Letter to the editor

By Max Theel

La Cygne

There are signs popping up saying Kansas should get rid of property taxes. I understand why people are frustrated, but we need to think through what property taxes actually pay for.

Around here, they fund the things we rely on every day: schools, the sheriff’s office, fire and EMS, county roads, bridges, libraries, parks, public health, and rural districts like hospital and cemetery boards. If property taxes disappear, those services still have to be paid for.

S

ome folks say we can replace property taxes with a higher sales tax. But Kansas already has one of the highest sales tax rates in the country, and property taxes bring in a lot more money. To replace them, the statewide sales tax would have to jump to 20–25%. That would double the tax on every purchase — groceries, tools, building materials, fuel, vehicles, and anything a family or small business buys.

Others talk about raising income taxes, but counties can’t do that. The state would have to collect the money and send it back out, which means less control for rural counties and less stable funding.

The most extreme ideas rely on “user fees,” meaning you’d pay separately for fire protection, EMS, school tuition, road upkeep, and library access. That would hit rural communities the hardest.

Property taxes aren’t fun, but they’re steady and local. Before we support getting rid of them, we need to understand what the alternatives really cost — and who ends up paying more. Readers should confirm these details with trusted sources.

The Linn County Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary essays from a variety of viewpoints. The Journal reserves the right to make editorial decisions on letters submitted for publication. The letters or essays should be based on factual information. Opinion essays and letters can be sent to linncountyjournal@icloud.com complete with the writer’s name, city of current residence and a telephone number where we can determine that the writer did, in fact, write the piece.