If legislators hope to address the state’s fiscal woes, they likely will have to find the political courage to ask farmers to pay more in taxes and fees.

The state faces a deficit of nearly $1 billion over the next two fiscal years, and legislators are tasked with coming up with a plan to fix the problem. There are two options: increase revenues or cut expenses. But after multiple years of slashing line items in the state’s budget, there aren’t many expenses left to cut.

That leaves lawmakers with the task of revisiting the state’s tax policies, where few groups enjoy the number of tax breaks and outright exemptions that farmers do.

Consider, for example, the controversial LLC exemption, passed in 2012. The law exempts from state taxes income that is earned from pass-through entities such as limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietorships. The exemption affects 330,000 entities in the state, including 60,000 farm operations, and costs the state an estimated $250 million in tax revenues each year.

Farmers also are exempt from paying sales taxes on purchases of farm machinery and equipment or personal property taxes on such items. And agricultural land is taxed at a lower rate than residential or commercial property.

Finally, as the state seeks to find $43 million per year to fund the State Water Plan Fund to conserve and protect the state’s water resources, legislators are considering increasing fees on residential and commercial users. Who isn’t being asked to pay more? Kansas farmers, who are exempt from paying into the fund, even though agricultural irrigation accounts for 80 to 85 percent of the state’s water use.

One reason farmers continue to enjoy such exemptions is the strong lineup of groups lobbying on behalf of agricultural interests in Kansas. Groups like the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association, Kansas Corn Growers Association and the Kansas Pork Association have converged on the capital to protect current farm exemptions.

They argue that farmers do contribute taxes and fees, despite the fact that farm income continues to decrease in Kansas. There are 15,000 fewer farms in Kansas now than there were in 1980 and new taxes and fees could force more farm operations out of the business. No one wants that.

But a $1 billion hole is a serious problem that requires lawmakers to ask everyone to contribute to solving. That should include asking the state’s farm operations to contribute more.