From staff reports
news@joplinglobe.com
A half-dozen highway projects slated to begin this spring in Cherokee and Crawford counties have been put on hold because of budget cuts in Kansas.
Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson on Friday announced proposals for keeping the state’s current budget balanced through the end of June. The list included canceling many highway maintenance projects around the state.
Kansas already has endured five rounds of spending cuts and other adjustments to keep its current budget balanced through the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Tax revenues in February fell short of expectations, opening an additional $88 million gap.
The cancellation of highway maintenance projects is expected to save $28 million. There are no further cuts, for now, to public schools or social services.
Area highway projects that will be cut are:
n Overlay of five miles of Kansas Highway 102 east from the city limits of West Mineral to the junction of Kansas Highway 7. Savings: $275,000.
n Overlay of nearly seven miles of Kansas 103 from the junction of Kansas 7 east to the junction with U.S. Highway 69. Savings: $384,000.
n Overlay of nearly six miles of Kansas 47 east from the city limits of Girard to U.S. Highway 69. Savings: $643,000.
n Overlay of 12.5 miles of Kansas 47 from the Neosho-Crawford county line east to the city limits of Girard. Savings: $751,000.
n Overlay of 4.85 miles of U.S. Highway 160 from U.S. Highway 69 to the Kansas-Missouri line. Savings: $364,000.
n Sealing of 18.34 miles of U.S. Highway 166 from the Labette County line to Baxter Springs. Savings: $1,001,418.
The latest round of cuts, combined with the earlier cuts and reductions in other sources of revenue, means $257 million has been cut from Kansas highway funding in fiscal 2010, according to Kansas Department of Transportation officials.
“There are few options left to balance the budget this late in the fiscal year, so I understand the steps the governor has taken,” Deb Miller, Kansas transportation secretary, said in a statement released with the list of projects being cut. “But in this tough economic time, the $257 million in cuts this year to the state highway fund are beyond stunning.”
Parkinson called for reviving Kansas’ estate tax and ending “special interest” tax breaks after key Republican senators said they will push for $300 million in tax increases to help ease the budget shortfall.
He cited a tax-cutting “binge” over the past two decades. He said waves of tax breaks depleted resources for schools and state programs but provided “virtually nothing” for ordinary Kansans.
“It has all been given away to special-interest groups,” Parkinson said. “If we’re going to solve this problem for the long term, we have got to undo some of the very poor public policy decisions that we’ve made.”
Mike Maddox, chairman of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce’s board, labeled Parkinson’s comments “unconscionable” and “ridiculous.” Maddox said higher taxes would drive businesses out of the state.
“We do not have a tax-cut problem. We have a spending problem,” Maddox said. “Raising taxes in a down economy will only further jeopardize Kansas jobs.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
