Oklahoma’s not alone in dealing with a state government budget that’s hurting because of the worldwide oil glut and the downturn in prices.
As the Wichita Eagle reported this week, so is Kansas and most of the counties struggling in the downtown are of course, rural areas. The Kansas Department of Revenue reported the oil and gas plunge has shaved nearly $1 billion off the $32.3 billion worth of assessed valuation statewide and pushed 40 of the state’s 105 counties into negative territory.
“It certainly cut growth in the value of taxable property in 2015, trimming what might have been a 5 percent increase for the state, had oil stayed the same, to 1.74 percent,” wrote Dan Voorhis with the newspaper. “And the loss of wealth from falling oil and gas production can be seen by falling retail sales in the big oil and gas counties.”
He cited Haskell County south of Garden City in southwestern Kansas where the property valuation dropped by nearly 40 percent. Sales tax collections fell by 32 percent. Ness County, in western Kansas saw its valuation fall 33 percent while sales tax collections tumbled 34 percent.
Voorhis found that assessed value of taxable property in Ellis County where Hays is located on I-70, fell 12.5 percent and the result has been budget cuts and tax hikes.
Read full story in Wichita Eagle.
Wichita Eagle
