The Wichita Eagle from Wichita, Kansas • 15

Friday Fsbruory 8 1980 3C Tax Shuffle Could Leave You a Bit More or Less By DEMISE MAGNELL Staff Writer When you opened your pay envelope this week you may have been disappointed if you expected a little more money Or maybe you found more Or maybe you saw no change at all The Kansas Department of Revenue adjusted the state's income tax withholding formula as of Feb 1 making two changes according to Bob Taylor special assistant to Kansas Revenue Secretary Michael Lennen: The tax rate for Kansas income was lowered and a limit was placed on the standard deduction that's figured into the state's tax table equation When there was no limit on the standard tax deduction a person making $30000 a year would have a greater deduction That would result in a lower tax estimate and hence a lower tax levied than was correct for the $30000 level leaving the employee with a tax bill at filing time NOW MOST PEOPLE making $30000 keeping in mind such variables as marital status single or joint tax filing and the number of dependents will have more state tax deducted from each paycheck but they have that extra bill at the end of the year Still if the state is taking less by lowering the tax rate you should be getting more you insist ft ft ft speaking if your income is under $17000 you would And the withholding tax will go down slightly If more than $22000 it will go np slightly If between $17000 and $22000 it will be pretty close to the according to Bob Taylor of the state revenue department ft ft ft" A MARRIED PERSON with four dependents files a joint tax return With a $10000 income level he is taxed $1 40 a week on the old state tax tables he'll also be taxed at the same rate with the new tables At $15000 a year he is taxed $4 a week on the old schedule and $390 a week on the new one With a $20000 income he is taxed $690 a week mi the old tables and $710 a week on the new tables A single person claiming one dependent with an income of $12500 a year will see his or her withholding tax dip from $630 a week to $610 But a single person claiming one dependent and making $20000 a year will see his or her tax increase from $1210 a week to $1310 When Revenue Secretary Lennen spoke of the new tax formula when it was introduced a couple of months ago he said most workers wouldn't notice the change in their take-home pay think it will be imperceptible It's just an effort to fine-tune the withholding system" he said In the case of those whose tax will be lowered the reduced withholding will mean smaller income tax refunds for 30000 to 40000 Kansans because they will not be as overtaxed during the year Those reductions will average $5 to $7 per taxpayer About 55 percent of Kansas income taxpayers receive refunds Last year 576100 of them received refunds averaging $60 Well some people will and some people wont speaking if your income is under $17000 you would find the withholding tax will go down slightly" Taylor explained it's more than $22000 it will go up slight ly If it's between $17000 and $22000 it will be pretty close to the Again all variables that influence the filing status of the taxpayer mist be considered when two people with the same income find themselves with different tax rates Taylor said He gave some examples: THE WICHITA EAGLE Brutal Murder Baffles Husband Mother Law Rock Island Lines Shippers Plan Own Rail Service From Staff and Wire Reports PHILLIPSBURG Northern Kansas shippers may develop a temporary rail service along the bankrupt Rock Island line that runs between Denver and Omaha That stretch of track is the only portion of Rock Island mainline still begging for a bid from another railroad It serves eight Kansas counties that harvest one-fourth of all the wheat com and milo grown in the state football queen candidate had long red hair and freckles and she was just bubbly" Matthews said she was around someone 15 minutes she knew everything about them was just a fair student in high school She really worried about that when die started college Then she did just spectacular in college We knew she had the ability to start She said her daughter was in King-man visiting the family during the Christmas holidays talked to her on the phone Monday and Tuesday of that week (before she was killed) and there was no indication of any Matthews said was the kind that always thought she could do everything before she quite mastered it She was always smiling She just wasn't the type that made people mad We just can't figure out why just who and why would anyone want to do this From Page 1C was very straightforward She always spoke her mind but I think people respected her for He said he thinks that the door of their home was unlocked the day his 1 wife was killed There appeared to be no indications of robbery he said Money in her purse was not taken and neither was money lying on the kitchen table never locked the door We left the keys in the car Now that I think about it it was stupid but we never had any cause for alarm He said he doesn't know how her attacker found the gun which was hidden He said the small mobile home park had been a congenial (dace to live with mostly young couples Mary Walter's mother Mrs Doyle Matthews of Kingman said her daughter was busy in high school she was a member of Rainbow Girls Future Farmers of America sweetheart at Kingman High School and a Accrediting Team at St Johns WINFIELD A national accrediting