Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2707 would expand the local sales rate authority of Atchison County by allowing the imposition of an additional 0.5 or 0.75 percent to finance the construction or remodeling of a jail, courthouse, law enforcement center, or other county administrative facility. Atchison County would join eight other counties which have additional sales tax rate authority for such purposes. If approved by voters, any such tax would be required to expire when the Secretary of Revenue determined that sales tax sufficient to pay all of the financing costs had been collected.

The normal sales tax distribution formula for countywide sales taxes requires counties to share revenues with cities. Atchison County would join 13 other counties which have special authority to retain all revenues from such specially earmarked sales taxes.

Background

H.B. 2707 is similar to H.B. 2614 except for some minor amendments requested by proponents. During the public hearing on H.B. 2614, Representative Henry said that Atchison County hoped to seek voter approval at an April election pursuant to a recommendation from the Atchison County New Law Enforcement Center Task Force that a new jail be funded through an additional county sales tax. The current county jail was built in 1941.

Atchison County currently has a 1.0 percent sales tax which became effective on October 1, 1993. Two cities in the county, Atchison and Effingham, also have 1.0 percent city sales taxes.

The bill would have no impact on State General Fund receipts, according to the Department of Revenue's fiscal note.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.