It’s still nowhere near the size of the national debt, but the rapid rate at which Kansas state government is increasing what it owes demands some attention.

An Associated Press story that analyzes data from the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that Kansas has increased its per-resident debt by 333 percent between 1992 and 2002. That stunning figure represents the largest increase of any state in the nation. From 1992 to 2002, the state’s debt increased from $486 million to $2.29 billion, according to the Census Bureau. That’s $195 of debt per person in 1992, $844 per person in 2002 and a projected $1,352 per person by the end of 2005 (if the state’s population continues to grow at its 2003 rate).

Although state officials say the state isn’t overburdened with debt, the trend is troubling. After major tax cuts in the 1990s, Kansas has been struggling to balance its budget in the last several years. Hard-line anti-tax forces in the Kansas Legislature have stymied any move to restore or raise taxes to ease the financial situation, leaving the state searching for other ways to meet its obligations.

The 2004 legislative session includes a couple of notable illustrations. At the end of the session, the Legislature approved a $150 million bond issue to preserve state transportation projects. The bond issue was necessary because the state had decimated the funding designated for transportation by borrowing from it to meet other obligations. The $150 million was needed just to prevent the cancellation of projects that already had been approved.

Kansas leaders also approved issuing $500 million in bonds to shore up the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS). The investment was necessary, but that single loan was more than the state’s entire bond debt in fiscal year 1992.

And the obligation will be hanging over the state for many years. The state will start retiring the KPERS debt with $10 million next year. The graduated repayment plan will raise that amount to $37 million by fiscal year 2009, and the state will continue to owe that amount each year through 2034.

Every year the state carries that debt it must raise enough revenue not only to meet the current needs of the government but also to repay what it borrowed to meet previous years’ needs. In some cases, certain taxes are designated to repay the bonds, but, in other cases, including the $500 million KPERS loan, the money must be repaid from the general fund.

Unless the state opens new revenue streams such as increased gambling or additional taxes, it must depend on a stronger economy to bolster its general fund revenues from existing tax sources. If the economic upswing that state officials are banking on doesn’t materialize, the state could find itself in an even tougher financial spot than the one it borrowed money to get out of.

Kansas isn’t the only state that has increased its bonded indebtedness to deal with recent budgetary strains, but the fact that the Kansas per capita debt increase is the highest in the nation should get the attention of state residents. As anyone with a credit card knows, it’s a lot easier to run up a debt than to pay it off. That’s something state officials should remember as they consider whether to get Kansas more deeply in debt.