TOPEKA – Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill Wednesday granting a sales tax exemption for rural fencing supplies and services purchased by wildfire victims.
“It doesn’t make up for what they’ve lost, but it’s a way that we can help ease the recovery for hardworking farmers and ranchers,” Brownback said at an afternoon ceremony in the Statehouse.
The exemption from the 6.5 percent state sales tax applies to those recovering from 2016 and 2017 fires and will be in effect for sales in 2017 and 2018. Those seeking an exemption certificate can apply through the Kansas Department of Revenue.
The actual bill signing occurred Wednesday morning in order for the document to be relayed for publication in the Kansas Register. That will come out Thursday, making it the effective date of the legislation.
The legislation moved quickly through both chambers. Many members of the Legislature responded to an invitation from the governor’s office to attend the ceremonial signing and they lined up behind him.
Last year, the Legislature passed a similar sales tax bill for those affected by fires in Barber and Comanche counties. There were nine requests for sales tax refunds, amounting to $10,539 last year, according to the Department of Revenue.
“That’s a modest help, but it is a help,” Brownback said.
Brownback recognized the “resolve” and “fighting spirit” of those who are rebounding from fires that burned over 650,000 acres. The fire caused the death of one man in southwest Kansas, and Brownback said it was miraculous there weren’t more casualties.
He spoke of the bravery of firefighters and first-responders and mentioned how firefighters in Reno County lined a mile with fire trucks to keep the blaze from jumping the road.
The loss of cattle is anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 head he said.
But farmers in Kansas and elsewhere have offered hay and one 4-H Club is offering to raise calves, he said.
Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey was in Ashland Wednesday at a public meeting.
Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, a principal figure behind the bill, thanked the governor, leadership of both chambers and legislative staff.