team is making its final tour of St John's College today to determine whether to accredit the school as a four-year college Gordon Beckler president of St John's a two-year college owned and operated by the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church said the school hopes to improve its financial standing and its course offerings as a four-year institution The college has enough dormitory and classroom space to accommodate 500 students but now has only 225 students in freshman-sophomore classes Beckler said considering leasing their own Gasohol Set For State Vehicle Use TOPEKA AP) Gov John Carlin signed an executive order Thursday that requires the state to mix up its own gasohol for dispensing at all of its pumping facilities and anyone using a vehicle owned or leased by the state to use gasohol in it if possible Carlin's order instructs Administration Secretary Patrick Hurley to purchase ethyl alcohol for mixing with gasoline at the state's central motor pool in Topeka The resulting gasohol is to be dispensed at the motor pool's pumping station He also instructed that the alcohol be purchased for mixing at all other state pumping facilities around Kansas Carlin gave Hurley until Feb 25 to implement the order as it affects the central motor pool and until April 1 to dispense only gasohol at out-state facilities In addition Carlin's order instructs all officers and employees of the state "whenever feasible" to purchase gasohol for operating state vehicles in which they travel In his order Carlin said that by mixing 10 percent ethyl alcohol with 90 percent gasoline the state can set a "positive example in both conserving energy and utilizing domestic resources" to help in the energy crunch DOUGLAS WALTER WHO FOUND HIS WIFE SHOT know of anybody who would dislike Businessmen in the area are rail engines and cars and transporting their goods along the Rock Island track until they connect with existing operating lines Philiipsburg publisher McDill "Huck" Boyd who's spearheading the plan said Thursday that the Rock Island trustee has agreed to review it The line moved nearly 32000 carloads of freight in 1978 Boyd said there are about 50 grain elevators along the northern line and many industries that would ship along those tracks if they could get cars is the most serious threat to the economy of northern Kansas that I've seen in my lifetime" Boyd said of the possible shutdown of the line The publisher said the TAMKO Roofing Co and CRA Inc a refinery at Philiipsburg would ship about 100 cars a week of commodities if the rail service were available Boyd said there are many smaller industries at Prairie View Norton Colby Good-land and cm the branch line at Clay Center that need rail service worry is that the legal battles involved in carving up this line will take so much time everyone up here will just wither" Boyd said satisfied that enough revenue can be generated in Philiipsburg alone to pay the Mils to operate the central section from Almena to Fairbury Boyd said the shippers would lease locomotive engines and a few cars but many industries already have their own cars The service would operate only until a major railroad buys the line The Denver-Rio Grande Western has considered a purchase but made no firm offer Several railroads are looking at the prospects of carving the line into a number of segments Boyd said the shippers' plan would be designed only to get commodities to the nearest intersection with another railroad the Union Pacific at Colly the Burlington Northern at Almena the Missouri Pacific at Mankato the Santa Fe at Courtland and the Union Pacific intersection with Rock Island again at Fairbury House Approval Expected Senate OKs Lifting Usury Limit ming upstream now I'm trying to swim up Niagara The Pittsburg Democrat attempted to reduce from 1 5 percent to 1 percent the additional interest allowed under the bill but he failed as he did with an amendment to eliminate the six-month waiting period before a loan could be retired without penalty Like Steineger he questioned whether Kansans actually will be able to afford the high-rate loans But Sen Paul Hess R-Wichita the bill's floor manager said no Kansan will be forced to secure a home loan with interest rates in the teens those willing to borrow and to pay that rate will act" he said AT THE OPENING of the debate Majority Leader Norman Gaar R-Westwood asked the Senate to allow emergency procedures to be used to consider the measure and vote on it in the same day That action required a two-thirds majority 27 votes Allegrucci attempted to delay consideration until next Tuesday contending train is moving so fast it's not only difficult to get on it's difficult to get off" Noting that Democratic Gov John Carlin had urged some members of the minority party to allow the measure to be considered Thursday Allegrucci said felt like I was swim surance assuming an interest rate of 11 percent But at 13 percent the monthly rate would jump to $634 and to $674 at 14 percent At 145 percent the monthly payment would be $693 he said Over the life of the loan the interest charges at 11 percent would total $148356 but at 145 percent they would hit $199840 In order for a family to afford a $50000 mortgage at 1453 percent total income would have to be $36000 Steineger said During the debate lobbyists for the lending industry real estate businesses and others hovered around the Senate chamber The final