“Wars may be fought with weapons but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.” Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
Tax-only revenues for November were slightly up over estimates for the month, a financially important reading of the state’s fiscal condition. Also important is this shows the ability of the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group to take the pulse of the state.
November revenues were $2.9 million above the estimates, at $354 million. These numbers came from the Department of Revenue and included the “Black Friday” retail sales from the day after Thanksgiving. Sales Taxes for the month were $131.9 million.
Individual taxes were $180.5 million 2.1% above the estimate, corporate income taxes were $5.8 million, which is a huge gain from a year ago when the corporate tax receipts were only $256,000.
Besides kudos to the estimating group, the November numbers tend to support Gov. Mark Parkinson’s tactic of proposing spending cuts and money shuffles that were based on the Consensus group’s estimate.
Perhaps it should be noticed that including the busiest shopping day of the year, sales tax receipts were still below last November’s figures by 2.1%.
I was in Topeka last Tuesday where I spent time meeting with some legislative leadership, staff and fellow legislators to take early looks at what information is available to help us plan a strategy on passing a budget for 2011. We met with corporate leaders and their representatives to discuss their long-range plans and how they were weathering the economic downturn.
Construction and Aviation by far have taken the majority of hits and have seen a huge downturn in their work backlog. In the greater Kansas City Area that typically sees 12,000 building permits issued annually in residential and commercial construction, has seen less than 2,000 year to date.
Several contractors are concerned they may lose many of the subcontractors that may not be well capitalized. (Money in the bank). Some large builders that have been around for many years are struggling to keep talented craftsmen busy. Several large projects have been awarded to foreign contractors at prices that do not even approach the actual cost of the building.
Many building projects now will actually cost less to the developer or owner, the contractors are willing to take less for a project and hope they keep their talented employees for when this recession turns ends and the economy picks back up and construction begins again.
I had a “ WOW” moment last Tuesday Dec. 1st. While I was in Topeka I participated in an event sponsored by the BNSF Railroad. The railroad provided a train “The Holiday Express” for the soldiers from the Kansas National Guard and the active duty soldiers from the “Big Red One’ at Ft Riley that had just returned from a tour in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These soldiers, their wives and children were treated to a special train ride that departed Topeka and went on a 2-hour run. As a special treat Santa was on the train and provided entertainment for all on board. The train is making a cross-country tour to provide the same experience for soldiers in Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, Galesburg, and Kansas City.
At each stop a cash contribution is presented to the unit endowment fund to help with the needs of families who encounter difficulty in meeting normal expenses while their mother or father is deployed. What a great gift the BNSF has given to these soldiers and their families. Thank-you BNSF!
In 2008 Kansas BNSF employed 3,198 with a payroll of $249,774,156. The BNSF foundation has donated over $517,284. The railroad has major facilities in Argentine, Ark City, Dodge City, Emporia, Hutchinson, Newton, Topeka and Wellington. They own 1,231 miles of track in the state. They annually move 3.5 million carloads of freight in Kansas.
BNSF is one of the largest grain-hauling railroads in the US. In fact, BNSF hauls enough grain to supply 900 million people with a year’s supply of bread. Approximately 50 percent of the agriculture commodities traffic BNSF hauls is transported to export points in the Pacific Northwest, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico and the Great Lakes.
More than 10% of the electricity produced in the United States is generated from coal hauled by BNSF. More than 90% of the coal BNSF hauls comes from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana and is 60% lower in sulfur than most other coal sources.
Many items found in local retail stores, restaurants and automobile dealerships were shipped on a BNSF train. Each year BNSF moves about 10% of the vehicles sold in the US, enough canned beverages to supply every resident of New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles with beverage a day and enough sugar to bake 3 million batches of cookies.
BNSF is a leader in transporting forest products, chemicals, metals and other products that drive our economy. Each year BNSF transports enough lumber to build more than 500,000 homes; enough asphalt to lay a single lane road four times around the equator; and enough coiled sheet steel to lay the unrolled coils end to end 12 times between New York City and Seattle, WA.
Thanks to our soldiers for their service to our country and thanks to BNSF for their support of these troops.
Property Taxes are Due Dec 10th. There is a mistake on your 2009 Butler County Real Estate Tax Statement. In the section, Revenue from Property Tax Levies, the distribution numbers are not correct. County Administrator, Will Johnson notified me at press release time of the mistake. There will be a statement coming from his office describing the error. The section on what taxes you owe is correct and you probably should pay your taxes, again the deadline is Dec. 10th.
I consider it an honor and privilege to be your Representative in Topeka and I want to know what you think. If I can be of help do not hesitate to call on me.
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