Download KACo’s brief on centralized collection here.
Keep Local Tax Collection LocalCounties work diligently to meet the needs of their communities, which are best understood at the local level. Local governments, not the state, are best equipped to manage and collect local payroll taxes and net profits. A top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to the collection of local tax revenue presents several challenges.
County officials are best positioned to understand and meet the needs of their own taxpayers — keep occupational license fee collection local!
Complicated
- Developing a web-based system to manage different tax rates, caps and fees across 300+ jurisdictions is highly complex and impractical.
- Past efforts over 15 years to standardize forms have faced major obstacles and high costs, demonstrating the difficulties of creating a statewide portal.
- HB 253 proposes rushed implementation before demonstrating if a statewide system is even feasible.
- Prior efforts by the state to implement statewide systems have proven to be over budget and behind schedule.
Costly Startup
- Developing and maintaining a centralized system would cost millions of dollars.
- The bill permits the State Treasurer to impose fees on businesses, but it is unclear if those fees would fully cover costs.
- Counties would need to invest in staff and technology to integrate with the new system, debunking the claim by proponents who say, “it does not cost local jurisdictions anything, nor is it an unfunded mandate.”
- Businesses could face additional financial strain due to implementation costs.
More Bureaucracy
- Counties would need additional resources to integrate systems and reconcile payments, leading to higher administrative costs.
- The proposed system lacks compliance measures, increasing risks of tax miscalculations and errors.
- Businesses could face additional financial strain due to implementation costs.
- New staffing at the State Treasurer’s office contradicts claims of no added bureaucracy, increasing overall taxpayer costs.
