It’s rare to find a former governor coming out in public in support of tax increases. It’s even more rare when four of them, from both parties, celebrate an impending income-tax increase. As the song goes, “Where in the world, but Kansas?”.

Four former Kansas governors proclaim Governor Sam Brownback’s “tax experiment” has ended, but they warn that the blowback has already begun. The former governors, two Democrats and two Republicans, head the list of supporters atop an announcement from the “Save Kansas Foundation,” on the heels of the Legislature’s override of Brownback’s veto of the new tax bill. The bill repeals or rolls back past income tax cuts championed by the current Governor.

The announcement, signed by former Republican Governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden, and former Democratic Governors Kathleen Sebelius and John Carlin, trumpets the override Tuesday in Topeka, but warns of impending electoral challenges for lawmakers who supported the bill and the override.

“The men and women who voted to end the Brownback experiment are now under attack by supporters of the Governor’s tax plan.” according to the announcement. “They’re vowing to run aggressive campaigns next year against the folks Save Kansas championed so they can bring more legislators to Topeka who don’t believe in investments in education, public safety, infrastructure, and healthcare. ”

If you follow the link to the group’s Web site you encounter this plea for donations: “Our efforts reflect a united effort among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats across Kansas. We don’t emphasize party labels, but rather focus on the work that must happen in Topeka to get Kansas back on solid ground!”

Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $889 million through June 2019 and the state Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate.

The House voted 88-31 Tuesday night to overturn Brownback’s veto of a bill that will increase income taxes to fix the state budget and provide additional funds for public schools. Supporters had four votes more than the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto.

The Senate earlier voted 27-13 to override, exactly a two-thirds majority.

The tax increase is expected to raise $1.2 billion over two years by increasing income tax rates and ending an exemption for 330,000-plus farmers and business owners.

(Staff and wire reports)

Dana Mayberry served as the Viburnum City Clerk for 14 years. After losing her reelection bid last year, city officials identified discrepancies in accounts that had been under her control. Mayberry admitted to stealing at least $25,000 in city funds. The mayor contacted law enforcement and the State Auditor’s Office to investigate. The audit describes an elaborate scheme that involved adjusting customer utility accounts and then destroying records and other evidence.

“My audit describes a serious breach of public trust at the expense of taxpayers,” Auditor Galloway said. “Public officials who take advantage of their positions to enrich themselves must be held accountable.”

When citizens made cash payments the former city clerk would pocket the money, and then instead of marking their accounts as paid, she would adjust the accounts to show they owed less than they actually did. The audit shows an estimated $104,000 in adjustments to 1,800 water and sewer accounts over a 7-year period. Mayberry also adjusted her own personal utility account to avoid paying for water and sewer services to her home for four years at a cost of about $4,000.

Numerous records and receipt documents were destroyed, however, based on existing documents and citizen interviews and receipts, the former clerk may have also stolen several thousand dollars in court fines and property tax payments.

“Due to the deliberate and malicious destruction of records that occurred in the cover-up attempt, we may never truly know the full extent to which taxpayers have been defrauded,” Auditor Galloway said. “City leaders have a lot of work to do as they try to rebuild records and reestablish trust and credibility with citizens.”

Although the mayor and Board of Alderman ultimately requested the State Auditor conduct an investigation, their previous lack of oversight contributed significantly to the city clerk being allowed to scam the city and its citizens for years before being caught. The report outlines a series of steps the city can take to better protect public dollars going forward, including recommendations to improve accounting practices in the city and court and increase oversight of the utility and property tax system.

Auditor Galloway has turned the report results over to law enforcement authorities and says her staff stands ready to assist prosecutors in any way possible to bring justice for the citizens of Viburnum.

This audit report gives the city of Viburnum a performance rating of poor, which means the State Auditor will return to determine whether recommendations have been followed. The complete report is available online here.