Doesn t seem quite fair : Kansas business owners seek tax refund for COVID-19 shutdowns Sydney Hoover, The Kansas City Star
Feb. 18 TOPEKA Ryan Bramhall said the money his Manhattan sports bar has lost in the last year is sickening.
Tubby s, his Aggieville bar, closed like most other businesses last March as the coronavirus spread and the state locked down. Even when they reopened over the summer, Bramhall and other restaurateurs struggled as county governments restricted their hours or capacity. I m just trying to make it, he said.
Now, business owners like Bramhall are looking to the government for help as they near the one-year mark trying to survive in a pandemic.
Arizona Drag Tour Making Stop In Yuma Valentine’s Day Weekend
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA/KECY) - Keep an eye out this weekend because royalty is on its way to Yuma.not the Buckingham Palace royals but rather the royals of the Imperial Court of Arizona.
This monarchy of drag queens, drag kings, and performers are turning the Yuma American Legion #19 into their palace on Saturday night as part of their Arizona Drag Tour, a multi-stop drag show raising funds for Arizona Pride organizations.
As the entire nation shifted its focus on finding a way to combat the deadly virus, the Imperial Court of Arizona found a way to remind those in the LGBTQ+ community that they are not alone during this time
Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector
photo by: Screen capture of Kansas Legislature YouTube by Kansas Reflector
Scott Schneider, who represents the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association, tells lawmakers during a hearing Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, that governments should understand they have to compensate businesses when wielding their policing powers.
TOPEKA Wichita restaurant owner John Arnold says it is difficult to avoid feeling vilified by government restrictions placed on businesses in the interest of public health.
The pandemic treated his industry differently, Arnold explained to lawmakers during a hearing Tuesday in the House. Restaurants were forced to close as COVID-19 first crept across the state, and only allowed to reopen with limited capacity.
Businesses in Kansas and the U.S. have suffered during the pandemic, with countless businesses having closed, many of them permanently.
In particular, sectors where remote work wasn t possible and where businesses weren t deemed essential had an especially rough time, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. One Kansas business even sued the state, seeking compensation for economic damages caused by the state s COVID-19 shutdown.
Now, state lawmakers are now looking at targeting the government restrictions related to COVID-19 with a bill heard Tuesday that would give some property tax reimbursements to affected businesses. People were wondering if it was possible to give tax credits to businesses that shut down or businesses that were required to shut down, Rep. Fred Patton, R-Topeka, said before the legislative session. Were there any financial resources available from the state? So it s something that we ve at least conceptually looked at.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service
Originally published on February 11, 2021 2:14 pm
The pandemic caused counties across the state to issue varying levels of business shutdown orders meant to slow the spread of a life-threatening virus.
Now businesses that lost their ability to make money during the pandemic want a tax refund for the time they were forced to hang “closed” signs.
Lawmakers heard competing arguments about property tax rebates this week.
Businesses say the closures put them on the brink of shutting down for good. Local governments warn they don’t have the resources to be offering mass tax refunds.
A pending bill is a first step in a larger discussion looming before lawmakers: Should either the state or local governments be required to compensate the businesses that public officials ordered to close during the pandemic?