Johnson County commissioners’ plan to seek public approval for an extension of a public safety sales tax next March is flatly illegal, a judge has ruled.
The existing quarter-cent sales tax was authorized by a 2016 law expressly for the construction of a courthouse and medical examiner’s office, and must be used for “physical structures that directly support law enforcement,” Shawnee County District Judge Jay Befort ruled Tuesday in Topeka.
The judge’s ruling affirms Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s warning in July that “Johnson County is breaking the law by imposing this new tax for this purpose.”
Indeed, even the commission’s own press release trumpeting the proposal May 8 acknowledged the county’s portion of the tax if extended “would fund a wide variety of public safety programs, including but not limited to: Emergency Medical/Ambulance Services (MED-ACT), Sheriff’s Office, Mental Health Crisis Intervention, Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response, Department of Corrections, District Courts and District Attorney’s Office.”
The county commission’s ballot proposal, the judge noted in his ruling, “lists no facility (law enforcement or otherwise) that it seeks to fund and operate, nor does it ‘pledge’ to do so as required by the statute. …
“The statute only authorizes a tax to build and operate qualifying physical structures, not to fund unrelated services and programs.”
The commission had an “emergency” closed-door session Tuesday before indicating they’d withdraw the sales tax proposal in their meeting Thursday, which they did unanimously.
“The needs that the county expressed still exist,” commission Chairman Mike Kelly said Tuesday. “Our county continues to grow, and the projects and services that affect everyone’s quality of life and the cost of those will continue to increase.
“As county leaders, we remain committed to meeting those needs and will explore all options to continue providing services and programs that our residents expect and deserve. We will do that without delay.”
Others celebrated the development, arguing that the commission had tried to slip a tax increase for other purposes through an extension of a tax for law enforcement buildings.
“Today’s ruling is a turning point,” Karen Crnkovich, a candidate for Kelly’s chairmanship next year, said in a statement. “It’s a reminder that leadership matters and that Johnson County is ready for a new direction rooted in accountability, transparency, and respect for the people who pay the bills. We can do better. And together, we will.”
The public safety tax, which ends in 2027, raises about $35 million for the county, with another $19 million or so going to incorporated cities.
“The AG got it right, and so did the judge,” state Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, who had requested Kobach’s official opinion on the matter, told The Heartlander.
