"Between all the political banter, the hot air that's common in far west Kentucky in the summer (especially around Fancy Farm's St. Jerome Parish during the political picnic) and the barbecue, there was some conversation about the needs of Kentucky businesses, albeit at the behest of a Business Lexington reporter.
The local option
While not appearing at the 126th annual Fancy Farm picnic, Gov. Ernie Fletcher did hold a press conference next door to the grounds the previous day to present funding to Fancy Farm and Graves County, as well as to bring word that the dilapidated Fancy Farm Elementary School was one of the top priorities to be replaced with some of the $50 million in the biennial budget. But Fletcher stopped short of telling the people of Fancy Farm their outdated and obsolete school would be replaced, because he couldn't promise that.
"They've got a three-story building with bathrooms on the first floor. They're having to carry some handicapped kids down the stairs to the bathroom," Fletcher said following a speech to local Republicans at Kenlake State Park's amphitheater the Friday night before Fancy Farm. "It's a school that has done very well under very adverse conditions, and they deserve it. We are hopeful that we can come back for a groundbreaking if the state Finance Cabinet's School Facilities Construction Commission goes ahead and elects to build that school."
No matter how poor the condition nor how much the people of Fancy Farm, or any other city or county in the state want a new school, one can't be built unless approved by the School Facilities Construction Commission, which bases its decisions heavily on test scores. Why not let localities decide when it is time to levy a tax to replace crumbling or insufficient schools?
When asked why places like Fancy Farm must depend on Frankfort to grant funds, Fletcher said: "We should always look at local versus central taxation. Kentucky is a state that taxes very high centrally and distributes money, and other states have a little more local revenue initiative and lower state taxes, so that's always a possibility to look at. Whatever will bring schools to a level where we can improve student achievement to a maximum level is something that we need to be doing."
Fletcher said he wants to wait to review the recommendations of a local taxation task force that did not recommend a constitutional amendment to allow local control of some tax issues. One of the committee's co-chairs, Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, however, said he would be interested in legislation that would give places like Fancy Farm or Fayette county the ability to raise their own money for schools. Fletcher, though, warned any change in state law to allow local control would have to be equitable in order to fit into the confines of the court ruling that brought about the Kentucky Education Reform Act in the 1990s.
Others polled during the Fancy Farm Picnic had varying concerns about the prospect of decentralizing part of the state's tax system.
Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan said he is not personally for it and is not sure how the rest of his party would feel about it. Hazard Democratic Sen. Daniel Mongiardo said it is a good idea because people in Hazard or any other city know better what their city needs than a group of people in Frankfort. "The more close to home that you can keep decision making the easier it is to make those decisions, because people at home know what they need for their communities," he said.
While many may agree with Mongiardo's sentiments, having people in Frankfort decide to give up some of their power might not go over well, according to Speaker of the House Jody Richards. "That one is going to be difficult, there's no question about that," he said.
Alternative minimum tax talk
Though there was talk to completely eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax even before Fletcher signed a special session bill adjusting it for Kentucky businesses, at least one powerful legislator when asked at the picnic said he would like to give it some time to see how the new structure works.
House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, said the revision to the AMT had the stamp of approval by "businesses all across the state."
"We need to first of all see how it works, to see what kind of effect it's having on small business," Adkins said.
Speaker Richards reiterated his initial objection to the tax when it was passed in Fletcher's Tax Modernization plan in 2005 and said, though adjusted, he would still like to see it axed completely. Fletcher, too, said with conditions that he would consider a total elimination of the tax that had led to some businesses paying more in taxes than they earned in profit.
The governor said as long as Kentucky was able to catch tax dollars from out of state LLCs, which hadn't been the case before the 2005 reform, he would be interested in further business tax relief.
"