This may happen on big ticket items such as Cars and such,but when you add in the cost of gas, time, ect. I doubt that the saving by shopping in Shawnee would be that great. I am just pointing this out and does not mean i support the sales tax,as more needs to be learned before i would vote for it.

Vice-Versa...if you travel from JOCO or MO to here. Why would you pay higher for taxes when you can stay close to home and get the same products. I see numerous license plates that indicate travelers outside our area wanting to explore the options.

I think we are over analyzing this a bit. Yes on bigger ticket items such as cars, it may be slightly cheaper to purchase in other cities (but once you account for gas/time/etc. it is a negligible difference) a quarter cent sales tax raise is very hardly noticeable change. As an example:
Currently in KCK, the sales tax is 7.55 percent. So for a one hundred dollar item with tax, the total would come to $107.55
A 1/4 cent raise in taxes would bring the rate to 7.8%, thus the 100 dollar item would come to $107.80

That is a 25 cent price difference. This difference is not enough to differ most people to other cities. On a car or other very large ticket item yes, maybe but for most common everyday purchases, it should not affect anything.

The point being that people travel around the metro area everyday. I didn't go out of my way to buy the tires in Shawnee, but while I was down there I stopped in and got them. Walked down to Chili's and had a lunch that I also might have had at the Legend's. Two sets of tires along with a couple of lunches. That's over $1000.00 that wasn't spent in WYCO because of the higher taxes. (I think the sales tax is higher at The Legends, but let's use the same numbers just for fun). At $1000 that's $75.50 that WYCO didn't get for trying to bleed out a couple of pennies more.

The point here, aside from saving money, is that the UG needs to learn that it can't tax its way to prosperity. It over appraises our houses and then has a much higher mill levy on top of that. Those taxes make the houses worth less in the market place and the county a less desirable place to live. This tax will be just another self defeating effort that will backfire and cause people to continue with their habit of shopping elsewhere.

You can argue differently all you want, but I've already voted with my feet (and my tires) and will continue to do so. I suspect others will do likewise.

Another example. gas is about 7 cents a gallon cheaper in Missouri than Kansas. If I know I'm going over there, I'll wait to fill up. Maybe it's only 10 gallons and 70 cents, but money's money and why shouldn't I reward those who sell the same product more cheaply, regardless the reason? The UG can pretend the marketplace doesn't exist, or that poor government doesn't drive people out, but we've seen decades in this county of people demonstrating that it does.

I would continue to support my community. Why give someone else our city's much needed tax dollars? To save a few cents?

You're not supporting your community when you encourage governmental misconduct and frivolous spending. It is exactly silliness like this that has given our community its reputation for bad government and driven thousands of our neighbors to abandon our community and move to Leavenworth and Johnson counties. What you're talking about is enabling, not supporting.

So we all go to shop were the sales tax is a little less to maybe save a few cents,and the next thing Nick will be reporting on is the closing of stores in K.C.K.I remember reading in this paper a few years ago people wanting a place to shop here local,well if we all go out of town to shop the stores will move out. Is this what you want? The problem is not the stores they do not set the tax rate.

Some neighbors may have abandoned your community, but I for one, was raised in Johnson County and chose to move here. I saw positive changes and wanted to be part of this diverse community. Are you not enabling by living here and paying property taxes yourself? I'm curious.

What is the sales tax rate in Shawnee?

The sales tax rate out on 119th in Leawood is over 9%

I don't see people fleeing and or businesses in the Leawood area.

Right now the sales tax is in the bottom tier of cities around KC.

Should a quarter-cent sales tax be passed, it would put KCK just above the middle of the pack. I'll post these numbers later on.

Some of the stores and restaurants at The Legends have closed, others are thinking of closing owing in part to the fact that they're being overtaxed. I think if you check you'll find that it's not only Nebraska Furniture Mart that's protesting its taxes, many of the retail stores at The Legends have joined in that protest.

Pandering to bad government never helps a community and I am already (over)taxed, as are most of you, enough without having to voluntarily submit myself to more overtaxation when i can avoid it. As for enabling it by living here, no, I'm not as long as a refuse to acquiesce to their scams. Running away is not the answer either. I too enjoy the community.

Incidentally, what Nick didn't bring forward fromt he other discussion is my discussion of Gene Bryan's over appraisals of our homes. That is not chicken feed. When I prepared for my appeal this last weekend I discovered that every house sold in Edwardsville the last 6 months under $150K was being overappraised by the county on average of around 170 percent of actual sales value. Every last one of them. Should we just roll over for that also? Am I being a cheapskate and a traitor to my community by appealing the idiotic appraisal on my home?

I get so tired of people in Wyandotte County who show up to forums (online and in person community) to talk out their butts. It is amazing how uninformed people are.

