Beto Junction ? Kirk Williams is anticipating a hectic Monday. His business faces a triple whammy of bad news.

His company operates the Beto Junction Travel Plaza at the junction of Interstate 35 and U.S. 75 in Coffey County, a place where truckers and travelers stop for meals, snacks, supplies, gasoline and diesel fuel.

Increases in the state’s taxes on sales, cigarettes and gasoline are taking effect today.

Williams already faced a 30 percent increase in health insurance costs for his 100 employees.

“It’s just that all the little things begin to add up,” he said.

The state’s 2003 fiscal year starts today, and as is typical for each July 1, a bunch of new laws are taking effect. Some were the changes wrought by a $252 million package of tax increases that legislators approved in May, others by a plan for financing highway projects.

The questions for those legislators and other state officials are how much Kansans will feel the bite from the tax increases and how they’ll respond in the Aug. 6 primary and Nov. 5 general elections.

But they’re more than political questions. With the state’s budget problems likely to linger into next year, the next governor and Legislature will be getting a sense of what the acceptable options are for their constituents.

“I think there’s a general understanding that there was some kind of budget problem in Topeka,” said House Taxation Committee Chairman John Edmonds, R-Great Bend. “They’ll hear about that from all perspectives.”

Unhappy Kansans

Today, the sales tax increases to 5.3 percent from 4.9 percent, and the cigarette tax jumps by 46 cents a pack, to 70 cents from 24 cents.

Motor fuels taxes increase 2 cents a gallon, to 23 cents for gasoline and 25 cents for diesel.

The sales and cigarette tax increases were part of a package designed to shore up general government programs.

That package also included a doubling of fees corporations pay for the right to do business in Kansas, to a maximum of $5,000; reimposition of a tax on the property inherited by nephews, nieces and non-relatives; and elimination of a sales tax exemption for custom computer software purchases.

The gasoline tax increase was designed to raise money for highway projects. That plan also increased vehicle registration fees by $5 for most cars, light trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Conservative Republicans who voted against tax increases warned that many Kansans, already feeling the pinch of a slow economy, would not be happy.

“I’ve had neighbors who are just watching every penny,” said conservative Sen. Robert Tyson, R-Parker. “I’ve had people call me and say, ‘What is government thinking?”‘

‘Taxed to death’

At Beto Junction, Williams is worried about how the tax increases will affect his bottom line. He is concerned that truckers, who can go 500 miles between fueling stops, will have incentive to avoid stopping in Kansas.

“If you skip Kansas, you don’t buy that candy bar or that meal here,” he said. “All of these things begin to eat at your profits.”

Other Kansans were feeling overtaxed, even before the increases took effect.

In Yates Center, 40 miles south of Beto Junction, grocery store clerk Linda Lauber said: “We’re already taxed to death.”

And smoker Helen Hyman, of Piqua, was annoyed by the cigarette tax increase.

“They tax your wages, and then they tax everything you buy,” she said.

Political repercussions

But if Kansans are angry about the tax increases and many undoubtedly are there’s still a question of whether that anger will be felt in politics.

Twenty-eight of the 108 incumbent House members seeking re-election face opponents in the primary. But 48 face no opposition whatsoever.

In the Republican governor’s race, both Senate President Dave Kerr, of Hutchinson, and Wichita Mayor Bob Knight have said they will protect schools and other essential services. A victory by either one would go against the conventional wisdom that any candidate supporting a tax increase is doomed.

Edmonds, who moved from his long-standing opposition to tax increases to helping push the final package through, has a more conservative primary opponent but said, “My opponent aside, I’m hearing very little.”

Edmonds said the tax increases are “not anywhere near the whole story,” because Kansans have to consider why the money was raised to prevent damage to schools and the services they expect.

Therein lies the persistent difficulty in governing, balancing people’s desire for strong public schools and services against their resentment of taxes. Kansans are supposed to use the ballot box to tell legislators whether they struck the correct balance.

And Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer said the tax increases are small compared to other forces at work in the economy.

“Looking at the Kansas economy, this stuff would pale in comparison to the drought in southwest Kansas,” Sherrer said.

He added: “We are still recruiting businesses very successfully. When a business comes in, they’re as interested in your school system as in your tax rates.”

But in Beto Junction, Williams worried that higher taxes will hurt the Travel Plaza’s business and force him to consider cutting his staff. He also questioned whether legislators looked hard enough for ways to save money.

“We’d rather be creating jobs,” he said. “It’s frustrating when all these things hit at once.”