The Kansas Legislature probably will get plenty of advice about how to deal with the $141 million shortfall in the current state general fund budget, and a lot of it may sound like the message Kansas small business owners sent to lawmakers on Monday.

The National Federation of Independent Business in Kansas surveyed its members and found that 95 percent rejected the idea of increasing the state income tax to help the state with its shortfall. About three-fourths of the members also opposed increasing the state sales tax or the state motor fuels tax.

In case they didn’t get the message, the organization’s director, Derrick Sontag, spelled it out a little more specifically: “On this ballot, our members are saying, ‘Don’t raise my taxes in order to help pay for wasteful spending in Topeka.'”

Now, the sentiment about taxes is pretty easy to understand. No one really likes a tax increase. An increase in the fuels tax raises costs for small business owners. An increase in the sales tax, income tax or any other tax takes away money that consumers might otherwise be spending on goods or services.

The issue of “wasteful spending” isn’t as easy to define. What one person sees as “waste,” another person might see as a necessity. For instance, the business community might put a high priority on maintaining highways in the state, while someone else might focus on services that allow a relative with a disability or an aging parent to stay in his or her home.

The business owners may be contending that state government needs to reduce its costs and run more efficiently. That’s a valid argument, but with a shortfall of $141 million, mere belt-tightening probably isn’t going to be enough.

It may be an immediate benefit to hold taxes steady, but if that forces the state to make serious cuts in funding to public schools or state universities, will that benefit the state in the long run? Would it be worth a small tax increase to make sure the state is able to fulfill its part of the bargain to bring a major new bioscience lab to Kansas State University?

Many people, including some legislators, probably agree that it would be a bad idea to raise taxes during a recession. Perhaps lawmakers will be able to come up with a combination of cuts and revenue that will allow the state to squeak by without a tax increase. However, the sentiment expressed by the state’s small business owners — and probably many other Kansas groups and individuals — points out what a difficult task our state Legislature will face in the coming session.