Johnson County will not put a proposed extension of a quarter-cent public safety sales tax before voters this March after all, now that a judge has ruled against the move.
Judge Jay Befort of the Third District Court in Topeka dealt the setback to the county commission in a ruling Tuesday, siding with state Attorney General Kris Kobach that a state law does not allow the tax to be extended for uses the county commission had in mind.
Voters originally approved the tax in 2016 to fund construction of a new courthouse in downtown Olathe and a county medical examiner's building, both of which have since been built.
Befort ruled that the state law in question calls for specific buildings, such as the courthouse, to be the destination for the sales tax revenue. In his decision, Befort wrote that the tax cannot be made into "a renewable revenue stream for programs and services unrelated to the construction and operation of law enforcement facilities."
The county commission held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, most of which took place behind closed doors in an executive session. Upon their return to public session, commissioners signaled their intent to formally withdraw the sales tax resolution during Thursday's regular commission meeting.
A proposed 10-year extension at $54 million a year
County commissioners had asked for a court ruling after Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, at the behest of state Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, stepped in over the summer, arguing that the proposed ballot question was unlawful.
Kobach argued that the sales tax the county was proposing should be considered a new, separate tax and not an extension of the existing public safety sales tax.
The Public Safety III quarter-cent sales tax that funded the courthouse and medical examiner's building is set to expire in March of 2027.
Commissioners wanted to extend it another 10 years, with the revenue going to a variety of budget items, including the Med-Act ambulance service, the sheriff's and district attorney's offices and mental health crisis intervention.
In passing the resolution for the ballot measure earlier this year, the commission listed some specific potential uses of the revenue, including public safety "mental health co-responder programs, new emergency dispatch services, re-entry programs for detainees," as well as "technology upgrades tied to public safety (e.g., body-worn cameras) and emergency communications/9-1-1 system enhancements."
The tax would have brought in an estimated $54 million in yearly revenue, which the county would share with cities. The county's share was estimated to have been $35 million a year.
Kobach's office challenged the county's proposal
During arguments last month before a Topeka judge, lawyers for the attorney general's office said the law specifies that the taxes collected must be used for both capital and operating expenses.
While building the new county courthouse and medical examiner's lab fit that description, the uses listed for the extension of it would not.
The judge agreed, citing Kansas statute KSA 12-187's language listing examples of a jail, detention center, sheriff's resource center and crime lab.
Those examples indicate that lawmakers meant that the type of public safety at issue is law enforcement, the judge said.
"By including specific examples, the Legislature indicated that voters must be aware of which facility they are being asked to fund. The (county commission), to be in accord with the statute, must actually inform the voters of the specific project to be funded by the new specific revenue stream," Befort wrote.
The judge went on to write that the listed uses of the revenues for a sales tax extension, including funding for ambulance services and disaster response, while important, "are not law enforcement facilities and are not directly connected to such facilities, thus falling beyond the scope of the statute as enacted by the 2016 Legislature."
Reactions from chair and 2026 challenger
County chair Mike Kelly, a major backer of extending the public safety sales tax, spoke briefly as Tuesday's special meeting adjourned.
"Despite (the court ruling) the needs that the county expressed still exist. 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," he said. "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," he continued. "We will do that without delay."
Kelly and the other commissioners left without further comment.
Karen Crnkovich, a Republican who announced she is running against Kelly for chair next fall, also released a statement on Tuesday.
"Today's ruling is a turning point. 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," she said.
Paramedics union decries ruling
County officials have faced increasingly tight budgets the past few years, citing inflation, a growing population, economic uncertainty and changes at the state level on such things as motor vehicle licensing that shift more of the burden to counties.
County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson warned two years ago that without major changes, the county budget would become unsustainable.
Since then, commissioners have sought to find efficiencies in spending. A majority of commissioners earlier this year voted to try the public safety sales tax extension as a way of avoiding unpopular property tax increases.
Commissioners have said the public safety needs of a growing and aging population are especially pressing. The ambulance service, in particular, has been strained because of an increasing number of calls, officials have said.
On Tuesday, Clay Smith, the president of the Johnson County paramedics union Local IAFF 4885, criticized the judge's ruling in a Facebook post.
"I'm not defeated by this — I'm fired up," Smith wrote. "If the law doesn't recognize EMS as public safety, then we have to organize until it does. EMS won't get stable funding, recognition, or protection unless we stand together and demand it.
"We're going to work with IAFF political strategists to educate the public on how the State is holding Johnson County back from delivering the services our community believes are most important," he said.
The county's 2026 budget is unaffected by the loss of potential public safety sales tax revenue. An extension of the tax would not have gone into effect until 2027.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
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