will impact Kansan taxpayers in several ways:
· Increasing the income tax levy by 3.5% for all income brackets. The top bracket would increase from 6.45% to 6.67575%.
· Increasing the sales tax by 7.4%, from the current rate of 5.4% to 5.8% and eliminating the scheduled July 2004 0.1% reduction.
· Legislation to allow local school districts to vote to expand the breadth of the capital expenditure provision mill levy to include utilities, property insurance, and computer software.
The income tax increase and sales tax increase combined could cost taxpayers upwards of $200 million annually, after accounting for the delay of the July 2004 scheduled 0.1% decrease.
"I strongly encourage members of the Kansas House, including the 23 Members of the House who have signed ATR\’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge, to oppose and vote against these efforts to increase taxes," commented Grover Norquist, President of ATR. "Taxpayers are having enough trouble in this economy. Furthermore, passing tax increases to afford greater state spending is very poor fiscal policy. Taxpayers need long-term policies that reflect their best interests: limited government and a reduced burden of taxation."