Brad Stratton says he feels guilty for not contributing an income tax. He is the CEO of Overland Park Wealth Management and does not pay an income tax.
"The folks that I hire, vendors and employees, they pay state income tax and I don't, so I would think at a minimum we'd all want to contribute at some point because we do benefit directly and indirectly from the state program, primarily public education,” said Stratton.
Stratton also sits on the Shawnee Mission School Board. "Public education is 50 percent of the Kansas budget and I'm not contributing to any of that,” said Stratton.
Gov. Sam Brownback cut taxes in 2012, and now more than 300,000 small businesses do not pay the tax. Overland Park Chamber President Tracey Osborne says the extra tax money could be spent on improving the quality of life for all citizens.
"Our chamber as well as many of them across the state had feedback from our own business community that they did not believe that we should change from the three-legged stool of property tax, income tax and sales tax that we really wanted that to be a balance,” said Osborne.
The tax was meant to help create jobs in Kansas. The unemployment rate is now at 4.2 percent, well below the national average.
-----
Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com.