What will you save in sales tax traveling to Shawnee's NTB to buy your tires. 45 cents? So you are going to spend an extra 5 dollars in gas and a extra 1/2 hour of travel time to save 45 cents? This is exactly the kind of talking out of one's butt I am talking about.

The way to fight bad government, and high taxes is at the polls,encourage people to run so that when we go vote we have a choice of people, not just one, which we see a lot of the time.We need to get a better turn out for local elections.In the long run you only hurt yourself by not shopping our local stores,because low sales = close.Its not the merchant who sets the tax rate.

Justin, if you'd read what I've already posted you'd know that I was already down there and so, no, it didn't cost anything extra to buy the tires there. And are you a homeowner? I guarantee you I have more information than you do about taxes in Wyandotte County and what you just posted is called projection. That's when you accuse others of doing what you just did. However, Dennis Hayes and Gene Bryan thank you for your assistance.

http://www.kansastreasurers.org/kstax.htm
Kansas Sales Tax Rates by Cities and Towns

Shawna, that's excellent information. Thank you. I think that The Legends however does have a sales tax on top of the 7.55%. Not sure how much. I'll try and find out. Also note that De Soto, in Johnson County, is one of the worst at 8.15% which in actuality (since we don't have partial pennies) winds up being charged at 9 cents on the dollar. I used to stop occasionally at the McDonalds in De Soto. Not anymore.

Regardless of anything else, Nick you're demonstrating what a wonderful resource The Kansan can be for the people of Wyandotte County. We can, and will disagree on the issues of the day. The important thing is that we have a place like this to share our ideas and viewpoints. I can only hope that the discussions stay as wonderfully informative as this one has been. Thanks to Shawna, and Jim and Roger and the others for all of their informative input.

I personally would not be upset with an additional sales tax if my property taxes would go down substantially. The thing is I don't trust them (government) to do that. We are always hearing of a new tax would lower another tax and it never seams to work that way.

I agree with you, John.
This forum we have shows how diverse we are in the Dotte (Wyco) and we all learn a little something from the other (and have great debates on various subjects that impact us all)
Fred, every tax robs Peter to pay Paul anymore.

For those around KUMed/Southwest Blvd area- the Quik Trip that closed (and is currently being rebuilt) was moved to the Missouri side of that same corner to reduce the price of gas at the pump. They "moved" the building and the gas lines to Missouri to help save 10 cents per gallon. (Confirmed by manager of that same QuikTrip on last day prior to construction)

"every tax robs Peter to pay Paul anymore"

Yes and it is time to stop it.

Thanks for the compliments, John and everyone. I'm certainly working to make The Kansan Wyandotte County's "Place for Debate." I have a few more site features to introduce over the next 72 hours or so that will help that.

Keep up the great debate and information sharing, everyone.

Thanks

John, I see your points and they are valid, however I disagree with you. You, yourself have stated that you did not go out of your way to save the money on the tires, this debate is about wether people from Wyandotte county would travel elsewhere just to save money (according to your scenario, no they wouldn't, only if they were already near the cheaper sources would they do this). Also one of your main arguments has to do with property taxes. I agree the government does grossly over appraise property, but this has no affect on your sales tax, an invalid arguing point for a debate on sales tax.

A temporary sales tax with a sunset should be considered. The UG could use more funds now, and most people support more funding for safety and infrastructure. The tax proposals are opposed because they are so difficult to reverse, or cut, when things get better.

The issue for me is that this is just yet another tax from a governmental unit that is already overtaxing its citizens. There has to be and end to it somewhere and now is as good a time as any to say no.

If you want to support this tax, be my guest, but it will not lower your property taxes (their reductions of the mill levy are a cruel joke given the over appraisals). It's also a regressive tax that hurts those who are already being damaged the most by the over appraisals. I simply refuse to give these people any more money.

As for going out of their way to shop elsewhere, I think most of us already do to some extent and while you're out shopping why not pick up the other items you need while you're there if the tax is cheaper? I guarantee you everytime I'm in Missouri I top off my tank before I come back.

The bottom line regardless of whether people agree with you, or they agree with me, is whether you believe that you should give more of your money to a government that is already overtaxing your house and personal property. To me, it's just foolish. But if you feel that it will make your life here in Wyandotte County better, then by all means, support it.

John

You are so right! I can't believe all the people who are so willing to pay more taxes. Just don't get it.

Well on second thought, I think most people think someone else will pay those taxes. In the case of this sales tax they think the people form JOCO and elsewhere will pay it not realizing it will hit home also. The powers that be will just spend the extra cash and maybe lower property tax a small amount then give themselves a pat on the back and tells us what good they did for us.

Sorry every one but I am just cynical about taxes. More money does not make a better government. Just more bureaucracy.