product was the result of a compromise worked out between the Republican majority and a dozen Democratic senators They had agreed in advance to reject any major changes in the agreed version A From Page 1C Prevent lenders from imposing prepayment penalties on those who paid off their loans more than six months after the closing Allow lenders to continue charging origination fees paid at the time a loan is closed Senate Minority Leader Jack Stein-eger D-Kansas City who unsuccessfully offered a string of amendments warned that home buyers will be out of the market doubt seriously that the average home buyer will be able to meet the income requirements to make these high interest loans regardless of what we he said in explaining his vote STE1NEGER SAID a $50000 mortgage a westside Topeka home would cost the buyer $554 a month over 30 years including taxes and in- Read Jack Anderson's Column In The Beacon Carlin School Aid Plan Panel Told Because state aid is distributed according to a complex formula that attempts to give more aid to poor districts and less to rich ones the mill levy changes would vary from district to district But only a few of the state's 300-plus school districts would experience a mill levy reduction IN SOME DISTRICTS property taxes would have to increase more than 5 mills to fund school budgets In Wichita the projected increase would be slightly more than 5 mills Here in alphabetical order are selected Kansas school districts their projected mill levies under Carlin's plan according to state data and the projected changes from current levies Andover 4570 up 794 Arkansas City 3710 up 350 Augusta 3803 up 325 Cherryvale 4455 up 758 Clay Center 4997 up 732 Columbus 5062 up 881 Concordia 4653 up 703 Derby 3754 up 444 Dodge City 3852 up 204 El Dorado 3633 up 300 Emporia 4237 up 393 Galena 4503 up 753 Garden City 3033 up 143 Girani 5360 up 950 Goddard 3963 up 669 Hays 3874 up 356 Haysville 3761 up 343 Hutchinson 4489 up 464 Junction City 4076 up 376 Kansas City 3530 up 440 Lawrence 4163 up 419 Manhattan 3786 up 325 McPherson 3327 up 245 Mul-vane 4677 up 7 JO Newton 4557 up 418 Pretty Prairie 5350 up 835 Rose Hill 4550 up 785 Salina 4328 up 403 Shawnee Mission 5879 up 710 Topeka 5894 up 566 Valley Center 4200 up 693 Wellington 5194 up 294 Wichita 4413 up 506 Winfield 3728 up 285 Too Small it From Page 1C Wastell presented figures showing that of the approximately 26000 teachers in Kansas 16000 earn less than $13000 a year and only 531 eam more than $18500 a year He said an acquaintance of his who teaches in Topeka and has two children qualifies for food stamps Although Kansas salaries for most professions compare favorably with those of other states Wastell said teacher salaries lag far behind In 1975-76 he said the average teacher salary in Kansas was $10582 compared to a national average of $12600 By 1978-79 he said Kansas teachers had lost even more ground their average pay was $12622 compared to a national average of $15040 LEGISLATIVE LEADERS generally support Carlin's 8 percent budget authority recommendation but many find the projected 5-mill tax increase unacceptable particularly in an election year Education Committee Chairman James Lowther said Thursday that permitting larger budget increases for school districts would exacerbate the property tax problem He said the state simply doesn't have the money this year barring a surprise rise in revenue estimates to provide increases in state aid much beyond what Carlin has recommended Lowther predicted that legislators would inject some additional aid to soften the property tax crunch but he said he doubted there would be enough money to hold school levies at their current levels A 5-mill increase would require property owners to pay $5 more for every $1000 of assessed valuation Metro News In Brief Park City's Water Linked to Gas Leak A pinhole leak found in a Derby Refining Co gasoline line near some of Park City's water wells is believed to be the culprit behind the smelly water that has plagued the community in recent weeks The leak was found by the company Wednesday night after state health officials discovered gasoline in the groundwater near some of the wells A state health official said it was that (the leak) was the one that was causing Park problems There is very very small room for Stephan to Probe Tape Ban Attorney General Bob Stephan said Thursday he will investigate the state Board of Tax Appeals and consider prosecuting it for prohibiting the use of tape recorders during a board hearing in Wichita The board banned use of the recorders during a hearing Thursday at the old Sedgwick County Courthouse Members of the board were in Wichita to hear protests of a 1979 property tax assessments Apartment Owners Warned The operator of a Wichita apartment house that has been judged substandard has been given 90 days to upgrade the units to meet city building code standards or face possible court action Two partners in Eugene-Cascade Inc the Eugene Ore firm that owns the McAdams Apartments at 1514 17th Wichita were given the deadline Thursday by the city's Housing Task Force The agency had threatened court action to close all or part of the complex or to have someone appointed to manage it if work was not started to correct numerous code violations The task force noted Thursday that renovation had been started at some units The city has been after the owners to make repairs for more than a year.