Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius still is trying to reassure retailers that the state will not punish them as they struggle to deal with a new sales tax law.

Her latest effort was a letter to be mailed to merchants this week, in which Sebelius said the Department of Revenue would try to help them deal with the new system of figuring state and local sales taxes, which took effect July 1.

The law requires merchants to calculate those taxes based on where a product is delivered to a customer, rather than where the merchant is located, as was the practice for decades. For example, a store delivering furniture from Lawrence to Eudora would impose the total rates in effect in Eudora.

Supporters of the law say it will put Kansas in a position to collect between $70 million and $140 million more in taxes from Internet or catalog sales. But businesses have complained that the change would be cumbersome for them.

Last week, Sebelius and legislative leaders had a news conference to publicize the Department of Revenue’s plan not to strictly enforce the law until at least Jan. 1.

In her letter, Sebelius wrote, “Even with this ‘relaxed’ approach to implementation, many businesses are still fearful of sanctions if they are not in compliance.”

She continued: “As the chief executive of this state, I am writing to affirm my full support of taking whatever time is necessary to implement this new legislation.”

Mike Davis, president of the Kansas Retail Council, said complaints from retailers seemed to have diminished.

“From what they tell me, there is an awful lot of concern out there, but the governor’s moratorium has reduced a lot of the urgency,” Davis said. “It’s still going to be a situation, but we have more time to deal with it now.”